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Dec 19 (Reuters) - Members of Russia's Pussy Riot band were detained on Sunday after trying to storm the pitch at the World Cup final in Qatar to protest the war in Ukraine, the imprisonment of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and the oppression of women in Iran, activists said. According to the Cinema for Peace Foundation, a Berlin-based charity that focuses on humanitarian and environmental issues, security detained member Nika Nikulshina, an associate of the protest group, Peter Verzilov, and a Ukrainian member of Pussy Riot. The activists were stopped by security forces before they could invade the pitch, Cinema for Peace said in a statement. The 2018 World Cup final in Moscow was briefly interrupted when Pussy Riot activists, including Verzilov, burst onto the pitch to draw attention to human rights abuses in Russia before being hauled off by stewards. Cinema for Peace evacuated Verzilov after the 2018 World Cup in Moscow for treatment for alleged poisoning.

☆ Iranian city shops shut after strike call, judiciary blames 'rioters'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Iranian shops shut their doors in several cities on Monday, following calls for a three-day nationwide general strike from protesters seeking the fall of clerical rulers, with the head of the judiciary blaming "rioters" for threatening shopkeepers. Amini was arrested by Iran's morality police for flouting the strict hijab policy, which requires women to dress modestly and wear headscarfs. Iran's public prosecutor on Saturday was cited by the semi-official Iranian Labour News Agency as saying that the morality police had been disbanded. Security forces would show no mercy towards "rioters, thugs, terrorists", the semi-official Tasnim news agency quoted the guards as saying. Kurdish Iranian rights group Hengaw also reported that 19 cities had joined the general strike movement in western Iran, where most of the country's Kurdish population live.

☆ An assassination, a feud and the fight for power in Iraq's Kurdistan
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Amina Ismail | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +10 min

TENSE STANDOFFAfter Rasoul's death, the KDP-dominated Regional Security Council accused a PUK security agency of the killing. It detained six men it identified as operatives involved and issued arrest warrants for another four senior PUK security officials, according to security council statement a week after the attack. Long-simmering mistrust between the two sides had already deepened this year due to a wave of defections from PUK security agencies. The senior PUK official told Reuters there had been eight. "It could've easily turned ugly," the senior PUK official said.

☆ Iran's Khamenei praises Basij forces for confronting 'riots' - TV
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Saturday that Basij militia forces sacrificed their lives in "riots" sparked by the death in custody of a young Iranian Kurdish woman in September. The Basij force, affiliated with the country's Revolutionary Guards, has been at the forefront of the state crackdown on protests that have spread across the country. "They have sacrificed their lives to protect people from rioters," Khamenei said in a televised speech. The activist news agency HRANA said as of Friday 448 protesters have been killed, including 63 children. It said 57 members of the security forces have also been killed, and an estimated 18,170 people arrested.

☆ Iran's Khamenei praises Basij forces for confronting 'rioters' -TV
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei waves during a meeting with a group of Basij militia forces in Tehran, Iran November 26, 2022. Challenging the Islamic Republic’s legitimacy, protesters from all walks of life have burned pictures of Khamenei and called for the downfall of the Islamic Republic. The Basij forces, affiliated with the country's elite Revolutionary Guards, have been at the forefront of the state crackdown on the unrest in the past weeks. "They have sacrificed their lives to protect people from rioters ... the presence of Basij shows that the Islamic Revolution is alive," Khamenei said in a televised speech. Iran's hardline judiciary has sentenced at least six protesters to death and thousands have been indicted for their role in the unrest, according to officials.

☆ Security escort man wearing pro-Iran protest shirt ahead of match
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 - Group B - Wales v Iran - Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar - November 25, 2022. Reuters could not immediately confirm why the man, wearing a shirt declaring "Women, Life, Freedom", was being accompanied by three security officers in blue. A man standing next to her held a shirt printed with the words "WOMEN, LIFE, FREEDOM", one of the main chants of the protests. Another supporter held an Iranian flag with the words "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest), scored through with black lines as a security man stood nearby apparently pointing at him. Iran's World Cup team refrained from singing the national anthem ahead of their opening match with England on Monday, a sign of support for the demonstrations.

