Tag: Iran

Iranian football players FIFA

Iranian Football Team Players Refused To Sing Their National Anthem At FIFA

By LokMarg

The Iranian football team players on Monday refused to sing their national anthem before their opening match against England on Monday at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, in apparent solidarity with protesters back home.

The national team shows support for the anti-government protests taking place after Mahsa Amini’s death, reported Al Jazeera.
As Iran’s national anthem played at Khalifa International Stadium, television cameras showed the starting players standing stoically, but not singing. Iran lost the match to England, 6-2.

Iran has headed into the tournament amid a backdrop of mass protests against the regime, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September.

The unrest in Iran began in September when a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, died while in the custody of the morality police. Protests have since spread across the nation, challenging the authority of the government even as security forces have cracked down. Hundreds of people have died in the violence, reported Al Jazeera.

The decision not to sing the national anthem isn’t the first time the Iranian team has shown support for the protesters. In late September, the team opted to wear black jackets to cover the country’s colours in their friendly against Senegal.

Before flying out to Doha for the World Cup, the team met with President Ebrahim Raisi. The meeting didn’t go down well with protesters, and banners of the team were burned on the eve of the tournament.

Masih Alinejad, a New York-based activist from Iran, went further in her condemnation of the team, reported CBS News.

“Iran is the only country in the World Cup that its people want their national football team to lose since the team doesn’t represent the people but the regime,” she wrote.

Iran’s beach football, water polo, and basketball teams have also recently refused to sing the national anthem. At a news conference on Wednesday, the captain of Iran’s football team, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, refused to confirm if his team would sing the anthem.

“That’s something that also has to be decided about in the team, which we already talked about, and obviously everybody’s talking about,” he said.

Ahead of Monday’s game, some Iran fans in Qatar also signaled support for the protesters back home. They wore T-shirts saying, “Women, life, freedom”, which is the popular chant of the movement that has arisen since Amini’s death, reported Al Jazeera.

The decision by the football team to remain silent during the anthem on the sport’s biggest stage represents the boldest move so far from the country’s athletic stars. It is unclear whether players will face any consequences.

On Sunday, defender Ehsan Hajsafi became the first Iranian player at the World Cup to publicly speak out in support of the protests, reported Al Jazeera.

“They should know that we are with them and we support them and we sympathise with them regarding the conditions,” he said.

England also made a strong political gesture before kickoff by taking a knee in protest of racism and inequality. While they didn’t take a knee in their September friendlies, they’ve decided to do so ahead of every game they will play at the World Cup.

“We think it is a strong statement to go around the world for young people, in particular, to see that inclusivity is very important,” England manager Gareth Southgate said on Sunday.

At least 419 protesters have been killed since September, including 60 children, and more than 17,000 people have been arrested, according to the Iranian Human Rights Activists News Agency’s latest statistics. The protests have rocked Iran since the killing in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16.

Initially led by women, the protests have grown into the most significant anti-government demonstrations the regime has faced since it came to power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. (ANI)

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Anti-Hijab Protest In Iran

10 Killed In Anti-Hijab Protest In Iran

By LokMarg

At least 10 people, including children were killed on Friday, in crackdown against anti-hijab protest in Iran by Iranian security forces in the southeast of the country, reported CNN citing a human rights watchdog.

The report further said that Iranian security forces had fired live ammunition at “peaceful protesters from the rooftops of the governor’s office and several other buildings” in the city of Khash in Sistan and Balochistan province.
According to Iranian state media and activists, protests against authorities turned violent on Friday in several cities across southeast Iran, including Khash. One video from the city posted by state media showed plumes of smoke rising from a building.

The group said it was “gravely concerned about further bloodshed amid internet disruptions and reports of authorities bringing more security forces to Khash from Zahedan.”

“Iran’s authorities must immediately rein in security forces. Member states of the UN must immediately raise concerns with Iran’s ambassadors and support the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism by the UN Human Rights Council,” the human rights watchdog said.

A video shared with CNN by the activist outlet IranWire from Khash appears to show several protesters wounded and unconscious on the ground, after loud gunshots rang out in the background.

Meanwhile, the country’s semi-official Fars News Agency posted images on Twitter showing charred cars and damaged buildings, with a caption that blamed the damage on “rioters.”

During Friday’s “unrest in Khash, several people were killed and injured,” Fars said in the tweet.

“The governorate, the building of Jihad Agriculture and several other government buildings, several kiosks and police cars, people’s private cars, and almost all banks were set on fire by rioters,” Fars added.

The violence Friday comes amid nationwide protests against the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish women who died after being detained by morality police in Tehran.

Large-scale demonstrations have also taken place recently in Zahedan, the state capital of Sistan and Balochistan, following the alleged rape of a Baloch girl by the police chief, reported CNN.

The province, neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan, is home to members of the long-oppressed predominantly Sunni Muslim Baloch ethnic minority and has a history of unrest.

Authorities removed the head of police in Zahedan last week, but protests continued and on Thursday, a high ranking Shia cleric was shot dead by masked gunmen in Zahedan, according to state news agency IRNA.

The Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations (CCITTA) also tweeted on Friday that at least 16 protesters were killed, and dozens more were injured after Iranian security forces opened fire on protesters in Khash, reported CNN.

However, the death toll cannot be verified. A precise death toll is impossible for those outside Iran’s government to confirm. Numbers vary by opposition groups, international rights organizations, and local journalists. (ANI)

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Israel Protests Mahsa Amini

Iran’s Khamenei Blames the US, Israel For Protests Over Mahsa Amini

By LokMarg

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, has blamed the United States for the ongoing protest in the country following the death of Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being arrested for allegedly violating the strict dress code.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony on Monday, Khamenei said he was heartbroken at the death of the 22-year-old girl in police custody. However, he did not approve of the large-scale demonstrations following the death of Amini.

“We were heartbroken, too. But the reaction to this incident, while no investigation has been done and nothing has been certain, should not have been this that some people come and make the streets insecure, cause the people to feel unsafe, harm the security, burn the Quran, remove the hijab of a woman, burn mosques and hussainiyahs, and arson banks and people’s cars,” he was quoted as saying by news agency IRNA.

Ayatollah Khamenei alleged that this chaos was planned by the United States and some Iranians who are living abroad have helped them.

Amini, 22, was arrested by Iran’s “morality police” in the capital, Tehran, on September 13, for allegedly not wearing a hijab in full compliance with mandatory requirements. According to the authorities, she fell into a coma shortly after collapsing at a detention center and died three days later from a heart attack.

Since her death, thousands have joined anti-government demonstrations throughout the country. Security forces have responded at times with live ammunition, and many people have been killed, injured, and detained in the protests.

More than 100 people have been killed in nationwide protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, according to the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) NGO. The group said the international community has a duty to investigate this crime and prevent further crimes from being committed by Iran.

Last week, the UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was becoming “increasingly concerned” about reports of the death toll rising, “including women and children.”

In his statement released via his Spokesperson, UN Secretary-General said he had been following events closely, and he called on security forces to stop using “unnecessary or disproportionate force”.

He appealed for restraint, to avoid any escalation: “We underline the need for a prompt, impartial, and effective investigation into Mahsa Amini’s death by an independent competent authority.” (ANI)

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IAF Jets Scrambled, Bomb Threat On China-Bound Iranian Plane Over India

By LokMarg

Indian Air Force fighter jets were scrambled to intercept an aircraft with its origin in Iran and headed to China, which was moving towards New Delhi airspace.

According to sources, inputs were received at 9:20 am by Delhi Police about a bomb threat on board a Mahan Air flight headed to Guangzhou in China from Tehran in Iran.
It triggered an alert and permission was not granted for the plane to land in Delhi and the plane was instructed by Air Traffic Control (ATC) to divert to Jaipur. Reportedly the pilot refused to divert the plane following which Indian Air Force jets were scrambled to intercept and escort the plane.

The aircraft was headed to China as its final destination, had entered Indian airspace when the alert from Indian Air Traffic Control was shared with the plane. Indian Air Force Su-30MKI fighter jets from Punjab and Jodhpur airbases were scrambled to intercept the plane, sources told ANI.

Data from Filghtradar24 showed the plane reducing altitude over the Delhi-Jaipur airspace for a brief period before it was seen making its way out of Indian airspace.

According to ATC sources, Mahan Air requested for immediate landing at Delhi airport but Delhi ATC directed it to head to Jaipur Airport. The pilots of the Iranian carrier did not do so and eventually left Indian airspace.

The nature of the bomb threat is still unclear.

The plane was seen continuing on its flight path towards China. (ANI)

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Anti-Govt Protests In Iran

19 Killed In Anti-Govt Protests In Iran

By LokMarg

19 people were killed in Iran on Friday in one of the deadliest clashes between the police and protestors since the anti-government demonstrations started in the country over the death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman called Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after her arrest for allegedly failing to comply with Iran’s strict rules on women’s dress by wearing an “improper hijab”.

Iranian state news agency IRNA quoted Sistan and Balochistan provincial governor Hossein Modarres Khiabani as saying 19 people were killed and 20 wounded in the confrontation, including the police.
Iranian protesters and police had a violent confrontation in southeastern Iran. The confrontation happened as worshippers from Iran’s Sunni minority left Friday prayers at the Makki Grand Mosque in Zahedan, capital of Sistan and Balochistan province, reported Voice of America (VOA).

Footage shows men apparently bleeding from wounds being carried by others and placed on the ground as onlookers try to render first aid.

One video filmed from inside the mosque shows worshippers walking to the exits and then running as apparent gunfire is heard outside.

Other clips apparently from surrounding streets show a man running and throwing a stone, a police vehicle on fire, and people watching as more gunfire is heard in the distance reported VOA.

Dubai-based Iranian dissident Habibollah Sarbazi, who serves as secretary-general of the Balochistan National Solidarity Party, told VOA Persian that some worshippers joined an anti-government protest at a nearby police station and threw stones. Police responded by opening fire.

