DUBAI: Protests broke out in western Iran on Saturday at the funeral of a young woman who died after being detained by morality police enforcing strict hijab rules, and security forces used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.
Videos posted on social media showed protesters shouting anti-government slogans after gathering in Saqez, hometown of Mahsa Amini. They came from nearby cities in Iran’s Kurdistan province to mourn the 22-year-old who died in a hospital in the capital Tehran on Friday.
“Death to the dictator” — a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, chanted the crowd, while some women took off their headscarves. Police were seen firing tear gas and one man was shown on a video with an injury to the head that someone could be heard saying was caused by birdshot. Reuters could not authenticate the videos.
Protests spread to the provincial capital, Sanandaj and continued late into the night. Social media videos showed crowds chanting “Saqez is not alone, it’s supported by Sanandaj.” Marchers were seen confronting riot police amid the sound of sporadic gunfire. Other posted videos showed youths setting fire to tires and throwing rocks at riot police across clouds of tear gas.
In recent months, rights activists have urged women to publicly remove their veils, a gesture that would risk their arrest for defying the Islamic dress code as the country’s hard-line rulers crack down on “immoral behavior.”
Videos posted on social media have shown cases of what appeared to be heavy-handed action by morality police units against women who had removed their hijab.
INVESTIGATION INTO DEATH
Authorities have launched probes into the death of Amini, but a medical examiner said on Saturday results of forensic tests may take three weeks. Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli told state TV there was no report she was beaten.
Police said Amini became ill as she waited with other detained women at a morality police station, rejecting allegations on social media that she was likely beaten. Police released closed-circuit television footage apparently supporting their version of events. Reuters could not authenticate the video, which appeared to have been edited.
Police earlier said Amini had suffered a heart attack after being taken to the station to be “educated.” Her relatives have denied she suffered any heart condition.
Prominent sports and arts figures posted critical social media comments about Amini’s death and protests were held in Tehran on Friday amid a heavy presence of riot police.
As during past protests, authorities appeared to have restricted mobile Internet access in Saqez and nearby areas, social media posts said.
Internet blockage observatory NetBlocks reported “a significant Internet outage” in Tehran on Friday, linking it to the protests.
Under Iran’s sharia, or Islamic law, imposed after the 1979 revolution, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes to disguise their figures. Violators face public rebuke, fines or arrest.
Decades after the revolution, clerical rulers still struggle to enforce the law, with many women of all ages and backgrounds wearing tight-fitting, thigh-length coats and brightly colored scarves pushed back to expose plenty of hair.
Protests break out at funeral of Iranian woman who died after morals arrest
https://arab.news/pt89h
Protests break out at funeral of Iranian woman who died after morals arrest
- Protesters believe Mahsa Amini was beaten, though police say she became ill while under detention
- Authorities have launched probes into the death of Amini, though results of forensic tests may take time
Iran’s Khamenei rejects Trump’s call for unconditional surrender
- ‘The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage’
DUBAI/JERUSALEM: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a statement read by a television presenter on Wednesday that his country will not accept US President Donald Trump’s call for an unconditional surrender.
In his first remarks since Friday, when he delivered a speech broadcast on state media after Israel began bombarding Iran, Khamenei said peace or war could not be imposed on the Islamic Republic.
“Intelligent people who know Iran, the Iranian nation, and its history will never speak to this nation in threatening language because the Iranian nation will not surrender,” he said.
“The Americans should know that any US military intervention will undoubtedly be accompanied by irreparable damage.”
Thousands of people were fleeing Tehran on Wednesday after Israeli warplanes bombed the city overnight, and a source said Trump was considering options that include joining Israel in attacking Iranian nuclear sites.
Israel’s military said 50 Israeli jets had struck around 20 targets in Tehran overnight, including sites producing raw materials, components and manufacturing systems for missiles.
A source familiar with internal discussions said Trump and his team were considering a number of options, which included joining Israel in strikes against Iranian nuclear sites.
Iran had conveyed to Washington that it would retaliate against the United States for any direct participation, its ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said. He said he already saw the US as “complicit in what Israel is doing.”
Israeli army drone downed over Iran
- Iranian state television broadcast pictures of the wreckage of what it said was an armed Israeli Air Force Hermes drone in the central city of Isfahan
JERUSALEM: The Israeli military said Wednesday that one of its drones had been downed while operating over Iran, the first such loss it has acknowledged since the start of hostilities last week.
An army statement said the drone had gone down in Iran after being hit by a surface-to-air missile.
“No injuries were reported and there is no risk of an information breach,” it added.
Iranian state television broadcast pictures of the wreckage of what it said was an armed Israeli Air Force Hermes drone in the central city of Isfahan.
The Israeli air force has been launching daily raids on Iran since last Friday, with the country targeting missile sites in particular along with other military and nuclear-related sites.
Military spokesman Effie Defrin insisted that Israel was “operating freely” over Iran with air strikes that have involved “dozens of aircraft of various types.”
