Category Archives: Iran

Iranian man, 27, shot dead for celebrating team’s World Cup exit

Posted on by

Mehran Samak was killed by security forces after honking car horn in celebration of Iran’s defeat to US, human rights groups say

An Iranian man was shot dead by security forces after Iran’s national team lost to the US and exited the World Cup, as anti-government demonstrations took place inside and outside the stadium in Qatar and across Iran.

Mehran Samak, 27, was shot dead after honking his car horn in Bandar Anzali, a city on the Caspian Sea coast, north-west of Tehran, according to human rights activists.

Continue reading...

Anti-regime Iranians celebrate World Cup exit to US in solidarity with protests

Posted on by

Footage shows fireworks and cheering across Iran and at Qatar stadium after team representing Islamic Republic lost 1-0

Some Iranians have celebrated their team’s loss to the US and subsequent exit from the World Cup, as demonstrations against the government’s treatment of protesters took place inside and outside the stadium in Qatar and across Iran.

The contest between the Iranian and American sides, whose countries severed diplomatic ties more than 40 years ago, took place under increased security to prevent a flare-up over the anti-government protests that have taken place across Iran since the death in custody of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini on 16 September.

Continue reading...

Iran releases two former national team footballers arrested over protests

Posted on by

Both were bailed hours before Iran faces US in World Cup, following release of hundreds of other prisoners

Iran has released two former members of its international football team who were arrested on charges related to countrywide protests, just hours before the national squad was set to play the US at the World Cup.

Right-back Voria Ghafouri was detained last week and accused of tarnishing “the reputation of the national team and spreading propaganda against the state”, while retired goalkeeper Parviz Boroumand was arrested nearly two weeks ago on charges of participating in rallies in the capital, Tehran.

Continue reading...

Iranian artists call for boycott of cultural institutions with links to regime

Posted on by

Art activism has increased in and outside the country since death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini

Dozens of Iranian artists have called for an international boycott of cultural institutions run by or affiliated with the Islamic Republic in protest against the regime’s worsening human rights abuses.

The call by artists, writers, film-makers and academics living in Iran and among its diaspora comes amid growing anti-government art activism by Iranians inside and outside the country after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

Continue reading...

Niece of Iran’s supreme leader calls on other countries to cut ties with regime

Posted on by

Rights activist Farideh Moradkhani releases video describing government as ‘murderous and child-killing’ after her arrest

A niece of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called on foreign governments to cut all links with Tehran’s “murderous and child-killing” regime in a video posted online two days after she was arrested.

The video of a statement by Farideh Moradkhani, a well-known rights activist, has been circulating online after it was shared by her France-based brother Mahmoud Moradkhani on Friday. Mahmoud Moradkhani said his sister had been arrested on Wednesday after going to a prosecutor’s office following a summons.

Continue reading...

Top Iran footballer arrested at club for ‘spreading propaganda against the state’

Posted on by

Detention of Voria Ghafouri, who is not part of World Cup squad, seen as warning to players in Qatar

Iranian security forces on Thursday arrested one of the country’s most famous footballers, accusing him of spreading propaganda against the Islamic republic and seeking to undermine the national World Cup team.

Voria Ghafouri, a former member of the national football team and once a captain of the Tehran club Esteghlal, has been outspoken in his defence of Iranian Kurds, telling the government on social media to stop killing Kurdish people. He has previously been detained for criticising the former Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif.

Continue reading...

Iran protests: UN council votes to investigate human rights abuses

Posted on by

Official says country is in ‘fully fledged human rights crisis’ as fact-finding mission launched

The UN’s human rights council has voted overwhelmingly to set up a fact-finding investigation into human rights abuses in Iran, where an estimated 300 people have been killed and 14,000 arrested since protests began 10 weeks ago.

At a special session convened by Germany in Geneva the HRC voted by 25 to six to set up the inquiry, with 15 abstaining. The vote is regarded as a significant victory for human rights defenders, since a mechanism now exists to file evidence of abuses by the state, making the possibility of prosecutions in international courts more likely.

Continue reading...

Australian among 40 foreign nationals held in Iran’s jails amid escalating protests

Posted on by

Regime refuses to provide consular access as it does not recognise dual nationality, Dfat says

An Australian citizen is among at least 40 foreign nationals now held in Iranian jails amid pro-democracy protests across the country – and an escalating violent response by regime forces.

A spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the Iranian-Australian dual national had not been arrested for taking part in the anti-regime protests but confirmed that Australian officials had been refused access to assess the person’s welfare.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Iran arrests British-Iranian citizen for ‘communicating’ with foreign news channels

Posted on by

Person arrested in Isfahan province accused of sharing information with BBC and Iran International, says state media

An unnamed British-Iranian citizen was arrested in Iran’s Isfahan province on Wednesday for allegedly sharing information with foreign-based news channels, Iranian state media reported.

“The Revolutionary Guards’ Intelligence Organisation arrested a British-Iranian citizen who communicated with the BBC and Iran International,” the Islamic Republic of Iran’s News Network said, before adding the person was born in Britain.

Continue reading...

Iran blames Israel after bomb kills Revolutionary Guard colonel in Syria

Posted on by

Davoud Jafari and his bodyguard reportedly targeted by roadside bomb near Damascus

An improvised bomb has killed an Iranian colonel from the aerospace division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps near Syria’s capital, Damascus, Iranian media reported, blaming Israel for the attack.

