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CNN —Iranian authorities have warned that crocodiles are being forced from their natural habitats as floods devastate parts of the country’s southeast. Three road construction workers have died in the flooding, Iranian state news agency IRNA reported on Thursday, which came after a record-breaking storm hit the Middle East. Videos broadcast by state news media IRNA and Tasnim showed widespread floods with people using boats to rescue others. The weather conditions were associated with a larger storm system traversing the Arabian Peninsula and moving across the Gulf of Oman. In Oman, at least 18 were killed in flash floods triggered by heavy rain, the country’s National Committee for Emergency Management said.

Persons: IRNA, Christopher Pike Organizations: CNN, Mehr, of Environment, Iranian, United Arab, UAE, Emergency Management Locations: Bandar Abbas, Kerman, Sistan, Baluchistan, Rivers, Bahu Kalat, Dubai, UAE, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Iran, Gulf of Oman

☆ How ISIS has Europe and the US in sights after deadly Moscow attack
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-30 | by ( Tim Lister | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Moscow attack. Maxim Shemetov/ReutersHe regards the Moscow attack as a “breakthrough success” for the group, demonstrating a level of planning not previously seen beyond south Asia. Russia’s support for authoritarian regimes in central Asia – which ISIS-K has described as Russia’s “puppets” – has deepened the animus. The attitude of the Russian government, both pre- and post- the Moscow attack, may not help it confront the threat. For ISIS-K, the Moscow attack is a coup.

Persons: Erik Kurilla, “, Sanaullah Ghafari, Edmund Fitton, Brown, Fitton, Amira Jadoon, ” Jadoon, Hans, Jakob Schindler, Christine Abizaid, ” Fitton, Maxim Shemetov, –, Gabriel Attal, ”, Jadoon, Putin, Abu Bakr al, Sinai, Vladimir Putin, Assad, Shamsidin, Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, Muhammadsobir Fayzov, Yulia Morozova, Shamil Hukumatov, ” Putin, ” Schindler, Alexander Bortnikov, they’ll, Rita Katz Organizations: CNN, Analysts, ISIS, Islamic, US Central Command, UN, Taliban, Russian, Clemson University, Counter, ”, K, US National Counterterrorism Center, –, Crocus City, US Defense Department, Paris, Central, Crocus City Hall, St, City, Tajik, Kyiv, SITE Intelligence Locations: State, Ukraine, Gaza, Moscow, Khorasan, Afghanistan, Europe, Asia, Russia, ‘, Islamic State, Pakistan, Iran, Crocus, United States, West, New York, Tajik, Kabul, Afghan, Kandahar, Central Asia, Baujur, Pakistani, Baluchistan, Iranian, Kerman, Germany, al Qaeda, Turkey, France, America, Russian, Sharm el, St . Petersburg, Syria, Kaluga, St Petersburg, Istanbul, Washington

☆ Suicide Bomber Kills 5 Chinese Workers in Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-26 | by ( Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At least five Chinese workers were killed on Tuesday when a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into their convoy in northern Pakistan, officials said. Their Pakistani driver was also killed in the attack. The Chinese laborers were working on the Dasu dam, a hydropower project on the Indus River in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The convoy was moving from Islamabad to Dasu and came under attack around 1 p.m., officials said. This was the second-deadliest attack on Chinese working on the project, after a previous suicide attack on a convoy in 2021.

Locations: Pakistan, Pakistani, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad, Dasu, China, Baluchistan, Gwadar

While election winners were celebrating victory, PTI and other parties refused to accept their defeat in dozens of constituencies. Dozens of Khan’s supporters were briefly detained in the eastern city of Lahore over the weekend while protesting alleged vote-rigging. Khan could not run in the election because of the criminal convictions against him that he says are politically motivated. No party won a majority, however, so the parties will have to hold talks on forming a coalition government. The Pakistan Muslim League-N party led by three-time premier and ex-felon Nawaz Sharif secured 75.

