WThe 2019–20 Iranian protests also known as the Bloody November in Iran, were a series of nationwide civil protests in Iran, initially caused by a 50%–200% increase in fuel prices, leading to calls for the overthrow of the government in Iran and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The protests commenced as peaceful gatherings on the evening of 15 November but spread to 21 cities within hours, as videos of the protest circulated online, eventually becoming the most violent and severe anti-government unrest since the rise of Iran's Islamic Republic in 1979.
WThe 2019–2020 Persian Gulf crisis is an intensification of military tensions between the Islamic Republic of Iran and their allies and the United States of America and their allies in the Persian Gulf region. The U.S. began a buildup of its military presence in the region to deter an alleged planned campaign by Iran and its non-state allies to attack American forces and interests in the Persian Gulf and Iraq. This followed a rise in political tensions between the two countries during the Trump administration, which included the withdrawal of the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the imposition of new sanctions against Iran, and the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. In response, Iran designated the United States Central Command as a terrorist organization.
WIn May 2020, Iran sent five oil tankers—Forest, Fortune, Petunia, Faxon, and Clavel—all under the flag of Iran, to Venezuela, followed by another tanker, Golsan, sent in June 2020. Since the collapse of Venezuela's oil refining industry and 2019 sanctions imposed by the United States preventing fuel suppliers from sending gasoline to Venezuela, the country is experiencing a chronic shortage of gasoline. The Iranian tankers sent in May carried 1.53 million barrels of Iranian gasoline, while Golsan was expected to contain 190,000 to 345,000 barrels. All the tankers were loaded at a gasoline refinery near Bandar Abbas, and were escorted by the Venezuelan navy after U.S. threats of intervention.
WThe first and most destructive of the 2020 Iran–Turkey earthquakes occurred on 23 February, near Khoy in north-west Iran, close to the border with Turkey, killing 9 people in Başkale, Van. It hit at 9:23 a.m. local time with a magnitude of 5.8 Mw at a depth of 6 kilometres and the epicenter was Qotur district, according to the Iranian Seismological Center (IRSC). About 10 hours later the same area was hit by another major earthquake of 6.0 Mw .
WNavid Afkari was an Iranian wrestler who was sentenced to death and executed in Iran, after the Islamic Republic claimed he had murdered a security guard during the 2018 Iranian protests. His execution caused a global outcry, as Afkari's conduct during the protests had been peaceful, the confession obtained from Afkari was under duress, and the reason for execution was because Afkari took part in the protests. Afkari's brothers Vahid and Habib were sentenced to 54 and 27 years, respectively, in prison in the same case. While Afkari initially accepted the murder charge, he would later state that it had been a forced confession, with him having been tortured into making a false confession. Despite the Islamic Republic's efforts to portray Afkari's execution as retribution for the deceased security guard, the murder charge was never proven. Afkari's death was followed by worldwide condemnation of the regime, ranging from individual to national statements, including statements released by the EU, the International Olympic Committee IOC, and individuals like UFC president Dana White and Reza Pahlavi, the last crown prince of Iran.
WOn May 1, 2020, a group of Afghan migrants seeking work tried to enter Iran and drowned in the Hari River on the border between Iran and Afghanistan.
WThe funeral of Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian major general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), was held from 4 to 7 January 2020 in some cities in Iraq and Iran – including Baghdad, Karbala, Najaf, Ahvaz, Mashhad, Tehran, Qom, and his hometown Kerman. The funeral ceremony of Soleimani in Tehran was described as "the largest in Iran since the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini", founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in 1989.
WNour Satellite callsign "NOUR 01", is an Iranian military satellite, which was launched in orbit on 22 April 2020. According to Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the launch of Nour satellite was done from the central desert of Iran; it also mentioned that this satellite had reached an orbit of 425 kilometers above the surface of the Earth.
WThe Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 protests were anti-government protests that swept Iran in January 2020 after it was revealed that Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran while the Iranian government covered it up.