The Islamic republic regularly calls for the destruction of the Jewish state, which in turn sees Iran, with its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and its regional proxies, as its biggest security threat.

Continue reading...

Iran planning massive expansion of uranium capacity – UN nuclear watchdog

Posted on by

Iran has begun producing enriched uranium at a second site, to a level one step away from weapons grade

The UN nuclear watchdog has confirmed Iran is enriching uranium to 60% at a second plant, amid the breakdown of the nuclear deal with major powers.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Tuesday that Iran was also planning a massive expansion of its enrichment capacity.

Continue reading...

Fears grow Iran players may face reprisals for not singing national anthem

Posted on by

Politician says no one will be allowed to ‘insult our anthem and flag’ as loyalist media vent fury over protests during England game

Iran’s footballers could face reprisals if they fail to sing the national anthem in their remaining World Cup group games, after a politician said the country “will never allow anyone to insult our anthem”.

The football team stayed silent while the anthem was played before their 6-2 defeat to England on Monday, in a symbolic show of support for the protest movement that has roiled Iran since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September.

Continue reading...

Iran players stay silent for anthem in apparent support for protests

Posted on by

World Cup footballers did not sing before match against England in apparent show of support for protesters back home

Not a single member of the Iranian team sang their country’s national anthem at the start of their World Cup match with England, in an attempt to distance themselves from their government.

One official on the touchline sang, only serving to highlight his isolation, but there was heavy booing of the anthem by the large Iranian crowd inside the stadium.

Continue reading...

‘We are all Mahsa’: Iranians in Doha for World Cup voice anger at regime

Posted on by

Signs of uprising were everywhere outside the stadium hosting England v Iran

Hundreds of Iranian fans arrived at Doha’s Khalifah stadium on Monday with a secret: they wanted their national team to lose.

“In my heart, I don’t want them to win,” said Mokhtar, 59, wincing visibly at the admission. The propaganda value of defeating Iran’s former colonial master, England, would simply be too irresistible for the country’s embattled rulers, he said.

Continue reading...

Iran arrests top actors who removed headcarves, in wider crackdown on celebrities

Posted on by

Prominent Iranians in film and sport have been condemned for expressing solidarity with the protest movement

Iran has arrested two prominent actors who expressed solidarity with the country’s protest movement and removed their headscarves in public, according to state media.

Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi were both detained after being summoned by prosecutors looking into their “provocative” social media posts, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency said.

Continue reading...

Women, life, freedom, food: chefs spread the word on Iran protests

Posted on by

#CookForIran uses the country’s rich culinary tradition to highlight the fight for human rights, says organiser Layla Yarjani

When Layla Yarjani thinks of Iran, she thinks of ice-creams by the Caspian Sea and eating beef tongue sandwiches with her dad in a Tehran cafe. She remembers the warmth and community spirit: the bustle of noisy dinner parties with neighbours, everyone reaching across one another for spoonfuls of Persian stew; and afternoons playing football with the boys on her street.

She also remembers the strict rules beyond her happy bubble: the ban on her mother leaving the country without a man’s permission; being ordered to chant “death to America” at school and the day she was scolded by teachers for wearing a Disney princess backpack, because the character’s hair was not covered by a headscarf.

Continue reading...

Armed police guard Iranian TV studios in London after Tehran threats

Posted on by

Persian language channel said threats to journalists had escalated in response to coverage of protests

Armed vehicles have been deployed outside the Iran International television studios in London after two of its journalists were threatened by Tehran, the channel said.

There were about seven vehicles outside the studio in Chiswick Park, west London, after “severe and credible” threats were recently made against two of the UK-based channel’s journalists, one of its spokesmen told AFP.

Continue reading...

Iranian protesters set fire to Ayatollah Khomeini’s ancestral home

Posted on by

Social media images show what is now a museum commemorating the Islamic Republic founder ablaze as protests continue

Protesters in Iran have set on fire the ancestral home of the Islamic republic’s founder Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as two months of anti-regime demonstrations show no let up.

The house in the city of Khomein in the western Markazi province was shown ablaze late on Thursday with crowds of jubilant protesters marching past, according to images posted on social media, verified by AFP.

Continue reading...

Iranian protesters chant anti-regime slogans at boy’s funeral

Posted on by

Footage shows mother of Kian Pirfalak telling mourners officials are ‘lying’ about cause of son’s death

Protesters at the funeral of a young boy whose family say was killed by Iranian security forces have chanted anti-regime slogans and ridiculed the official account of his death.

Hundreds of mourners flocked to the city of Izeh in south-western Iran for the funeral of Kian Pirfalak, according to footage posted online.

Continue reading...

Iran protests: family of boy, 9, killed in night of violence blame attack on security forces

Posted on by

Kian Pirfalak was one of several people killed on Wednesday as anger over Mahsa Amini transforms into wider protest against the regime

The family of a nine-year-old boy killed on Wednesday evening by assailants on motorbikes during some of the worst violence in Iran in two months of protests have accused security forces of carrying out the attack.

Kian Pirfalak was one of seven people, including a woman and a 13-year-old child, killed by gunmen in the western city of Izeh.

Continue reading...