Persons: Pakistan's, Imran Khan, Khan, Jan Achakzai, Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto, Zardari, establishment’s Organizations: National Assembly, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan People’s Party, PML Locations: QUETTA, Pakistan, Lahore, Baluchistan

☆ Election Shocker in Pakistan: Where the Country Goes From Here
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-11 | by ( Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Imran Khan’s stunning performance in Pakistan’s national election has upended most traditional political forecasts in a country where leaders who run afoul of the powerful military rarely find electoral success. Here’s what to know about the uncertainty now hanging over Pakistan’s political system. Mr. Khan’s supporters are challenging the results of dozens of races in the country’s courts, and pressure is growing on Pakistan’s Election Commission to acknowledge the widely reported irregularities in the vote counting. Backers of Mr. Khan say they will hold peaceful protests outside election commission offices in constituencies where they contend the rigging took place. Protests have already erupted in several parts of the country, especially in the restive southwestern Baluchistan Province.

Persons: Imran Khan’s, Khan, What’s, Khan’s Organizations: Mr Locations: Baluchistan Province

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —Pakistan has carried out a series of military strikes on what it said were separatist militant hideouts inside Iran, its foreign ministry said Thursday, in the latest incident across their shared border that has sent tensions between the two neighbors soaring. “At 4:30 a.m. explosions were heard in a border village, several missiles were fired at the village,” Marhamati said. This morning’s action was taken in light of credible intelligence of impending large scale terrorist activities,” Pakistan’s foreign ministry said. But the deadly attack inside Pakistani territory seriously damaged relations between the two countries, Pakistani Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani told his Iranian counterpart. And Iranian-backed forces in Iraq and Syria have launched dozens of attacks aimed at US military positions in those countries.

Persons: Alireza Marhamati, ” Marhamati, IRNA, ”, Iran ”, Hossein Amir, Abdollahian, Jalil Abbas Jilani, Jilani, Qasem Soleimani, Houthi, Amir Organizations: Pakistan CNN —, “, Pakistan Pakistan’s, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, Iranian, Pakistani, Adl, Justice, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Iranian Revolutionary Guard, Quds Force, ISIS, CNN, Economic, Davos Wednesday Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan CNN — Pakistan, Iran, Iran’s, Sistan, Baluchistan, Saravan, restive Baloch, Gaza . Pakistan, ”, Islamic Republic of Iran, Pakistan’s, Balochistan, Iranian, “ Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tehran, Jaish, Erbil, Iraq, Syria, Kerman, Red, Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, Davos

☆ Pakistan launches strikes inside Iran against militant targets
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Pakistan said on January 18 it had carried out strikes against militant targets in Iran, after Tehran launched attacks on Pakistani territory earlier this week. (Photo by Aamir QURESHI / AFP) (Photo by AAMIR QURESHI/AFP via Getty Images)Pakistan conducted strikes inside Iran on Thursday, targeting separatist militants, the Pakistani foreign ministry said, two days after Tehran said it attacked Israel-linked militant bases inside Pakistani territory. "Our forces have conducted strikes to target Baloch militants inside Iran," the intelligence official in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, said. Iran said on Tuesday it had targeted Israel-linked militant bases inside Pakistan. Pakistan and Iran have in the past had rocky relations, but the strikes are the highest-profile cross-border intrusion in recent years.

Persons: Aamir QURESHI, AAMIR QURESHI, hideouts Organizations: Ministry of Foreign Affairs, AFP, Getty Images, Reuters, Pakistan's, Wednesday Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Iran, Tehran, Israel, Sistan, Baluchistan, Islamic Republic of Iran, Balochistan, Pakistan's Balochistan

☆ Israel-Hamas War Fighting Eases in Northern Gaza, Giving Residents Some Relief
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-18 | by ( Adam Rasgon | Aaron Boxerman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +8 min

The Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry said that the country’s forces had conducted “precision military strikes” against what it called terrorist hide-outs in southeastern Iran. Iranian officials said that nine people had been killed, including four children, and Pakistani officials said the death toll of the Iranian strikes included at least two children. The official said that air force fighter jets and drones had been used in the Pakistani retaliatory strikes. In a statement, the Pakistani military called the two neighbors “brotherly countries” and said that “dialogue and cooperation is deemed prudent in resolving bilateral issues” between them. Pakistani military analysts were hopeful that this could pave the way for diplomatic dialogue between the two nations.

