Gen. Qassem Soleimani, a senior Iranian commander and one of the most powerful figures in the Middle East, was killed in an airstrike on the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq at the direction of President Donald Trump, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday. The assassination marks a monumental escalation toward Iran.
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is to go on hunger strike in her jail cell to show solidarity with another dual citizen detained in Iran, as the regime urged Western countries to stay out of its legal affairs.
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Iran, including its most recent of 19 September 2019 on Iran, notably the situation of women’s rights defenders and imprisoned EU dual nationals[1], – having regard to the Council conclusions of 4 February 2019 on Iran,
Iran’s authorities are carrying out a vicious crackdown following the outbreak of nationwide protests on 15 November, arresting thousands of protesters as well as journalists, human rights defenders and students to stop them from speaking out about Iran’s ruthless repression, said Amnesty International today.
Iran is facing its most serious protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. What began as a reaction to a sudden, 50 percent rise in fuel prices last month has since mushroomed into a far more generalized expression of anger. Facts remain muddled, in part because Iran initially imposed a total internet blackout, but credible sources suggest security forces have killed at least several hundred protesters in a brutal crackdown, with hundreds more injured and up to 7,000 arrested. Coming less than two years after a spate of protests throughout the country, this latest unrest suggests broad-based discontent with the regime and a deep-seated desire for economic and political change.
Over the past weeks, many people all across Iran have exercised their fundamental right to assemble and expressed their economic grievances. A growing body of evidence indicates that despite repeated calls for restraint, the Iranian security forces’ disproportionate response to recent demonstrations has led to high numbers of deaths and injuries. For the European Union and its Member States, the widespread and disproportionate use of force against nonviolent protestors is unacceptable.
Donald Trump celebrated a surprise prisoner exchange with Iran in a tweet on Saturday, just hours after a Princeton graduate student and an Iranian scientist were traded on the tarmac of Zurich’s international airport. “Thank you to Iran on a very fair negotiation. See, we can make a deal together!” he wrote. The swap was a rare moment of détente following months of escalating hostilities, which came within minutes of a military confrontation in June, after Iran shot down a sophisticated U.S. drone.
As more information gradually filters out of Iran in the wake of the recent protests, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Friday expressed alarm at the continuing lack of transparency about casualties and the treatment of thousands of detainees, as well as continuing arrests reported to be taking place across the country.
A wave of protest swept across Iran last week. The government had abruptly hiked gas prices in order to offset its budget deficit at a time of high inflation and negative economic growth. Angry protesters clashed with security forces, set government buildings and banks on fire, and blocked roads. The government responded with an iron fist, killing more than 200 protesters, arresting thousands, and shutting down the Internet across the country for about a week.
According to Amnesty International, at least 161 persons have been killed during the violent suppression of the November 2019 protests in Iran. The speaker of the National Security Committee of the Iranian Parliament confirmed that approximately 7000 persons have been arrested because of participating in the protests.
