Iran
Iran tests military drones in wargame near Strait of Hormuz
Iran’s military tested new attack drones in the coastal area of the Gulf of Oman and near the strategic Strait of Hormuz Saturday as part of its ongoing annual drill, state TV reported.
Meanwhile, antigovernment protests underway for over three months continued. Videos on social media showed protests in Tehran’s grand bazaar and several cities and towns including in the Kurdish area. Part of Tehran’s bazaar closed in the wake of the protests which authorities cracked down on.
State TV said the Ababil-5 attack drone was used during wargames for the first time and successfully hit its target with a bomb after traveling 400 kilometers (250 miles). Iran has tested many other military drones over the past decade.
The military drones have been a point of contention between Iran and the United States and its allies, which claim Tehran is supplying Moscow with drones that have been used in attacks in West-backed Ukraine.
In November, Iran acknowledged it has supplied Russia with drones, adding that the supply came before Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Iran says it is committed to stopping the conflict.
Read more: White House: Iran set to deliver armed drones to Russia
The Strait of Hormuz is located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf and is crucial to global energy supplies, with about a fifth of all oil traded at sea passing through it.
Commandos and airborne infantry participated in the wargames, dubbed “Zolfaghar-1401,” along with fighter jets, helicopters, military transport aircraft and submarines. Iran’s military will fire missiles and air defense systems as well. Iran regularly holds such drills to improve its defensive power and test weapons.
Since mid-September, Iran has been shaken by antigovernment protests which were ignited by the death of a woman who was detained by the country’s morality police. The demonstrations rapidly escalated into calls for an end to more than four decades of the country’s clerical rule.
Read more: Iranian troops in Crimea supporting Russian drone attacks, says US
More than 500 protesters have been killed and over 18,500 people have been arrested, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has closely monitored the unrest. Iranian authorities have not released figures for those killed or arrested.
Bangladesh-Iran 2nd Foreign Office Consultations held in Dhaka
The 2nd Foreign Office Consultations between Bangladesh and the Islamic Republic of Iran was held in Dhaka on Thursday.
Foreign Secretary (Senior Secretary) Ambassador Masud Bin Momen and First Deputy Minister (Political Affairs) of Iran Ali Bagheri Kani led their respective delegations to the Consultations.
The Consultations reviewed the status of the bilateral relations between the two fraternal countries and discussed ways to enhance further cooperation and partnership in the field of commerce and trade, investment in the economic zones, human resource development, people-to-people ties, food security, energy, connectivity, Blue Economy, climate change cooperation and so forth.
The two sides underscored the importance of the exchange of high-level visits and timely implementation of the agreements signed between the two countries.
The Bangladesh side requested a deeper engagement of Iran to facilitate sustainable return of the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals to their country of origin.
They exchanged views on global issues and issues of regional cooperation as well. Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation and partnership bilaterally and in various regional and multinational forums on matters of core concern.
A roadmap for future cooperation agenda was also agreed on, including the convening of the next Joint Commission meeting in Tehran.
Read more: Argentine foreign minister likely to visit Bangladesh next March: Momen
Iran authorities arrest actress of Oscar-winning movie
Iranian authorities arrested one of the country’s most famous actresses on charges of spreading falsehoods about nationwide protests that grip the country, state media said Saturday.
The report by IRNA said Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning movie “The Salesman,” was detained a week after she made a post on Instagram expressing solidarity with the first man recently executed for crimes committed during the nationwide protests.
According to the report published on the state media’s official Telegram channel, Alidoosti was arrested because she did not provide ’’any documents in line with her claims.″
''His name was Mohsen Shekari.'' she said in her post. ‘‘Every international organization who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity."
Shekari was executed Dec. 9 after being charged by an Iranian court with blocking a street in Tehran and attacking a member of the country's security forces with a machete.
Read more: Iran execution: Man publicly hanged from crane amid protests
Iran has been rocked by protests since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the morality police. The protests have since morphred into one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s theocracy installed by the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Hengameh Ghaziani and Katayoun Riahi, two other famous actresses in Iran, were arrested by authorities for expressing solidarity with protesters on social media. Both have been released.
At least 495 people have been killed in the demonstrations amid a harsh security crackdown, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the protests since they began. Over 18,200 people have been detained by authorities.