Persons: Islamic Republic “, ”, Ahmad Vahidi, Sohail Shahzad, Benjamin Netanyahu, “, Syed Muhammad Ali, Waqar Hasan, Arash Khamooshi, Baluch, al, Vivian Nereim Organizations: Pakistani Foreign Affairs Ministry, Iran Exchange, Foreign Ministry, Islamic, Islamabad ”, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Iranian, Credit, Pakistan, The New York Times Pakistan, Guards Locations: Pakistan, Iran, Baluch, Iraq, Islamic Republic, Saravan, Tehran, Islamabad, Rask, Israel, Gaza, Balochistan Province, Yemen, Suez, United States, Pakistani, “ Pakistan, Baluchistan Province, Sistan, Persian, Oman, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Thursday's attack followed one by Iran inside Pakistan on Tuesday. The strikes imperiled diplomatic relations between Islamabad and Tehran, as Iran and nuclear-armed Pakistan have long regarded each other with suspicion over militant attacks. Iran has seen growing pressure for action after the Islamic State group attack, Israel's war on Hamas and wider unrest against its theocracy. Iran and Pakistan share a 900-kilometer (560-mile), largely lawless border in which smugglers and militants freely cross. For both Iran and Pakistan, the cross-border attacks renew questions about their own military preparedness, particularly their radar and air defense systems.

Persons: ”, Ali Reza Marhamati, Pakistan's, “, Jundallah, Jaish, Abdullah Khan, ” There's, Mao Ning, ___ Gambrell, Riazat Butt, Nasser Karimi, Liu Zheng Organizations: Hamas, Islamic, Ministry, Baluch Liberation Army, Baluch, Adl, Islamic State, Pakistan Institute for Conflict, Security Studies, Baloch, Foreign Ministry, Associated Press Locations: ISLAMABAD, Iran, Pakistan, Gaza, Iraq, Syria, Islamic State, Islamabad, Tehran, Iran’s Sistan, Baluchestan, Saravan, Baluchistan, United States, Israel, Pakistan’s Baluchistan, Sistan, Chabahar, Afghanistan, India, U.S, French, China, Beijing, Pakistan's Baluchistan, Jerusalem

ISLAMABAD (AP) — This week's airstrikes between Iran and Pakistan that killed at least 11 people marks a significant escalation in fraught relations between the neighbors. Pakistan said its strikes in Iran on Thursday were aimed at hideouts of the Baluchistan Liberation Army and the Baluchistan Liberation Front. The drill will include live fire from aircraft, drones and air defense systems. Separately, Iran relies on radar and air defense systems in the case of potential strikes by its main enemy, the United States. However, the airstrikes could backfire on Pakistan because the Baluch Liberation Army said it will avenge the killings and wage war on the state.

Persons: Iran's, ”, Abdullah Khan Organizations: Adl, Baluch Liberation Army, Baluchistan Liberation Army, Pakistan Institute for Conflict, Security Studies Locations: ISLAMABAD, Iran, Pakistan, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Delhi, Tehran, Islamabad, Chabahar, Iraq, India, United States, IRAN, PAKISTAN, Israel, U.S

☆ Iranian Strike Leaves Pakistan With No Easy Options for Response
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

An Iranian airstrike inside Pakistan on Tuesday that Iran said was aimed at militant training camps has left Pakistani officials facing a difficult decision about whether to retaliate and potentially expand the turmoil that has swept the Middle East. Relations between Pakistan and neighboring Iran reached a new low after Iran’s attack in the restive Baluchistan region, with Pakistan reporting civilian casualties, including children, and warning that the violation of its sovereignty could have serious consequences. On Wednesday, Pakistan expelled the Iranian ambassador to Islamabad and recalled its own ambassador from Iran. In a statement, Pakistan said it “reserves the right to respond” to what it called an illegal and unprovoked attack. “The responsibility for the consequences will lie squarely with Iran,” it added.

