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☆ Iran Arrests Supreme Leader’s Niece Amid Crackdown on Critics
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Iran arrested a human-rights activist who is also the niece of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , according to her family, part of a growing effort by the country’s regime to crack down on those who are critical of its response to a two-month-old protest movement. Iranian authorities arrested human-rights advocate Farideh Moradkhani on Wednesday after she went to a prosecutor’s office following a summons, her brother said over the weekend.

☆ Iran rejects U.N. investigation into protests - spokesperson
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Elwely Elwelly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

DUBAI, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Iran will reject a newly-appointed independent U.N. investigation into the country's repression of anti-government protests, the foreign ministry said on Monday, as demonstrations showed no sign of abating. "Iran will have no cooperation with the political committee formed by the U.N. Rights Council," ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said. The U.N. Rights Council voted on Thursday to appoint a probe into Iran's deadly crackdown on protests. Iran has proof that Western nations were involved in protests that have swept the country, Kanaani said on Monday. He did not say whether that figure also included deaths among other security forces such as the Revolutionary Guards.

☆ Niece of Iranian Supreme Leader calls out government
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( ) edition.cnn.com time to read: 1 min

Farideh Moradkhani, the niece of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has released a video calling on foreign governments to cut all ties with the Iranian government.

☆ Niece of Iran's supreme leader speaks out against his 'murderous and child-killing regime' as protests continue
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Mia Jankowicz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The niece of Iran's supreme leader condemned his regime in a video ahead of being imprisoned. Farideh Moradkhani praised Iran's protests and asked for countries to cut ties with Tehran. On Sunday, her brother posted a video to Twitter in which she condemned the country's regime, according to Agence France-Presse. "Oh free people, be with us and support us, so that your governments stop supporting this murderous and child-killing regime," Moradkhani said, per CNN's translation. Moradkhani is related to Khamenei by marriage, her father Ali Tehrani having married the supreme leader's sister, according to CNN.

☆ Niece of Iran's Supreme Leader urges world to cut ties with Tehran over unrest -online video
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"O free people, be with us and tell your governments to stop supporting this murderous and child-killing regime," Moradkhani said in the video. "This regime is not loyal to any of its religious principles and does not know any rules except force and maintaining power." HRANA said 450 protesters had been killed in more than two months of nationwide unrest as of Nov. 26, including 63 minors. On Nov. 23, Mahmoud Moradkhani reported her sister's arrest as she was heeding a court order to appear at the Tehran prosecutor's office. Criticism of the Islamic Republic by relatives of top officials is not unprecedented.

☆ Iran's violent crackdown against protesters escalates in parts of the country
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Https | Media-Cldnry.S-Nbcnews.Com Image Upload Newscms Alex-Smith-Circle-Byline-Template.Jpg | Alexander Smith | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +7 min

The group, which focuses on human rights in Iranian Kurdistan, said that at least 1,500 people have been injured. Scenes from reported clashes in the northeastern Iranian city of Javanrud, shared by a Kurdish human rights group on Tuesday. The regime-aligned agency blamed the violence on “rioters” and “Kurdish separatists” who infiltrated crowds of protesters and attacked an IRGC base. Some protesters have called for an overthrow of the regime and “death to the dictator” — meaning Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. These have been condemned by Kurdish officials and the Iraqi government, despite the latter being dominated by parties close to Iran.

☆ 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.

☆ 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 official says 50 police killed in protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

DUBAI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - Around 50 police have been killed in the protests shaking Iran since September, the deputy foreign minister said on Thursday, giving a first official death toll amid an intensified crackdown on Kurdish areas in recent days. U.N. rights chief Volker Turk said on Thursday Iran faced a "full fledged human rights crisis" with 14,000 people arrested so far, including children. "Around 50 police officers were killed during the protests and hundreds were injured," said Iran's deputy foreign minister Ali Bagheri Kani, who is also Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, in an interview on Indian television. He gave no figure for the number of protesters killed but said the Interior Ministry had formed a panel to investigate the deaths. Iranian state media reported last month that 46 security forces had been killed but without citing officials.