Second Iranian detainee executed over alleged protest crime
Iran said Monday it executed its second prisoner detained amid the nationwide protests now challenging the country's theocracy.
Iran's Mizan news agency, under the country's judiciary, identified the man executed as Majidreza Rahnavard. He had been convicted over allegedly stabbing two security force members to death Nov. 17 in Mashhad and wounding four others.
Read more: Iran executes first known prisoner arrested in protests
Iran executed the first prisoner detained amid the demonstrations Thursday.
The protests have expanded into one of the most serious challenges to Iran’s theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Activists warn that others could also be put to death in the near future, saying around a dozen people so far have received death sentences over their involvement in the demonstrations.
Read more: Iran morality police status unclear after 'closure' comment
Russia and Iran are advancing toward a formal "partnership" in defense
The Biden administration is accusing Russia of moving to provide advanced military assistance to Iran, including air defense systems, helicopters and fighter jets, part of deepening cooperation between the two nations as Tehran provides drones to support Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby on Friday cited U.S. intelligence assessments for the allegations, saying Russia was offering Iran “an unprecedented level of military and technical support that is transforming their relationship into a full-fledged defense partnership.”
Kirby said Russia and Iran were considering standing up a drone assembly line in Russia for the Ukraine conflict, while Russia was training Iranian pilots on the Sukhoi Su-35 fighter and Iran could receive deliveries of the plane within the year.
Also read: Russians, Belarusians out of Paralympics amid boycott risk
“These fighter planes will significantly strengthen Iran’s air force relative to its regional neighbors,” Kirby said.
The U.S. allegations are part of a deliberate effort by the U.S. to drive global isolation of Russia, in this case targeted at Arab nations who have looked to contain Iran’s regional malevolence and who have not taken a strong stance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Earlier this year, the Biden administration accused Saudi Arabia of siding with Russia in the conflict by shepherding cuts by the OPEC+ cartel to boost the price of oil, crucial to funding Moscow’s war effort. Saudi Arabia and Iran have been on opposite sides of a yearslong proxy war in Yemen.
Kirby said the arms transfers were in violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and that the U.S. would be “using the tools at our disposal to expose and disrupt these activities.”
Concerns about the “deepening and a burgeoning defense partnership” between Russia and Iran come as the Biden administration has repeatedly accused Iran of assisting Russia with its invasion of Ukraine.
The administration says Iran sold hundreds of attack drones to Russian over the summer. Kirby on Friday reiterated the administration’s belief that Iran is considering the sale of hundreds of ballistic missiles to Russia, but acknowledged that the U.S. doesn’t have “perfect visibility into Iranian thinking on why” the deal hasn’t been consummated.
Britain’s U.N. ambassador, Barbara Woodward, on Friday accused Russia of attempting to obtain more weapons from Iran, including hundreds of ballistic missiles, in return for “an unprecedented level of military and technical support” to Tehran.
“We are concerned that Russia intends to provide Iran with more advanced military components, which will allow Iran to strengthen their weapons capability,” she said. “So it is imperative that the truth about Iran’s supply to Russia is exposed, and is investigated by the U.N. as soon as possible.”
At a U.N. Security Council meeting called by Russia to assess the impact of Western weapons pumped into Ukraine, Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia again denied that Iran is supplying weapons to Ukraine.
“The military industrial complex in Russia can work perfectly fine and doesn’t need anyone’s assistance, whereas the Ukrainian military industry does not basically exist and is being assisted by the Western industry and Western companies,” he said.
The White House says Russia has also turned to North Korea for artillery as the nine-month war grinds on. North Korea has denied the claim.
The White House has repeatedly sought to spotlight Russia’s reliance on Iran and North Korea, another broadly isolated nation on the international stage, for support as it prosecutes its war against Ukraine.
U.K. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly called the Iran-Russia collaboration a “desperate alliance.”
“Iran is now one of Russia’s top military backers,” he said. “Their sordid deals have seen the Iranian regime send hundreds of drones to Moscow, which have been used to attack Ukraine’s critical infrastructure and kill civilians.
“In return, Russia is offering military and technical support to the Iranian regime, which will increase the risk it poses to our partners in the Middle East and to international security.”
The Biden administration recently unveiled sanctions against Iranian firms and entities involved in the transfer of Iranian drones to Russia for use in Ukraine. It all comes as the administration has condemned the Islamic republic’s violent squelching of protests that erupted throughout Iran after the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while she was held by the morality police.
