‘The revolution is still alive’: Diary of an Iranian student protesting against the regime
“The revolution is still alive in people, and people are looking forward to a big change to this country.”
These are the words of a young man studying at a university in Iran, who has shared his diary entries with Sky News.
Mohammed has seen first hand how authorities have cracked down on protests at universities and how students have adapted to continue their activity. His name has been changed to protect his identity.
When demonstrations break out against the nation’s repressive regime, it’s often students who are the beating heart of the resistance.
The sweeping unrest that has followed the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody is no different, and more than 700 students have been arrested, according to the activist HRANA news agency. At least four people have been executed in connection with the demonstrations.
Diary entry one – University protests
“I want to talk about the day they executed Majidreza Rahnavard.
“I was totally shocked. I was really, really sad and very angry. I wanted to do something.
Majidreza Rahnavard was executed by the regime
“I went to university. I was looking forward to seeing students come out and start chanting.
“But because of the high level of suppression and bad behaviours towards students we don’t have that kind of protests but things have changed.
“Changed to writing slogans on walls. At one of the campuses they do artistic protests, they hung hanging ropes from the ceiling in order to criticise the regime’s execution of these two guys.
“But although the form has changed for now the revolution is still alive in people, and people are looking forward to a big change to this country.
“The resistance groups are very active right now, a lot of them have been arrested and they try to keep the fire of the revolution going.
“For those who are truly against the regime, they don’t have a normal life. How can we have a normal life?
“Every step we walk, every piece of food we eat, every minute we spend working, every minute we spend studying and reading, we are thinking of the people who are in the prison.
“We are thinking of the people who are executed or killed on the streets.
“What we want from the world is please if you can’t do something good for us, please do not help this regime.
“You know their overthrow is our job. Stop talking and negotiating with them. This is a regime which is going to fire back at you if you continue working with them.
“We need the whole world to isolate this regime.”
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UK imposes sanctions on Iran following execution of British-Iranian national accused of spying
Diary entry two – Escaping into people’s homes
“I’m going to talk about one of the experiences I had in Iran during the last three months here during the revolution.
“We were on the street, we were protesting and chanting.
“Suddenly the special forces of the police and plain-clothes agents attacked us, and so we had to escape.
“We tried to find a way to get out of there.
“I saw that some people would open the doors to their homes to rescue us and we went into one of them.
“I have heard that in some houses they have saved some of the people. They also treated them because they got shot and used first aid kits to take care of those who were injured.
“That was so brave of them because if the government knows that, finds that out, they will also arrest them. Some of those arrested are people who have helped people on the street.”
Diary entry three – ‘She slapped his face and ran away’
“I also saw many girls, especially girls, who were so brave that they would stand in front of those with guns.
“In one case, one girl even slapped the face of one of the plain-clothes agents who had captured one of the guys and was forcing his foot on his back.
“She slapped his face and ran away. The good thing was that the people tried to help him.”
Diary entry four – Protest in Tehran
“I talked to one of my friends, she is a brave girl.
“She has a friend who was arrested when she wanted to join the people who were protesting in Tehran.
“When she got out of her car to join the protesters, some people suddenly put her in a van. Unfortunately she has been raped.
“After some days she was released, I think in the same neighbourhood.
“She was in a bad place but I think she has gained her energy back and she is even more brave now.”
The aftermath of a fire at Evin prison last October. Pic: AP
Diary entry five – Evin prison
“I also remember the night when Evin prison was set on fire. That was a very, very bad night.
“Many people in Tehran went on to the street and tried to get to the prison.
“We just got into the cars and tried to get there, but unfortunately they had blocked the roads to not let the people get there.
“That was just a warzone, they just shot some people with tear gas.”
World
Body of missing rabbi Zvi Kogan found in UAE – as Israeli PM says he was murdered in ‘antisemitic terror incident’
The COP29 climate talks have reached a last ditch deal on cash for developing countries, pulling the summit back from the brink of collapse after a group of countries stormed out of a negotiating room earlier.
The slew of deals finally signed off in the small hours of Sunday morning in Azerbaijan includes one that proved hardest of all – one about money.
Eventually the more than 190 countries in Baku agreed a target for richer polluting countries such as the UK, EU and Japan to drum up $300bn a year by 2035 to help poorer nations both curb and adapt to climate change.
It is a far cry from the $1.3trn experts say is needed, and from the $500bn that vulnerable countries like Uganda had said they would be willing to accept.
But in the end they were forced to, knowing they could not afford to live without it, nor wait until next year to try again, when a Donald Trump presidency would make things even harder.