☆ U.N. rights council votes to probe Iran's ongoing crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERSGENEVA/DUBAI, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The U.N. Rights Council voted on Thursday to appoint an independent investigation into Iran's deadly repression of protests, passing the motion to cheers of activists amid an intensifying crackdown in Kurdish areas over recent days. Tehran's representative at the Geneva meeting Khadijeh Karimi earlier accused Western states of using the council to target Iran, a move she called "appalling and disgraceful". CRACKDOWNThe crackdown has been particularly intense in Kurdish areas, located in western Iran, with the U.N. rights monitor this week noting reports of 40 deaths there over the past week. Iranian authorities have arrested a number of soccer players for expressing their support for protests. Asked on Thursday about the unrest at home Iran national team striker Mehdi Taremi said they were in Qatar to play soccer.

☆ Iran says 40 foreigners arrested for taking part in antigovernment protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( Lee Ying Shan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration in support of Amini, a young Iranian woman who died after being arrested in Tehran by the Islamic Republic's morality police, on Istiklal avenue in Istanbul on September 20, 2022. Iran's judiciary spokesperson reportedly said Tuesday that 40 foreign nationals have been detained for participating in recent anti-regime protests. The individuals whose nationalities have not been revealed were arrested in accordance with Iranian laws, Iran's judiciary spokesman Masoud Setayeshi said in a regular news briefing, state media Mehr News reported. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had in earlier stages of the protest blamed foreign "enemies" for orchestrating what he termed as "riots." In late September, nine Europeans from France, Sweden, Italy, Germany among other countries were arrested by the Iranian government for their involvement in the protests.

☆ 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.

☆ Iran leader says 'enemies' may target workers as protests rage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

One of the boldest challenges to Iran's clerical leaders in decades, the protests have been gaining steam, frustrating authorities who have blamed Iran's foreign enemies and their agents for orchestrating the disturbances. But the enemies have a new trick every day, and with today's defeat, they may target different classes such as workers and women," state television quoted Khamenei as saying. Protests spread into the vital energy sector last month but demonstrations by workers, which have partly addressed demands linked to pay and working conditions, have been limited. In 1979, a combination of mass protests and strikes by oil workers and bazaar merchants helped to sweep the clergy to power in Iran's Islamic revolution. HRANA said 402 protesters had been killed in the unrest as of Friday, including 58 minors.

☆ Deaths of Children at Iran Protests Stir Anger Among Demonstrators
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Benoit Faucon | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Mourners gathered Friday for the funeral of a 9-year-old Iranian boy shot during one of the protests that have shaken the country, chanting for the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as anger grows over the deaths of dozens of children involved in the demonstrations. In a protest movement that is overwhelmingly made up of young people, the presence of minors has been common at demonstrations, especially teenagers who have driven the movement with actions at schools. Of the 381 protesters that human-rights groups say have been killed, at least 57 have been minors.

☆ 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.

☆ Iranians strike to mark 2019 protests in fresh rebuff to ruling clerics
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

In the latest protests, the rights activist HRANA news agency said 344 people have been killed, including 52 minors. Videos shared on social media showed strikes and gatherings in several cities and towns. On Monday, the European Union imposed additional sanctions over the crackdown on protests and French President Emmanuel Macron characterised the unrest as a revolution. A video on 1500Tasvir showed people running down a street in Tehran's western neighbourhood of Shahrak Gharb after several gunshots could be heard. The 1500Tasvir account also showed a video of people at a metro shouting "death to the dictator", a slogan referring to Khamenei.

The first known death sentence handed down to a defendant linked to the unrest sweeping Iran has fanned fears of an even harsher crackdown as the government struggles to stamp out demonstrations challenging its rule. Mansoureh Mills, a researcher on Iran for the human rights group Amnesty International, said the sentence and arrests showed that the government was trying to end the unrest, once and for all. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said that 15,800 protesters have been detained and 344 killed since the protests began. On Monday, the European Union announced new sanctions against 29 individuals in Iran and three entities over the ongoing crackdown on protesters. The United Kingdom also announced two dozen sanctions against Iranian officials on Monday.

☆ EU piles pressure on Iran's leaders with more sanctions
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Macron said the crackdown by Iranian leaders would make it harder to reach agreement on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, which would give Iran sanctions relief in exchange for curbs on its nuclear programme. "I don't think there will be new proposals which can be made right now to save the nuclear deal." Speaking after he met four Iranian women activists in Paris over the weekend, Macron said that more European Union sanctions would be adopted in reaction to Tehran's actions. Iranian leaders blame foreign enemies including the United States for what they call riots. In a letter published by Emtedad news website, some 2,300 graduated students of Amirkabir University in Tehran urged authorities to release students detained.

