Nazenin Ansari

By Nazenin Ansari On March 23, 2026, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced a settlement that ended 17 years of litigation and allowed the victims of what the attorney termed “Iranian state-sponsored terrorism” to receive more than $300 million in compensation. At the center of that legal battle was 650 Fifth Avenue, a 36-story office tower in Midtown Manhattan, which federal prosecutors said concealed an Iranian government-owned bank’s interests.

One month into nationwide protests, the Iranian people are still making history — at the cost of their lives. The free world can no longer credibly claim uncertainty about events on the ground, nor can they claim neutrality in the face of what has occurred. Iranians aren’t asking others to speak for them but to empower them to finish what they’ve started. And the urgency for international action has only intensified. This week, the European debate finally shifted.

On the night of January 10, Shahram Maghsoudi sent a final message to a relative. “I am going ahead. Tonight is the night,” he wrote to a relative. “Take care of the family if I am not there.” He ended with two emojis: a red heart and a kiss. Maghsoudi, an Iranian powerlifting champion born in Izeh, a predominantly Arab and Bakhtiari city in Iran’s south-west, lived in Baharestan, a satellite city outside Isfahan, one of Iran’s most historically significant regions.