☆ Iran intensifies crackdown in Kurdish area; rights group says four killed
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-20 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The Norway-based human rights group Hengaw said military helicopters carried members of the widely feared Revolutionary Guards to quell the protests in the Sunni-dominated Kurdish city of Mahabad. The widely-followed activist account 1500Tasvir said a 16-year-old student and a school teacher were killed in the Kurdish city of Javanrud. Iran's state media said calm had been restored in the area. "In (the Kurdish city of) Marivan repressive forces have opened fire at people," Hengaw said. Some 54 members of the security forces were also killed, it said, adding that more than 17,251 people have been arrested.

☆ Canada's spy agency investigating Iranian death threats
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

OTTAWA, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Canada's spy agency is investigating reports from people who are living in the country who have received "credible" death threats from Iran, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said in a statement. The threats are "designed to silence those who speak out publicly" against Iran, the statement said. CSIS is collecting information from people who experienced harassment and intimidation linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the statement said. "CSIS is actively investigating several threats to life emanating from the Islamic Republic of Iran based on credible intelligence." The agency is working closely with Iranian-Canadian communities which have been "disproportionately" targeted, the statement said.

☆ Iran protests: Social media videos show flames at home of late leader Khomeini
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Reuters verified the location of two video clips using the distinctive arches and buildings that match file images. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, however, denied Khomeini's house was set on fire, saying a small number of people had gathered outside the house. The social media videos show dozens of people cheering as a flash of fire is sparked in a building. Two intelligence agents were killed in clashes with protesters on Thursday night, according to the Revolutionary Guards' news site. Iranian media said two Revolutionary Guards members were killed during unrest in the northwestern city of Bukan and a police colonel died in Sanandaj, capital of Kurdistan province late on Thursday.

☆ British spy chief: Iran tried 10 times to kidnap or kill UK-linked individuals
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

LONDON, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Iran's intelligence services have made at least 10 attempts to kidnap or even kill British nationals or individuals based in the United Kingdom regarded by Tehran as a threat, the head of Britain's domestic spy agency said on Wednesday. "At its sharpest this includes ambitions to kidnap or even kill British or UK-based individuals perceived as enemies of the regime," McCallum said in a speech at MI5's headquarters. McCallum said the Iranian intelligence services were "a sophisticated adversary" who sometimes operated using their own staff or courted others to work on their behalf, and sometimes they were prepared to take "reckless action". Iran said on Wednesday several French intelligence agents had been arrested in connection with the protests. "The current wave of protests in Iran is asking fundamental questions of the totalitarian regime," McCallum said.

☆ Iran strikes dissident sites in Iraqi Kurdistan, two dead - officials
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Local officials and security sources said the attacks had struck targets near Erbil and Sulaimaniya. The Revolutionary Guards have attacked Iranian Kurdish militant opposition bases in Iraq's Kurdish region since the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 triggered nationwide unrest. Iran has accused Iraq-based Kurdish militants of fomenting the unrest and threatened strikes against armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents. In an attack by the Guards in September, 13 people were killed and 58 were wounded near Erbil and Sulaimaniya. A media and public relation official with the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), an exiled Iranian Kurdish opposition party, told Reuters two of its fighters were killed in attacks on four of its offices.

☆ Former FIFA head Blatter says Iran should be barred from World Cup
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ZURICH, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter thinks Iran should be barred from the World Cup amid widespread protests in the Islamic Republic sparked by the death of a woman in the custody of morality police, a Swiss paper quoted him on Friday as saying. "Iran should be excluded from the World Cup," the Blick tabloid reported, saying Blatter at a talk at its publisher's headquarters had demanded harsh consequences and that he would have removed Iran from competition had he still been in charge. The protests in Iran pose one of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical rulers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Blick paper cited Blatter as saying it was incomprehensible that FIFA head Gianni Infantino had not taken a clear position on Iran. Blatter, 86, had made waves this week by saying it had been a mistake to award Qatar the hosting rights to the World Cup, which begins on Nov. 20.