Organizations: Relations Locations: Pakistan, Iran, restive Baluchistan, Islamabad

☆ Pakistan condemns deadly Iranian missile strike on its territory as an ‘unprovoked violation’
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Jonny Hallam | Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned an Iranian airstrike inside its borders that killed two children, calling it an “unprovoked violation of its airspace” and warning of retaliation. In a statement on Telegram, the militants said two small children were killed in the attack, while two women and a teenage girl were seriously injured. Last month, Iran accused Jaish al-Adl militants of storming a police station in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchistan, which resulted in the deaths of 11 Iranian police officers, according to Tasnim. Jaish al-Adl, or Army of Justice, is a separatist militant group that operates on both sides of the border and has previously claimed responsibility for attacks against Iranian targets. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said there are no Mossad-affiliated centers operating in Erbil in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.

Persons: “, Iran’s, Jaish al, Jaish, Fuad Hussein Organizations: CNN, Adl, Ministry, Iran’s Foreign Ministry, Guards, Justice, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, United Nations, UN Security Council, UN, Iraqi Locations: Pakistan, Iran, Pakistan’s, Balochistan, Iraq, Syria, Gaza, Tehran, Iranian, Sistan, Baluchistan, Erbil, United States, Kurdistan

☆ Militant Attack on Air Base Is Latest Episode to Unnerve Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Pakistani military said it had successfully repelled an attack by militants on an air base in central Pakistan on Saturday. The attempt to breach the Mianwali Training Air Base occurred a day after 14 soldiers traveling in a convoy were ambushed and killed in Baluchistan Province, in the southwest. That has fed growing tensions between the Pakistani government and Taliban officials, who have rejected Pakistani accusations of providing shelter to militant groups, including their ally, the Pakistani Taliban. The fighter jets on the air base, which are stored inside concrete hangars, escaped harm, but three other aircraft described as nonoperational were damaged. It was not clear if those defending the air base suffered any casualties.

Organizations: Mianwali Training Air Base, Jihad, Defense Locations: Pakistan, Mianwali, Baluchistan Province, Jihad Pakistan, Afghanistan, Pakistani

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani security forces on Wednesday rounded up, detained and deported dozens of Afghans who were living in the country illegally, after a government-set deadline for them to leave expired, authorities said. According to the U.N. agencies, there are more than 2 million undocumented Afghans in Pakistan, at least 600,000 of whom fled after the Taliban takeover in 2021. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Taliban-led administration have become strained over the past two years because of stepped-up attacks by the Pakistani Taliban, a separate militant group that is allied with the Afghan Taliban. Since the government deadline was announced on October 3, more than 200,000 Afghans have returned home from Pakistan. Associated Press writers Rahim Faiez in Islamabad and Abdul Sattar in Quetta, Pakistan, contributed to this report.

Persons: Sarfraz Bugti, ”, Zabihullah Mujahid, ” Mujahid, “, Ahmad Banwari, Banwari, ___ Khan, Rahim Faiez, Abdul Sattar Organizations: ” Interim, Taliban, Afghanistan’s, Pakistani Taliban, Associated Press Locations: ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Pakistan, Afghanistan, “, ”, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Baluchistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, The New York, Kabul, Nangarhar, Pakistani, Taliban Pakistan, United States, Peshawar, Quetta

☆ Iran protesters mark anniversary of bloody crackdown in southeast
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Protesters faced off with security forces in Iran's restive southeast on Friday to mark the anniversary of a Sept. 30, 2022, crackdown by security forces known as "Bloody Friday", according to rights groups and social media videos. IHR and the Baluch rights group Hal Vash said at least 23 people had been injured. The semi-official news agency Tasnim said police had used tear gas to disperse "a few people who had gathered and were throwing rocks at security forces". In the Sept. 30 crackdown, security forces killed at least 66 people, according to Amnesty International. Molavi Abdolhamid, Iran's most prominent Sunni cleric and a long-time critic of Tehran's Shi'ite leaders, demanded justice for the victims of the Sept. 30 crackdown.