“We will continue to strike anywhere within Iran that we choose. Yes, there is resistance, but we control the skies and will continue to maintain that control,” he told a televised press briefing on Wednesday.
The Israeli military said on Monday it had achieved “total air superiority in the skies over Tehran.”
More than 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out air strikes in the Tehran area on Wednesday morning, targeting a production facility for uranium enrichment centrifuges among other locations, according to an earlier statement from the military.
Iran will respond firmly if US becomes directly involved in Israeli strikes, says UN ambassador
- Iran’s envoy to UN in Geneva Ali Bahreini sees the US as ‘complicit in what Israel is doing’
- Tehran would set a red line, and respond if the United States crosses it
GENEVA: Iran has conveyed to Washington that it will respond firmly to the United States if it becomes directly involved in Israel’s military campaign, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said on Wednesday.
Ali Bahreini told reporters that he saw the US as “complicit in what Israel is doing.” Iran would set a red line, and respond if the United States crosses it, he said, without specifying what actions would provoke a response.
Israel launched an air war on Friday after saying it had concluded Iran was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons. US President Donald Trump called on Tuesday for Iran’s “unconditional surrender.”
Bahreini called Trump’s remarks “completely unwarranted and very hostile. We cannot ignore them. We are vigilant about what Trump is saying. We will put it in our calculations and assessments.”
The US has so far taken only indirect actions, including helping to shoot down missiles fired toward Israel. It is deploying more fighter aircraft to the Middle East and extending the deployment of other warplanes, three US officials said.
“I am confident that (Iran’s military) will react strongly, proportionally and appropriately. We are closely following the level of involvement in the US... We will react whenever it is needed,” he said.
Thousands of people were fleeing Tehran and other major cities on Wednesday, Iranian media reported, as Iran and Israel launched new missile strikes at each other.
Iran’s former economy minister calls for Iranian control over Strait of Hormuz
- Ehsan Khandouzi: ‘This policy is decisive if implemented on time. Any delay in carrying it out means prolonging war inside the country’
DUBAI: Former Iranian Economy Minister Ehsan Khandouzi has said that tankers and LNG cargoes should only transit the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian permission and this policy should be carried out from “tomorrow for a hundred days.”
It was not immediately clear whether Khandouzi was echoing a plan under the Iranian establishment’s consideration or sharing his personal opinion.
Tehran has long used the threat of blocking the narrow waterway as a means to ward off Western pressure, without acting on its threats. The stakes have risen since Israel launched an air war on Iran last week after concluding the latter was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon. Iran maintains its nuclear program is purely for civilian purposes.
“This policy [of controlling maritime transit in the Strait]is decisive if implemented on time. Any delay in carrying it out means prolonging war inside the country,” Khandouzi posted on X on Tuesday.
Iran’s Oil Ministry and Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Khandouzi was economy minister until the summer of last year in the cabinet of late President Ebrahim Raisi and remains close to the Iranian establishment’s hard-liners.
The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and is the primary export route for Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Kuwait.
About 20 percent of the world’s daily oil consumption – around 18 million barrels – passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is only about 33 kilometers wide at its narrowest point.
Gaza rescuers say 30 killed by Israel fire
- Civil defense spokesman says 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded “after the occupation forces opened fire and launched several shells... at thousands of citizens”
GAZA: Gaza’s civil defense agency said 30 people were killed by Israeli fire in the Palestinian territory on Wednesday, including 11 who were seeking aid.
Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that 11 people were killed and more than 100 wounded “after the occupation forces opened fire and launched several shells... at thousands of citizens” who had gathered to queue for food in central Gaza.
In early March, Israel imposed a total aid blockade on Gaza amid deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.
Since then, chaotic scenes and a string of deadly shootings have occurred near areas where Palestinians have gathered in hope of receiving aid.
The civil defense agency said another 19 people were killed in three Israeli strikes on Wednesday, which it said targeted houses and a tent for displaced people.
When asked for comment by AFP, the Israeli military said it was “looking into” the reports.
Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency.
The UN humanitarian office OCHA said on Monday that its partners “continue to warn of the risk of famine in Gaza, amid catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity.”
The civil defense agency reported that at least 53 people were killed on Tuesday, as they gathered near an aid center in the southern city of Khan Yunis hoping to receive flour.
After Israel eased its blockade, the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) began distributing aid in late May, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and dozens of deaths.
In a statement on Tuesday, the organization said that “to date, not a single incident has occurred at or in the surrounding vicinity of GHF sites nor has an incident occurred during our operating hours.”
UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.
The Hamas attack which triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to Israeli official figures.
The Gaza health ministry said on Tuesday that 5,194 people have been killed since Israel resumed major operations in the territory on March 18, ending a two-month truce.
The overall death toll in Gaza since the war broke out has reached 55,493 people, according to the health ministry.