Even as the White House has accused Iran of backing Russia’s war effort, the administration has not abandoned the possibility of reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal — scuttled by the Trump administration in 2018. The pact, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA, would provide Tehran with billions in sanctions relief in exchange for the country agreeing to roll back its nuclear program to the limits set by the 2015 deal.
Iran executes first known prisoner arrested in protests
Iran said Thursday it executed a prisoner convicted for a crime allegedly committed during the country's ongoing nationwide protests, the first such death penalty carried out by Tehran.
The execution of Mohsen Shekari comes as other detainees also face the possibility of the death penalty for their involvement in the protests, which began in mid-September, first as an outcry against Iran's morality police. The protests have expanded into one of the most serious challenges to Iran's theocracy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Activists warn that others could also be put to death in the near future, saying that at least a dozen people so far have received death sentences over their involvement in the demonstrations.
The execution “must be met with strong reactions otherwise we will be facing daily executions of protesters,” wrote Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, the director of the Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights. “This execution must have rapid practical consequences internationally.”
The Mizan news agency, run by Iran's judiciary, said Shekari had been convicted in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court, which typically holds closed-door cases. The tribunals have been internationally criticized for not allowing those on trial to pick their own lawyers or even see the evidence against them.
Read more: Iran morality police status unclear after 'closure' comment
Shekari was accused of blocking a street in Tehran and attacking with a machete a member of the security forces, who required stitches for his wounds, the agency said.
The Mizan report also alleged that Shekari said he had been offered money by an acquaintance to attack the security forces.
Iran's government for months has been trying to allege — without offering evidence — that foreign countries have fomented the unrest. Protesters say they are angry over the collapse of the economy, heavy-handed policing and the entrenched power of the country's Islamic clergy.
Mizan said Shekari had been arrested on Sept. 25, then convicted on Nov. 20 on the charge of "moharebeh," a Farsi word meaning “waging war against God.” That charge has been levied against others in the decades since 1979 and carries the death penalty. Mizan said an appeal by Shekari's lawyer against the sentence failed.
After his execution, Iranian state television aired a heavily edited package showing the courtroom and parts of Shekari’s trial, presided over by Judge Abolghassem Salavati.
Salavati faces U.S. sanctions for meting out harsh punishments.
“Salavati alone has sentenced more than 100 political prisoners, human right activists, media workers and others seeking to exercise freedom of assembly to lengthy prison terms as well as several death sentences,” the U.S. Treasury said in sanctioning him in 2019.
“Judges on these Revolutionary Courts, including Salavati, have acted as both judge and prosecutor, deprived prisoners of access to lawyers and intimidated defendants.”
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock condemned Shekari’s execution in a Twitter post, saying “the Iranian regime’s contempt for humanity is limitless.”
Read more: Iran executes four people accused of working for Israel’s Mossad: State news
James Cleverly, the United Kingdom’s foreign secretary, described himself as “outraged” and said: “The world cannot turn a blind eye to the abhorrent violence committed by the Iranian regime against its own people.”
France’s Foreign Ministry said the “execution is yet another instance of the serious, unacceptable violations of fundamental rights and freedoms committed by the Iranian authorities.”
Iran has been rocked by protests since the Sept. 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died after being detained by the country's morality police. At least 475 people have been killed in the demonstrations amid a heavy-handed security crackdown, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that's been monitoring the protests since they began. Over 18,000 have been detained by authorities.
Iran is one of the world's top executioners. It typically executes prisoners by hanging. Already, Amnesty International said it obtained a document signed by one senior Iranian police commander asking an execution for one prisoner be “completed ‘in the shortest possible time’ and that his death sentence be carried out in public as 'a heart-warming gesture towards the security forces.'”
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Thursday reiterated the organization's strong opposition to the death penalty.
“And we deplore what we see today in Iran and sadly we see in other countries,” Dujarric said. “What we would want to see is a world where there is no death penalty.”
Iran morality police status unclear after 'closure' comment
An Iranian lawmaker said Sunday that Iran's government is “paying attention to the people’s real demands,” state media reported, a day after a top official suggested that the country’s morality police whose conduct helped trigger months of protests has been shut down.