☆ Iran warns Saudi Arabia 'our strategic patience' may run out - Fars
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

DUBAI, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Iran's intelligence minister told its regional rival Saudi Arabia on Wednesday that there is no guarantee of Tehran continuing its "strategic patience," according to semi-official Fars news agency. "Until now, Iran has adopted strategic patience with firm rationality, but it cannot guarantee that it will not run out if hostilities continue," Fars quoted Esmail Khatib as saying. Last month, Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami warned Saudi Arabia Riyadh to control its media outlets. "I am warning the Saudi ruling family.... Watch your behaviour and control these media ... otherwise you will pay the price. Last week Iran denied that it posed a threat to Saudi Arabia after the Wall Street Journal reported that Riyadh had shared intelligence with the United States warning of an imminent attack from Iran on targets in the kingdom.

☆ Canada imposes fresh Iran sanctions over human rights violations
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Oct 31 (Reuters) - Canada on Monday imposed fresh sanctions on Iran, marking the fourth package of sanctions it has implemented for alleged human rights violations in that country, the foreign ministry said in a statement. The latest sanctions target four individuals and two entities, including senior officials and Iran's Law Enforcement Forces, which Canada accused of participating in the suppression and arrest of unarmed protesters, according to the statement. "Canada will continue to support the Iranian people as they courageously demand a better future," Joly said. Canada has been carrying out a series of sanctions against Iran over alleged human rights abuses, including the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died while in custody of Iran's morality police. Reporting by Chris Gallagher in Washington; Editing by Lisa ShumakerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Spanish soccer fan walking to Qatar World Cup missing in Iran
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Spanish man, Santiago Sanchez, walks in Iraq's Kurdistan region towards Qatar, where he aims to attend the 2022 World Cup, near Zakho, Iraq August 28, 2022. REUTERS/Charlotte BruneauMADRID, Oct 26 (Reuters) - A 41-year-old Spanish soccer fan who set out to walk to Qatar to attend the World Cup in November has gone missing in Iran, where unrest has erupted in the past few weeks, Spain's foreign ministry has confirmed. Spain's Foreign Ministry confirmed Sanchez was in Iran and its embassy in Tehran was urgently seeking information on his whereabouts to provide him with consular assistance. He has already been to Iran, it's a hospitable country... but this time it was a delicate moment." He told Reuters in Zakho in Iraqi Kurdistan last month that he hoped he might meet the Spanish team and inspire them to victory in the 2022 World Cup.

☆ Iran's Guards warn cleric over 'agitating' in restive southeast
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Molavi Abdolhamid, Zahedan's leading Sunni cleric, said during his Friday sermon that officials including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, head of the Shi'ite-dominated state, were "responsible before God" for the Sept. 30 killings. State media said at the time of the Sept. 30 violence that "unidentified armed individuals" opened fire on a police station, prompting security forces to return fire. The Revolutionary Guards said five members of its forces and the volunteer Basij militia were killed during the Sept. 30 violence. Abdolhamid, the Sunni cleric, described the Sept. 30 killing as a massacre, saying bullets had been fired at heads and chests. The activist news agency HRANA reported on Friday that 244 protesters had been killed in the countrywide unrest, including 32 minors.

☆ Factbox: Ethnic groups swept up in Iran's nationwide protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Critics say these accusations aim to present the protests as ethnic unrest rather than a country-wide uprising, and to justify a crackdown. Rights group Hengaw says it has recorded the deaths of at least 32 civilians killed by government forces during protests. Estimated to number some 10 million, Iranian Kurds are also Sunnis and mostly live in northwestern regions bordering Turkey and Iraq - which also have large Kurdish minorities. Kurdish human rights organisation Hengaw has identified 23 Kurdish people killed in the latest protests. The Revolutionary Guards, which have put down unrest in the Kurdish region for decades, have accused armed Iranian Kurdish dissidents of involvement in the protests.

☆ Iranian Kurdish women flee brutal crackdown, take up weapons
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

Iranian Kurdish women who fled Iran's brutal crackdown on protests have taken up arms and are patrolling the heavily militarized Iraq-Iran border. CNN's Nima Elbagir reports.

