Iranian justice said late Sunday that an unnamed person was sentenced to death for “arsoning a government center, disturbing public order and conspiring to commit crimes against national security” in addition to “moharebeh” (waging war against God). and “Corruption on Earth.” Five other unnamed people, described by authorities as “rioters” – a word the government uses to describe the ongoing protests and those involved in them – were sentenced to between five and 10 years in prison on charges related to national security. The judiciary noted that the sentences were preliminary and would have to be confirmed by an appeals court to be considered final and for details to be made public. The judiciary has previously said more than 1,000 indictments have been issued in Tehran alone, while hundreds more have been brought against people arrested across the country. The first public trials related to the protests were held in late October in Tehran, with leading members of the political establishment calling for swift trials to punish “rioters” and prevent further protests. Last week, a majority of members of the Iranian parliament also called on the judiciary “to deal decisively with the perpetrators of these crimes [the protests] and with all those who aided in the crimes and caused disturbances.’ The protests began in mid-September after the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who was arrested in Tehran by morality police for allegedly not complying with a state-imposed dress code. Protests have continued amid continued internet restrictions, with the third anniversary of the country’s November 2019 protests approaching later this week. Those protests erupted across Iran after gasoline prices tripled overnight and were accompanied by a complete internet shutdown that lasted nearly a week.
Zahedan research
On Sunday, a delegation sent by the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei traveled to Zahedan in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan to investigate events that took place on September 30 that left dozens dead. On the day now known as “Bloody Friday”, at least 66 people, including children, were killed by live fire, according to Amnesty International, with other sources claiming even higher death tolls. Iranian authorities said “terrorists” opened fire on a police station, prompting security forces to respond. But Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi, the Sunni Friday prayer leader in Zahedan, disputed that narrative, saying the authorities and security forces were to blame. Ismailzahi was present during a meeting on Sunday with representatives of the supreme leader, where, according to state-run IRNA, he again denied the authorities’ statement that the protesters were armed or attacked the police station.
“Another package of sanctions”
Iranian authorities have repeatedly accused the West, especially the United States and its regional ally Israel, of being behind the country’s unrest. The US, European Union, UK and Canada have imposed human rights sanctions on Tehran, which has responded with sanctions of its own. The EU is now preparing to finalize more sanctions on Monday, with the bloc’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell telling reporters that “another package of sanctions against the people responsible for cracking down on the protesters” is in the works. Germany and Iceland last week submitted a request on behalf of 42 countries to hold a special meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Iran’s protests, prompting Tehran to condemn it and send a delegation to New York. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday once again referred to ongoing protests in Iran as a “revolution” days after meeting with several female activists, a move Iran’s foreign ministry denounced as “shameful”. “Something unprecedented is happening,” Macron said in an interview. “The grandchildren of the revolution make a revolution.” Iran also blamed Kurdish groups based in northern Iraq for inciting unrest, and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on Monday attacked positions and buildings used by the Kurdish groups with missiles and drones. A commander of the elite force had said on Sunday that more than 100 “counter-insurgent” members of these groups have been arrested since September and firearms and ammunition seized from them.
