Iran

Iran and Saudi Arabia on Friday agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and reopen embassies after years of tensions, including a devastating attack on the heart of the kingdom's oil production.

The Iranian American businessman's hunger strike marks seven years after he was left out of a prisoner swap when the Iran nuclear deal took effect. He's appealing to President Biden for action.

Ali Reza Akbar, who once worked for Iran's defense ministry, was executed despite international outcry over his death sentence and those of others held amid protests.

There are now four men known to have been executed since demonstrations began in September over the death of Mahsa Amini. All have faced internationally criticized, rapid, closed-door trials.

The protests that have gripped the country since September may have diminished to some extent recently, but demonstrators in Iran reached by NPR insist the protests will not die out or fade away.

Taraneh Alidoosti, the 38-year-old star of the Oscar-winning 2016 film The Salesman was released from Tehran's notorious Evin Prison nearly three weeks after her arrest.

The real-life "Spider Killer" murdered 16 women in Iran between 2000 and 2001. The case inspired Holy Spider, which has resonated abroad during a time of amplified state violence in Iran.

The executions are Tehran's main response to protests that have swept the country since September, and are seen as a sign that Iran's clerical leadership intends to continue a violent crackdown.