8 January – Supreme LeaderAli Khamenei announces that Iran will ban the import of COVID-19 vaccines from France, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and that it will instead obtain a vaccine from other countries.[1]
26 January – Iran approves Russia’s Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine for import and local production, as nation wide cases exceede 1.38 million with 57,560 deaths.[2]
February
16 February – Photojournalist Noushin Jafari is arrested and transferred to Qarchak prison for “spreading propaganda against the state” and “insulting the sanctities.”[3]
22 February – The IRGC block the Eskan border road in Saravan, reportedly opening fire and killing at least 10 people.[3]
March
23 March –
Four Kurdish citizens are arrested in Ney village, Marivan, for participating in Nowruz celebrations.[4]
Urmia Central Prison authorities reportedly reduce food rations to a quarter and threaten prisoners with seven-month sentence extensions for protesting.[4]
April
6 April – Iran and the U.S. begin indirect negotiations in Vienna around restoring a nuclear deal, as talks with European nations fail to reach agreement.[5]
11 April – Iran announces a blackout at a nuclear facility, suspectedly caused by an Israeli cyberattack.[6]
16 April – Iran begins enriching uranium up to 60%, its highest level ever and approaching weapons-grade levels of 90%.[5]
May
10 May – Iran publicly confirms it is holding talks with Saudi Arabia, pledging to make its best efforts to resolve longstanding regional tensions between the two countries.[7]
20 May – Reports emerge that Iran has begun to form smaller, elite militia groups from Iraqi factions loyal to the Quds Force, shifting from reliance on larger public militias.[8]
20 June – Iranian dissidents Mohammad Hossein Sepehri and Kamal Yazdi, on hunger strike, are beaten in prison while protesting being denied phone calls.[10]
20 July – Protests over water shortages and drought sweep Khuzestan and other regions, with clashes causing deaths and anti-government demonstrations amid the broader economic and social unrest.[13]
15 August – Iran announces preparations to provide temporary refuge for Afghans fleeing the Taliban conflict, while encouraging many refugees to return home due to economic pressures.[15]
26 September – Human rights defender Narges Mohammadi is summoned to serve a 30-month prison sentence.[3]
October
1 October – Iran holds military exercises near the Azerbaijan border amid rising tensions, while criticizing Israel’s foreign minister visiting Bahrain.[16]
^Hafezi, Parisa (January 8, 2021). "Iran leader bans import of US, UK COVID-19 vaccines, demands sanctions end". Reuters. "Imports of U.S. and British vaccines into the country are forbidden ... They're completely untrustworthy. It's not unlikely they would want to contaminate other nations," said Khamenei, the country's highest authority. "Given our experience with France's HIV-tainted blood supplies, French vaccines aren't trustworthy either," Khamenei said, referring to the country's contaminated blood scandal of the 1980s and 1990s.
