Since an internet blackout was imposed in Iran on January 8, Shadi Mahjoum, a medical student at University College Cork, has been robbed of any contact with her family. However, such milestones only serve as a reminder of the freedom her friends back home have missed out on. Iran had announced that 26-year-old Erfan Soltani was to be executed — but Shadi Mahjoum says the outcry of human rights activists persuaded the regime to suspend the planned killing. Wearing the colours of her home country, UCC student Shadi Mahjoum says she fears for the safety of family and friends and the wider community back home in Iran. “They were going to execute this man until people started screaming his name on social media and his execution got postponed," says Shadi Mahjoum.

Source: Irish Examiner January 20, 2026 08:50 UTC