☆ Khamenei warns Iran is like a 'mighty tree' that cannot be uprooted
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

"That seedling is a mighty tree now and noone should dare think they can uproot it," he said in remarks shown on state TV. Rights groups say more than 200 people have been killed in the crackdown, including teenage girls. Amnesty International said at least 23 children have been killed by security forces in Iran during the protests. State TV reported at least 26 members of the security forces have been killed. Security forces have also pressed their crackdown this week in Kurdish regions where the Revolutionary Guards have a track record of putting down dissent.

☆ Iran protests over woman's death persist despite crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

At least 185 people, including 19 minors, have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands have been arrested by the security forces, according to rights groups. The government says more than 20 members of the security forces have been killed. The Hengaw human rights group said on Monday security forces had fired towards residences in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj. Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi reiterated accusations that Iranian Kurdish dissident groups were supporting the protests and said security forces would "neutralize the desperate anti-revolutionary effort". Governor Ali Hashemi said some Iranians had tried to hijack the workers' protests by chanting anti-government slogans, according to Iran’s Young Journalists Club News (YJC) Telegram account.

☆ Iranian journalist who broke news on Mahsa Amini pays heavy price
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

At least 185 people, including 19 minors, have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands have been arrested by security forces, according to rights groups. The Iranian government says more than 20 security forces have been killed and that it will investigate civilian deaths. PASSIONATE ABOUT WOMEN'S RIGHTSThe Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on Iranian authorities to "immediately and unconditionally release ... all journalists arrested because of their coverage of Mahsa Amini’s death and the protests that have followed". It said last month that at least 28 journalists had been detained by the security forces, including Hamedi. Friends of Hamedi described her as a brave journalist who is passionate about women's issues and rights.

☆ Iran protests over woman's death persist despite crackdown, oil workers strike
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterAt least 185 people, including 19 minors, have been killed, hundreds injured and thousands have been arrested by security forces, according to rights groups. The Iranian government says more than 20 security forces have been killed. Iranian authorities have said they will investigate civilian deaths. Governor Ali Hashemi said some Iranians tried to hijack the workers' protests by chanting anti-government slogans, according to Iran’s Young Journalists Club News (YJC) telegram account. The Hengaw human rights group said on Monday security forces fired towards residences in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj.

☆ Factbox: Iran's minority Kurds in focus after woman's death in custody
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The demonstrations began in reaction to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and then spread to every one of Iran's 31 provinces. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe death of the ethnic Kurd raised tensions between the establishment and Iran's Kurdish minority, which human rights groups say have been long oppressed by Iran's leadership. Here are some facts about Iran's Kurds, part of a community that is spread across several Middle East countries and one of the world's largest people without a state. Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution touched off bloodshed in its Kurdistan region with heavy clashes between the Shi'ite revolutionaries and the Kurdish Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) which fought for independence. Rights groups say Kurds, who form about 10 percent of the population, along with other religious and ethnic minorities face discrimination under Iran's Shi'ite clerical establishment.

☆ Iran toughens crackdown as some oil workers reported to join protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-10 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Human rights group Hengaw reported a heavy presence of armed security forces in the Kurdish cities of Sanandaj, Saqez and Divandareh on Monday. Activists said on social media that several people, including two teenagers, were killed by security forces in the province. Blaming the protests on Iran's foreign foes, authorities said "rioters" have killed at least 20 members of the security forces. In spite of a harsh crackdown by security forces, protesters across Iran have burned pictures of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for the downfall of the clerical establishment and chanted "Death to the Dictator". "Instead of dying every minute under this regime's repression, I prefer to die with their (security forces) bullets in protests for freedom."

☆ Iran Attacks Northern Iraq With Missiles and Drones, Killing at Least 13
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( David S. Cloud | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iran attacked northern Iraq on Wednesday with more than 40 ballistic missiles and armed drones, one of which was shot down by a U.S. warplane as it headed toward the city of Erbil where American troops are based, according to U.S. and Iraqi officials. The strikes were by far the largest and most deadly in recent days by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has carried out repeated bombardments of Kurdish areas in northern Iraq since last week, after publicly blaming Iranian Kurdish separatist groups based there for fomenting unrest that has swept across Iran.

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