☆ Iranians protest nationwide, mark 'Bloody Friday'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

Summary Prominent Sunni cleric criticises security forcesUnrest in minority areasGeneral tells clerics to restore calmDUBAI, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Iranians protested in the restive southeast on Friday to mark a Sept. 30 crackdown by security forces known as "Bloody Friday", as the country's clerical rulers battled nationwide unrest. The region is one of the country’s poorest and has been a hotbed of tension where Iranian security forces have been attacked by Baluch militants. Thirty-nine members of the security forces had also been killed, while nearly 15,100 people have been arrested, it said. They were accused of acts of sabotage, assaulting or killing members of the security forces or setting fire to public property. Several social media videos showed a gathering at Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery to honour Amir Mehdi Farrokhipour, a 17-year-old allegedly killed by security forces 40 days ago.

☆ Leading Iranian actor posts picture without a headscarf in support of anti-government protests
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Kriti Gandhi | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A prominent Iranian actor has posted a photo of herself without a headscarf on Instagram to express her support for the ongoing anti-government protests. Azadi,” a Kurdish slogan that has become popular during the demonstrations and translates to “Woman. Freedom,” Taraneh Alidoosti’s long brown, elbow-length hair is uncovered as she stares into the camera. She also starred in “Leila’s Brothers,” the Iranian film directed by Saeed Roustayi, which featured at this year’s Cannes Film Festival. A well-known human rights and women’s rights activist, Alidoosti is one of several female Iranian actors who have expressed their support for the protests by posting pictures on social media of themselves with their heads uncovered.

☆ Analysis: Iran's unrest sounds death knell for once vibrant reformists
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

It highlighted the main problem facing reformists in a system where Khamenei, 83 and in power since 1989, wields ultimate power. "People feel reformists helped hardliners by promising reforms that were impossible with hardliners in power," a former official who served in the Khatami administration told Reuters. The reform movement is dead." That view has been echoed in the streets where protesters have grouped reformists with hardliners as part of the problem. The fact is that the reform movement is dead, its has been dead for some time," he said.

☆ Iran's army issues warning to 'rioters' as security forces struggle to suppress unrest
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

... should he decide to deal with them, rioters will no longer have a place in the country," Brigadier General Kiumars Heydari said. Heydari was speaking 40 days after bloodshed in the mostly Sunni town of Zahedan, which has become a flashpoint in the protests. Authorities in Zahedan sacked the police chief and the head of a police station near where the killings took place. On Wednesday, shopkeepers in some Kurdish cities went on strike to show their respect to the people who were killed in Zahedan, Kurdish rights group Hengaw said. The Basij militia and other security forces have taken tough measures hoping to suppress the unrest but the fury has not eased.

☆ Iran lawmakers demand severe punishment for 'rioters' as protests rage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Thirty-eight members of the security forces had also been killed, it added. State media said last month that more than 46 security forces, including police, had been killed. Demonstrations continued in many cities on Sunday, from Tehran to central city of Yazd and northern city of Rasht, according to rights groups and videos on social media. Reuters could not verify the rights groups' reports independently, or the social media posts and footage. Hengaw said Ghaderi died in a coma on Saturday after suffering severe blows to her head by the security forces while demonstrating in Tehran.

☆ Iran acknowledges sending drones to Russia for first time
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-05 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

“We gave a limited number of drones to Russia months before the Ukraine war,” Amirabdollahian told reporters after a meeting in Tehran. The U.S. and its Western allies on the Security Council have called on Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to investigate if Russia has used Iranian drones to attack civilians in Ukraine. As he acknowledged the shipment, Amirabdollahian claimed on Saturday that Iran was oblivious to the use of its drones in Ukraine. “If (Ukraine) has any documents in their possession that Russia used Iranian drones in Ukraine, they should provide them to us,” he said. “If it is proven to us that Russia used Iranian drones in the war against Ukraine, we will not be indifferent to this issue.”

☆ Many young Iranians lose their fear in struggle for "freedom"
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Parisa Hafezi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

Her sentiment was echoed by a dozen young Iranians from across the country interviewed by Reuters by phone. As a young woman, her death sparked anger among Iranians who do not want their daughters arrested because of how they dress. Many young Iranians have long called for the lifting of social restrictions, such as internet censorship and strict dress codes. With student numbers swelling in Iran's young population, such signs of growing dissent cannot be easily ignored by the authorities, a former moderate official said. By defying state warnings to end protests, students have paid a heavy price.

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