Persons: Hal Vash, IRNA, Tasnim, Abdolhamid, Zahedan, Kevin Liffey Organizations: Protesters, Iran Human, Baluch, Reuters, Amnesty International, Authorities, Dubai, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Iran's restive, Iran, Zahedan, Sistan, Baluchistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kurdish, Islamic Republic

☆ One officer killed in attack on police station in restive Iran province
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, July 8 (Reuters) - At least one policeman was killed as unidentified gunmen and suicide bombers attacked a police station in Iran's restive southeast on Saturday, Iranian state media reported. The official news agency IRNA quoted a prosecutor in Zahedan, capital of the Sistan-Baluchistan province, as saying that shooting continued at the police station. State television said two attackers had detonated their explosive belts entrance of the station and a third had gone inside. Alireza Marhemati, a top provincial security official, denied suicide bombers were involved. Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Kim Coghill and Alison WilliamsOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: IRNA, Alireza, Kim Coghill, Alison Williams Organizations: Dubai, Thomson Locations: DUBAI, Iran's restive, Saturday, Zahedan, Sistan, Baluchistan, Pakistan, Afghanistan

☆ Water wars: Afghanistan and Iran's deadly border flare-up spotlights scarcity crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-19 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Kajaki Hydroelectric Dam in Kajaki, Afghanistan in the Helmand province on June 4, 2018 in Kajaki, Afghanistan. Iranian and Afghan border guards clashed on May 27, exchanging heavy gunfire that killed two Iranian guards and one Taliban soldier and wounded several others. A dangerous borderThe 580-mile border between Afghanistan and Iran is porous and crawling with crime, predominantly coming from the Afghan side into Iran. "Iran's Afghan border has always been its most vulnerable," said Kamal Alam, a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's South Asia Center. In the 1950s, Afghanistan built two major dams that limited the flow of water from the Helmand river into Iran.

Persons: Maplecroft, Wakil Kohsar, Soltvedt, Kamal Alam, Alam, Ryan Bohl, Rane, Ebrahim Raisi, Yamil Lage Organizations: Orbital, Copernicus Sentinel, Getty Images, CNBC, Taliban, Afp, Getty, Asia Center, East Locations: Kajaki, Afghanistan, Helmand, Getty Images Iran, Iran, Tehran, destabilization, East, North Africa, Afghan, Zaranj, Iran's, Khuzestan, Nimruz, Helmand Province, Sistan, Baluchistan, Havana, Cuba

☆ Pakistan army says 'terrorists' from Iran side kill four soldiers
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

QUETTA, Pakistan, April 1 (Reuters) - Pakistan's army said on Saturday that attackers from Iran killed four of its border patrol soldiers. "A group of terrorists operating from Iranian side attacked a routine border patrol of Pakistani security forces operating along Pakistan-Iran Border," the army said in a statement. The incident took place in Kech district in southwestern Baluchistan province, which shares a long lawless border with Afghanistan and Iran. The army said Pakistani authorities were making contact with Iran to seek ways of preventing such incidents in future. The Baluch groups operate on both side of the border.

☆ Iran Protests in Far-Flung Enclave Pose New Challenge to Tehran
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-17 | by ( Sune Engel Rasmussen | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In a remote corner of southeastern Iran, protesters from a Sunni Muslim minority are pushing for more rights and autonomy in a sustained challenge to the government, which had largely managed to tamp down last year’s nationwide protests. On Friday, large crowds of residents of Zahedan, the provincial capital of Sistan-Baluchistan, took to the streets following noon prayers to protest against the government, according to unverified footage on social media.

