The US State Department has condemned Iran’s government for the violence in the southeast Baluchistan region. The statement comes at a time of high tensions between the two countries. On Thursday, the department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs called on Iran to show restraint in the area. “Deeply concerning reports of internet outages & government violence against fuel carriers & protestors in Iran’s Sistan & Baluchestan province.
Police in Iran enter a young man’s apartment looking for signs of “misconduct.” They rummage through his laundry and check his computer. The young man, who goes by the name of Sahand, stands accused of violating the laws of the Islamic Republic — a relative reported him to police after finding him in bed with another man. “It was terrible,” Sahand told DW. “Right after they found us my father was there screaming at me and telling me I ruined his life. He wanted nothing more to do with me and never wanted to see me again. The police came a while later. My mom then called my sister, who I had earlier confided in.”
Iran’s Alpine ski coach, Samira Zargari, couldn’t join her team for the world championships in Italy last week. The reason? Her husband barred her from leaving the country. The reaction on social media was swift, and many Iranians vented their fury by demanding the government change the law to give women back their right to travel internationally, along with other rights stripped away after they’re married. Based on domestic family law in the Islamic Republic, women give up the right to leave the country, pursue education or even choose where to live and work upon signing a marriage document.
Iran has reportedly summoned eight Baha’i citizens to begin prison terms after convicting them of security crimes for peaceful activities, including alleged communication with Western media and organizing educational programs for Baha’i children. Speaking to VOA Persian on Monday, an Iran-based source who is familiar with the situation of the eight Baha’is residing in the southern port of Bandar Abbas said they received a court notice of the prison summons the day before.
Since 1999, February 21 has been International Mother Language Day, as declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and supported by the Iranian regime. This and Article 15 of the Iranian Constitution, which states that “regional and ethnic languages” are permitted in the media, school literature, and in everything bar official documents that are produced in the official language of Persian, might lead you to believe that the various languages spoken in Iran – Azeri, Kurdish, Arabic, Turkmen, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Taleshi, Lori, Baluchi, Laki and Tati – are respected. This is not true.
Following the major protests over the killing of fuel carriers in Iran’s southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, many protesters have been brutally beaten and detained. In the past days at least four people were beaten and detained in Iranshahr by Intelligence police. In Shuru, a village near Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan, another three citizens were detained. Due to the internet blackout, the exact number of protesters killed, wounded or detained is not yet known.
An Iranian judge has threatened a 29-year-old political prisoner with being sentenced to death. Majid Khademi was arrested in Behbahan, Khuzestan province, just over a year ago on January 18, 2020 after taking part in the nationwide November 2019 protests over the tripling of fuel prices.
The southeastern region of Iran on Saturday reported internet disruptions following demonstrations against Monday’s fatal border shootings, AP reports. The big picture: Iran has a history of suppressing freedom of speech, association and assembly, according to Amnesty International. Internet blackouts are now common around the world when power hangs in the balance, Axios’ Dave Lawler and Sara Fischer write. Details: The Iranian government shut down the mobile data network in Sistan and Baluchestan — where the vast majority of the population accesses the internet by phone — for three days starting Wednesday.
The UN has slammed Iran for its record on minority rights and denounced an “apparently coordinated campaign” against minorities in the country. It comes after days of violence and unrest in the Sistan and Baluchestan province. “In Iran, an apparently coordinated campaign has been targeting minority groups since December, including in Sistan and Baluchestan, Khuzestan, and in the Kurdish provinces,” said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet.
Angry protests continued to break out several cities across Sistan-Baluchistan province for the third day in a row. According to local activists, at least two more people were killed, bringing the overall death toll to 12. Those figures, however, have been denied by Iranian officials. The turmoil began in the city of Saravan earlier this week after members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps opened fire on unemployed locals who have been struggling to earn an income by carrying untaxed fuel across the border to Pakistan.
In June 2018, agents from the Iranian regime tried to carry out a terrorist attack on an Iranian Resistance rally near Paris where supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) and the People’s Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK) were congregated. The plan was foiled before an incident could take place but in November 2020, the leader of the plot and three accomplices were brought to trial where they were later convicted and sentenced. The key perpetrator, Iranian diplomat Assadollah Assadi, received a 20-year prison sentence.
یک هفته پس از كشتار سوختبران در سراوان و به دنبال آن، آغاز اعتصاب و اعتراضات در بسیاری از شهرهای سیستان و بلوچستان، «کمپین فعالین بلوچ» از ادامه تجمعات اعتراضی در شهرهای سراوان، سوران، زاهدان، خاش، و ایرانشهر در شب گذشته و درگیری شهروندان با نیروهای امنیتی خبر داده است. کمپین فعالین بلوچ ضمن اعلام خبر ادامه تنشها در شماری از شهرهای سیستان و بلوچستان، ویدیوهایی را منتشر كرده است كه در آن، معترضان ساختمان بخشداری آشار در شهرستان سرباز را به آتش كشیده و جاده پنجشیر–میرجاوه را نیز بستهاند. از اوایل هفته گذشته و همزمان با آغاز اعتراضات، اینترنت موبایل در بسیاری از مناطق استان سیستان و بلوچستان قطع شده است. تصاویر منتشر شده در فضای مجازی نیز از حضور گسترده نیروهای امنیتی و یگانهای ویژه در بسیاری از شهرهای این استان حکایت دارد.
به دنبال تایید حکم مصادره اموال شهروندان بهایی روستای ایول ساری در مهرماه سال جاری توسط دادگاه تجدیدنظر، کاربران ایرانی با انتشار پیامهایی با هشتگ «ایول_خانه_آنهاست» یک طوفان توئیتری به راه انداختند. این در حالی است که بنا بر اخبار منتشر شده در رسانههای اجتماعی، این شهروندان و وکلایشان اجازه دسترسی به پرونده را نداشتهاند. در همین حال کاربران در توئیتر با انتشار پیامهایی، با اشاره به مصادره اموال این شهروندان بهایی، آزار و سرکوب بهاییان ایران را محکوم کردند و خواستار عدالت برای شهروندان بهایی شدهاند. ضیا نبوی با اشاره به رانده شدن بهاییان ساکن روستان ایول از محل زندگی خود نوشت: «خانههاشان ویران شد و زمینهاشان در اختیار ستاد فرمان اجرائی امام قرار گرفت تا مراکز فرهنگی جهت تبلیغ مهدویت احداث کنند.