Iran Claims It Arrested French Intelligence Agents In Protests

On Wednesday, three more death sentences were issued by Tehran’s revolutionary court. The new rulings are not final and can be appealed, the judiciary said.

According to allegations by the court, one of the defendants ran over securityforces with his car and killed one person and injured several others. Another one was claimed to have set fire to the governor's office of Pakdasht, a town in Tehran province, and attackedsecurity forces with cold weapons. The third defendant allegedly tried to block a street and damaged public property.

Iran’s Judiciary announced Tuesday a revolutionary court sentenced to death another defendant accused of “terrorizing people in the street using a bladed weapon, setting fire to the motorcycle of a citizen, and attacking a person with a knife.”

Within the past four days the Islamic Republic has handed several death sentences to protesters arrested during demonstrations sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in September.

On Sunday, the first death penalty was issued against a protester and another court sentenced five others from five to 10 years in jail each.

The Iranian Judiciary has not named the prisoners but claimed that the verdicts have been issued by a "court of first instance" and may be changed if those convicted refer the case to a court of appeal.

No one knows when and where the trials were held or if the accused had a chance to defend themselves. In most similar cases the government does not allow defendants to choose their own lawyers and there is no due process of law.

These sentences are issued after lawmakers called for the execution of some protestors.

Several countries and international organizations, including Canada, Germany and the United Nations, have urged the Iranian government to refrain from issuing death sentences for protesters.

At the same time, the conservative camp appears to be divided over the impact of the protests and the sustainability of changes that have already occurred in Iranian society because of more than two months of nationwide protests.

In a commentary in the reformist daily Etemad, leading reformist commentator Abbas Abdi wrote that although some simple-minded individuals still believe that the protests will come to an end soon, the situation warrants more careful analysis.

Abdi asserted that most of Iranians are not happy about existing conditions and support the protests as without their support the movement would not have started in the first place or would have already ended. He argued that the reason why the majority of Iranians do not actively take part in the protests is because they fear the consequences and do not see a promising prospect for the movement. He said the latter is a more important reason.

"The majority believes there is no guarantee that the movement will succeed so they hesitate in the interest of preserving the status quo although they do not like it. Some protesters, on the other hand, believe that whatever happens in the future cannot be worse than the current situation," Abdi argued. He added that unlike some hardliners who have said there will be hell after the Islamic Republic, this is not true because "the current government is unable to function normally and ensure economic growth, control inflation, boost employment and build houses for the people."

Abdi added that "hardliners hope people will be tired of the situation and will give up. "He maintained that "Iran will never return to the situation before protests started. What has happened is irreversible, so we must go on." He argued that change is the only way forward, but it is with positive steps on the part of the government that a breakthrough could happen. Otherwise, the people might choose open-ended uncertainty."

In the meantime, while moderate conservative politician and commentator Mohammad Mohajeri has said that Iranian women might continue defying hijab no matter what comes up in the future, Hamshahri daily, the mouthpiece of Tehran Municipality and the hardliners who run it, assured likeminded ultra-conservatives that "pious people should rest assured the situation will not remain like this."

Mohajeri noted that "as the problems of [compulsory] hijab and the morality police have remained unresolved, the presence of a large number of women without headscarves has become routine in many cities and this is likely to become the new normal for society." However, he noted that this state of indecision could last longer as the government is used to leaving problems unresolved.

Mohajeri agreed that the problem goes beyond hijab as there is a general dissatisfaction in Iran about the way the country is being governed.

On the other hand, Hamshahri wrote that the way women dress now is not likely to continue in the future, arguing that the protests have not led to more women taking off their headscarves, a claim clearly refuted by photos and videos showing many women without hijab.

Hamshahri added that some women take off their scarf as an act of protest and when the protests are over, rationality will also prevail. But there is a big "if" about the end of protests. With three days of more rigorous strikes and protests until Friday, and further plans for next week, the prospect Hamshahri envisages seems to be wishful thinking.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says the list is based on information obtained from CPJ’s sources inside Iran, media reports, and the Tehran Journalists Association.

The names of Niloofar Hamedi and Elaheh Mohammadi could also be seen in the list. They were arrested by the Iranian regime for reporting the death of Mahsa Amini who was killed in the custody of the hijab or ‘morality police’ in September.

CPJ named 62 journalists who were arrested in the past two months and 14 released, but the list will be regularly updated to record known arrests and releases, it said.

Last week, Reporters without Borders said since the start of the protests in reaction to Mahsa Amini's death on 16 September, at least 42 journalists were arrested throughout Iran.

It stated almost half of all newly arrested journalists are women, including two who are facing the death penalty. Reporters Without Borders urged the clerical rulers to immediately release the detained journalist.

Iran is reportedly the third largest jailer of journalists in the world, after China and Myanmar.

The Islamic Republic has long held one of the world’s worst press freedom rankings, at 178th out of 180 countries.

Although various United Nations bodies and experts have criticized Iran’s records for years, this would be the first dedicated deliberation and resolution against the behavior of the Islamic Republic.

The 35th special session of the Human Rights Council is set for Wednesday, November 24, following an official request submitted on November 11 by Germany and Iceland, which has been supported by 44 States thus far.