☆ Overnight protests rock Tehran, other Iranian cities, videos show
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Videos on Friday showed demonstrations in several neighbourhoods in Tehran as well as in the cities of Karaj, Isfahan, Qazvin, Rasht, Arak, Mashhad, Sanandaj, Qorveh, and Izeh in Khuzestan province. Reuters was able to confirm three of the videos on the protests in Zahedan and one of those in Tehran. Other videos showed large protests on Friday in Zahedan, capital of southeastern Sistan-Baluchistan province, home to Iran's Baluchi minority. [1/5] People take part in a protest in Zahedan, Iran in this screen grab taken from a social media video released February 17, 2023 and obtained by Reuters. In recent weeks Iranian media have reported closures of several businesses, restaurants and cafes for failure to observe the hijab rules.

☆ U.N. gathering seeks billions in aid for Pakistan after devastating floods
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

“We need to be honest about the brutal injustice of loss and damage suffered by developing countries because of climate change,” Guterres told the gathering. “If there is any doubt about loss and damage — go to Pakistan. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, left, speaks with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif during a conference in Geneva on Monday. Many countries already doled out cash, supplies and other support for Pakistan in the immediate follow-up to the flooding. Climate scientists found that the floods in Pakistan were worsened by global heating although economic, societal and construction-oriented factors also played a role.

☆ Top Iranian Sunni cleric says torture of protesters un-Islamic
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBAI, Jan 6 (Reuters) - A top dissident Iranian Sunni cleric on Friday denounced as un-Islamic Iran's alleged use of forced confessions to convict detained protesters, as weekly demonstrations continued in the county's southeast. Meanwhile, the authorities' crackdown following nationwide protests continued with arrests, including that of a celebrity chef and a prominent journalist. "If someone does not accept the accusation, they torture him to accept it. After the sermon, demonstrators marched in Zahedan, chanting "Death to the Islamic Republic", according to videos posted on social media. Officials are yet to announce the reasons for the detention of Beik, who had interviewed relatives of arrested protesters.

☆ Marchers in southeast Iran denounce top leader in renewed protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

protesters chanted in reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a social media video said to be from Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province. The impoverished province is home to Iran's Baluch minority of up to 2 million people, who human rights groups say have faced discrimination and repression for decades. Separately, a rights group said at least 100 detained protesters in Iran faced possible death sentences. This is a minimum as most families are under pressure to stay quiet, the real number is believed to be much higher," the Norway-based Iran Human Rights group said on its website. Reporting by Dubai newsroom Editing by Hugh Lawson and Matthew LewisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Prominent Sunni cleric denounces Iran crackdown, currency near record low
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/5] People take part in a protest against the Islamic regime of Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, in Istanbul, Turkey December 10, 2022. REUTERS/Dilara SenkayaDUBAI, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Iran's currency hovered near a historic low against the U.S. dollar on the unofficial foreign exchange market on Friday amid renewed street protests in the restive southeast, where a prominent dissident Sunni Muslim cleric denounced a bloody crackdown on street demonstrations. Some of the worst unrest in recent months has been in areas home to minority ethnic groups with long-standing grievances against the state, including Sistan-Baluchistan and Kurdish regions. On the unofficial foreign exchange market, the U.S. dollar sold for as much as 400,500 rials on Friday, slightly down from an all-time high of 401,000 on Thursday, according to foreign exchange site Bonbast.com. State officials have said up to 300 have been killed, including members of the security forces.

☆ Iran's Raisi promises to pursue crackdown on protesters; cleric critical of execution
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Molavi Abdolhamid, a Sunni cleric in the Shi'ite-ruled Islamic Republic, criticized the death sentence, according to his website. Human rights groups said Shekari was tortured and forced to confess. In Geneva, U.N. Human Rights High Commissioner Volker Turk called the execution “very troubling and clearly designed to send a chilling effect to the rest of the protesters." Britain announced sanctions on Friday against 30 people worldwide, including officials from Russia, Iran and Myanmar it deems responsible for human rights abuses or corruption. Molavi Abdolhamid made his critical comments from Zahedan, the capital of restive Sistan-Baluchistan province, home to Iran's Baluch minority who have faced discrimination and repression for decades, according to human rights groups.

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