Bolivia’s lead negotiator Diego Pacheco called it an “insult”, while the Marshall Islands’ Tina Stege said it was “not nearly enough, but it’s a start”.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell said: “This new finance goal is an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country.
“No country got everything they wanted, and we leave Baku with a mountain of work still to do. So this is no time for victory laps.”
The funding deal was clinched more than 24 hours into overtime, and against what felt like all the odds.
The talks were rocked from the start by the incoming presidency of climate denier Mr Trump, the moment Argentina’s team were recalled back to Buenos Aires by their right-wing president and a controversial letter that sent shockwaves through the United Nations.
Pic: AP
The fraught two weeks of negotiations pitted the anger of developing countries who are footing the bill for more dangerous weather that they did little to cause, against the tight public finances of rich countries.
A relieved Juan Carlos Monterrey Gomez, climate envoy for Panama, said there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.
Just hours ago, the talks almost fell apart as furious vulnerable nations stormed out of negotiations in frustration over that elusive funding goal.
They were also angry with oil and gas producing countries, who stood accused of trying to dilute aspects of the deal on cutting fossil fuels.
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Climate-vulnerable nations storm out of talks
The UN talks work on consensus, meaning everyone has to agree for a deal to fly.
A row over how to follow up on last year’s pledge to “transition away from fossil fuels” was left unresolved and punted into next year, following objections from Chile and Switzerland for being too weak.
A draft deal simply “reaffirmed” the commitment but did not dial up the pressure in the way the UK, EU, island states and many others here wanted.
Saudi Arabia fought the hardest against any step forward on cutting fossil fuels, the primary cause of climate change that is intensifying floods, drought and fires around the world.
Governments did manage to strike a deal on carbon markets at COP29, which has been 10 years in the making and will allow countries to trade emissions cuts.
‘Not everything we wanted’
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The UK’s energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said the deal is “not everything we or others wanted”, but described it as a “step forward”.
“It’s a deal that will drive forward the clean energy transition, which is essential for jobs and growth in Britain and for protecting us all against the worsening climate crisis,” he added.
“Today’s agreement sends the signal that the clean energy transition is unstoppable.
“It is the biggest economic opportunity of the 21st century and through our championing of it we can help crowd in private investment.”
Protesters at the summit in Baku. Pic: AP
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Azerbaijan president hails oil and gas as ‘gift from God’
UN climate summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’
The Azerbaijan team leading COP29 said: “Every hour of the day, we have pulled people together. Every inch of the way, we have pushed for the highest common denominator.
“We have faced geopolitical headwinds and made every effort to be an honest broker for all sides.”
At least 20 people have been killed and 66 injured in Israeli strikes on central Beirut, Lebanese authorities have said.
Lebanon‘s health ministry said the death toll could rise as emergency workers dig through the rubble looking for survivors. DNA tests are being used to identify the victims, the ministry added.
The attack destroyed an eight-storey residential building and badly damaged several others around it in the Basta neighbourhood at 4am (2am UK time) on Saturday.
The central Basta neighbourhood in Beirut
The Israeli military did not warn residents to evacuate before the attack and has not commented on the casualties.
At least four bombs were dropped in the attack – the fourth targeting the city centre this week.
A separate drone strike in the southern port city of Tyre this morning killed two people and injured three, according to the state-run National News Agency.
The victims were Palestinian refugees from the nearby al Rashidieh camp who were out fishing, according to Mohammed Bikai, spokesperson for the Fatah Palestinian faction in the Tyre area.
Israel’s military warned residents today in parts of Beirut’s southern suburbs that they were near Hezbollah facilities, which the army would target in the near future. The warning, posted on X, told people to evacuate at least 500 metres away.
The army said that over the past day it had conducted intelligence-based strikes on Hezbollah targets in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. It said it hit several command centres and weapons storage facilities.
Pic: AP
Israel has killed several Hezbollah leaders in air strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs.
Heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah is ongoing in southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces push deeper into the country since launching a major offensive in September.
According to the Lebanese health ministry, at least 3,670 people have been killed in Israeli attacks there, with more than 15,400 wounded.
It has displaced about 1.2 million people – a quarter of Lebanon’s population – while Israel says about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed in northern Israel.
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‘Dozens’ of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike
Meanwhile, six people, including three children and two women, were killed in the southern Gazan city of Khan Younis.
Some 44,176 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry.
The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count, but it has said that more than half of the fatalities are women and children.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking another 250 hostage.
US envoy Amos Hochstein was in the region this week to try to end more than 13 months of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, ignited last October by the war in Gaza.
Mr Hochstein indicated progress had been made after meetings in Beirut on Tuesday and Wednesday, before going to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Israel Katz.
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