The resolution strongly deplores the reported deaths of at least 304 people, including 41 children, participating in the protests following the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in hijab police custody in September, as well as reported arbitrary arrests of thousands participating in the protests.

Urging the Islamic Republic to promote, protect and fulfill human rights, it calls on Tehran to take all necessary measures to prevent extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, sexual and gender-based violence, arbitrary arrests, detentions, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

According to the draft resolution, the HRC "decides to establish an independent international fact-finding mission to thoroughly investigate, engage with stakeholders and collect evidence of alleged human rights violations." It also urges Tehran “to grant unhindered access to the country without any delay and to provide the members of the fact-finding mission with all information necessary to allow for the proper fulfilment of their mandate.”

Tehran has denied entry to successive UN special rapporteurs on human rights for two decades and claims that such a mechanism has political basis and unnecessary.

Referring to the crackdown on protests, which has led to arrest of more than 15,000 people, the resolution stressed the need “for accountability for human rights violations, which is critical for the prevention of further violations.”

It also recalls the Islamic Republic’s “obligation to ensure prompt, effective, independent, transparent and impartial investigations into all reported human rights violations.”

Reaffirming the human rights of women and girls in Iran, the resolution expresses deep concerns “about allegations of pervasive human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran, including reports of women and girls being arbitrarily arrested and detained, beaten and sexually assaulted for exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

The resolution also touched on reports of the arbitrary arrest of minors for participating in protests, their incarceration at “psychological centers” and “preventative” detentions of civil society activists to restrict their ability to participate in or organize peaceful protests.

The UNHRC member states also voiced concerns about restrictions on communications affecting landline and mobile usage, including Internet shutdowns and blocking of social media platforms, which undermine the exercise of human rights, including the right to freedom of opinion and expression. They called on the authorities to fully restore Internet access, underlining the importance of maintaining free, open, interoperable, reliable and secure access to the Internet.

In another global move over Iran’s denial of women's rights and crackdown on protests, calls on the UN to expel the Islamic Republic from the UN Commission on the Status of Women are also getting stronger with Canada, New Zealand, Netherlands and the United States behind the push. UN Watch, an independent non-governmental human rights group based in Geneva, has drafted a resolution for the 54-nation UN Economic Social Council (ECOSOC) to remove Iran.

Protests on Tuesday, November 15 were the largest in a month and are set to continue this week as local media Wednesday reported the sentencing of a second detainee to death by regime courts.

The Iranian squad – nicknamed Team Melli – met with President Ebrahim Raisi hours before departing for Doha, irking many Iranians who did not expect the players to be so blithe about the current uprising across the country. They have been heavily criticized on Twitter since the meeting. 

During the nationwide protests on Tuesday, people also set fire to a government banner of the national team. 

During the past few days, Iranian legendary striker Ali Daei and outspoken star Ali Karimi, who has been charged in absentia for supporting the protests, said they rejected invitations by Qatar to watch the World Cup matches. 

Declining the invitation, Ali Karimi told President Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani in a letter released on Tuesday that “As you know, the people of Iran are currently going through a very difficult time. The international media largely ignores our struggles. Right now, there are more important issues for me than Football and I want to be with my people and be their voice.” 

During a press conference earlier on Tuesday, national team coach Carlos Queiroz claimed the players are free to join in the protests while they are playing at the World Cup in Qatar but must do so within the rules of the tournament. 

“You express yourself in football according to those principles and values. Everybody has the right to express themselves,” he said. 

Addressing a reporter who asked about the current situation in Iran, Queiroz said, “You guys are used to kneeling in the games and some people agree, some people don't agree with that, and in Iran it's exactly the same, but it is out of question to think that the Iran national team is suffering any sort of issues like that, the players only have one thing in mind, which is to fight for that dream to be in the second round.” The Iranian national team has failed in its five previous World Cup appearances to reach the second round.

Queiroz was asked whether he was proud to coach a country that repressed women. In a terse retort, the coach asked the reporter how much he would pay him to answer the question, before adding the reporter should think about the issue of immigration in the UK first.

The Iranian government is extremely worried about protests by fans or even players during the games and wants to make sure people will not see any manifestations on satellite TV. The state broadcaster can always cut away during live matches.

It is most probably for this reason that the Qatari government has denied accreditation to Iran International’s journalists from traveling there to cover the World Cup. 

Although FIFA has issued ID cards for our correspondents, the Qatari interior ministry denied accreditation.

Last month, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi expressed concern over possible problems that may happen during the FIFA World Cup, tacitly referring to people chanting slogans against the Islamic Republic during matches or players making statements about the situations in Iran. Earlier in November, he tasked the Foreign Ministry to contact Qatari officials regarding the issue to find ways “to predict and prevent possible problems."

Team Melli players covered up their national team badge when they played two warm-up internationals in September, which was interpreted as a sign of support for the protests, but other national teams and athletes have been more vocal and direct in their support for the protests. 

In less than a month, the pace of the athletes showing support for the protests has accelerated as the Iranian football, beach football, waterpolo, basketball, and sitting volleyball teams refused to sing along with the anthem, which is customary in almost all international competitions. Now with the biggest sporting event on the horizon, the regime is resorting to whatever it can to stifle the voices of dissent. Authorities have made serious threats against athletes and other celebrities to stop them from public displays of solidarity with protesters but to no avail.