Sarbazi, whose group is one of several fighting for the rights of Iran’s ethnic Baloch minority, said he learned about the confrontation from what he called reliable sources inside Iran.

He said those sources told him the protesters were angered in part by allegations earlier this month that a police official at the station had sexually assaulted a teenage girl, reported VOA.

Another semiofficial news agency, Tasnim, said one of those killed was the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps intelligence commander of Sistan and Balochistan province, Seyyed Ali Mousavi.

Iranian state media described the protesters as terrorists and separatists and accused them of firing weapons at police.

The Iranian opposition-led Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) told VOA that its sources inside Iran estimated that at least 40 protesters were killed and at least 20 security personnel were wounded.

In the past two weeks, Iranian authorities and rights activists have reported the killings of dozens of people including some security personnel as the government cracks down violently on mostly peaceful nationwide protests, reported VOA.

Initial public expressions of anger at Amini’s death and Iran’s decades-old mandatory public headscarf policy for women quickly evolved into Iranian protesters calling for more freedoms and the death of Iran’s Islamist rulers.

In recent years, Sistan and Balochistan provinces have seen occasional confrontations between Iranian security forces and armed groups including anti-government Baloch rebels and gangs engaged in smuggling across Iran’s border neighboring Pakistan and Afghanistan. (ANI)

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Hijab Protests

Iran Suspends Internet To Cripple Protests Against Hijab

By LokMarg

Iranian authorities on Saturday announced to restrict internet access in the country over intensified protests after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after her arrest for allegedly failing to comply with Iran’s strict rules on women’s dress by wearing an “improper hijab”.

The internet monitoring agency Netblocks said Friday that Iranians are facing a third wave of “nation-scale” loss of mobile internet connectivity as the protests continue, reported CNN.

The watchdog group said earlier in the week that Iran was experiencing the most severe internet restrictions since 2019, with mobile networks largely shut down and social networks Instagram and WhatsApp restricted in the country since protests began.

To circumvent internet blocks, Iranians both inside the country and in the diaspora are turning to popular Virtual Private Network (VPN) providers such as Tor Project and Hula VPN – the top downloaded apps available in Iran via Google Play Store, a marketplace for Android smartphone users to download apps, according to monitoring service AppBrain.

However, Netblocks has warned that the kind of internet disruption seen currently in the country “cannot generally be worked around with the use of circumvention software or VPNs,” reported CNN.

Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in protest since the death last week of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was apprehended in Tehran and taken to a “re-education center”, apparently for not wearing her hijab properly.

Since Friday, demonstrations have taken place in at least 40 cities nationwide, including the capital Tehran, with protesters demanding an end to violence and discrimination against women as well as an end to compulsory wearing of the hijab.

Dozens of protesters have reportedly been killed in the resulting clashes with security forces, reported CNN.

Amnesty International said Friday that at least 30 people, including four children, had died; according to state media the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, 35 people have died.

Authorities hope that by restricting the internet they can bring the protests under control.

Speaking with state broadcaster IRIB on Friday, Iran’s Minister of Communications Ahmad Vahidi said, “Until the riots end, the internet will have limitations. To prevent riot organization through social media, we are obliged to create internet limitations.”

Vahidi’s comments came after videos on social media showed scenes of public defiance, with women removing and burning their headscarves and demonstrators chanting such slogans as, “women, life, freedom.”

The move to further restrict the internet also followed a call by the United Nations for an independent investigation into Amini’s death and for Iran’s security forces to refrain from using “disproportionate force” on the protesters, reported CNN.

Amini’s death has now become a symbol of the violent oppression women have faced in Iran for decades, and her name has spread around the globe, with world leaders invoking her even at the United Nations General Assembly in New York City this week.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Thursday said UN experts strongly condemned the use of physical violence against women in Iran by state authorities, reported CNN.

“Iranian authorities said (Amini) died of a heart attack, and claimed her death was from natural causes. However, some reports suggested that Amini’s death was a result of alleged torture and ill-treatment,” it said in a statement.

“We call on the Iranian authorities to hold an independent, impartial, and prompt investigation into Ms Amini’s death, make the findings of the investigation public and hold all perpetrators accountable,” it added.

Meanwhile, Internet activist hacker group Anonymous has also targeted the Iranian government online over the past week, announcing several breaches of government websites on Thursday, reported CNN.

Using the hashtag #OpIran, short for Operation Iran, which started gaining traction on social media following the death of Amini, Anonymous also tweeted Thursday that the organization was successful in hacking more than 1,000 CCTV Iranian cameras – a claim CNN has not been able to independently confirm.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday said that he was “concerned about reports of peaceful protests being met with excessive use of force leading to dozens of deaths and injuries.”

“We call on the security forces to refrain from using unnecessary or disproportionate force and appeal to all to exercise restraint to avoid further escalation,” Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at the daily briefing on UNTV.

The UN said it’s closely following the protests in Iran and called on authorities to “respect the right to freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly and association.”

Guterres reiterated a call from the Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights for a prompt investigation into the death of Amini by an “independent competent authority,” reported CNN. (ANI)

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