The role of the morality police, which enforces veiling laws, came under scrutiny after a detainee, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, died in its custody in mid-September. Amini had been held for allegedly violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress codes. Her death unleashed a wave of unrest that has grown into calls for the downfall of Iran's clerical rulers.
Iran's chief prosecutor Mohamed Jafar Montazeri said on Saturday the morality police “had been closed," the semi-official news agency ISNA reported. The agency did not provide details, and state media hasn't reported such a purported decision.
In a report carried by ISNA on Sunday, lawmaker Nezamoddin Mousavi signaled a less confrontational approach toward the protests.
Read more: Iran executes four people accused of working for Israel’s Mossad: State news
“Both the administration and parliament insisted that paying attention to the people’s demand that is mainly economic is the best way for achieving stability and confronting the riots,” he said, following a closed meeting with several senior Iranian officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi.
Mousavi did not address the reported closure of the morality police.
The Associated Press has been unable to confirm the current status of the force, established in 2005 with the task of arresting people who violate the country’s Islamic dress code.
Since September, there has been a reported decline in the number of morality police officers across Iranian cities and an increase in women walking in public without headscarves, contrary to Iranian law.
Montazeri, the chief prosecutor, provided no further details about the future of the morality police or if its closure was nationwide and permanent. However he added that Iran’s judiciary will ‘‘continue to monitor behavior at the community level.’’
In a report by ISNA on Friday, Montazeri was quoted as saying that the government was reviewing the mandatory hijab law. “We are working fast on the issue of hijab and we are doing our best to come up with a thoughtful solution to deal with this phenomenon that hurts everyone’s heart,” said Montazeri, without offering details.
Saturday's announcement could signal an attempt to appease the public and find a way to end the protests in which, according to rights groups, at least 470 people were killed. More than 18,000 people have been arrested in the protests and the violent security force crackdown that followed, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group monitoring the demonstrations.
Ali Alfoneh, a senior fellow at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, said Montazeri’s statement about closing the morality police could be an attempt to pacify domestic unrest without making real concessions to protesters.
Read more: Iranian general acknowledges over 300 dead in unrest
‘‘The secular middle class loathes the organization (morality police) for restricting personal freedoms," said Alfoneh. On the other hand, the “underprivileged and socially conservative class resents how they conveniently keep away from enforcing the hijab legislation” in wealthier areas of Iran's cities.
When asked about Montazeri's statement, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian gave no direct answer. ‘‘Be sure that in Iran, within the framework of democracy and freedom, which very clearly exists in Iran, everything is going very well,’’ Amirabdollahian said, speaking during a visit to Belgrade, Serbia.
The anti-government demonstrations, now in their third month, have shown no sign of stopping despite a violent crackdown. Protesters say they are fed up after decades of social and political repression, including a strict dress code imposed on women. Young women continue to play a leading role in the protests, stripping off the mandatory Islamic headscarf to express their rejection of clerical rule.
After the outbreak of the protests, the Iranian government hadn't appeared willing to heed the protesters' demands. It has continued to crack down on protesters, including sentencing at least seven arrested protesters to death. Authorities continue to blame the unrest on hostile foreign powers, without providing evidence.
But in recent days, Iranian state media platforms seemed to be adopting a more conciliatory tone, expressing a desire to engage with the problems of the Iranian people.
Iran’s World Cup team gets tepid welcome home, amid protests
Iran’s national soccer team received a subdued welcome home after its World Cup defeat against the United States, a match played against the backdrop of ongoing anti-government protests in Iran. One Iranian man was shot dead celebrating the American victory.
The players returned from Qatar late Wednesday, a day after their 1-0 loss. Anti-government protesters, considering the team a symbol of Iran’s clerical rulers, had celebrated the loss in some Iranian cities with fireworks and cheers.
One man was shot dead by Iranian security forces in northwest Iran for honking his car horn in support of the U.S. victory, the Oslo-based rights monitor Iran Human Rights reported on Thursday.
Iran’s treatment of the players will likely be scrutinized because they refrained from singing the Islamic Republic’s national anthem during their opening World Cup match. Many considered the move a show of solidarity with the protests. The team did sing the anthem in subsequent matches.
A few dozen fans greeted the national team’s return at Tehran’s international airport late Wednesday, with people cheering and waving the Iranian flag.
Read more: Some football fans in Iran celebrate US win over the country's national team in World Cup
Yet the players have faced biting criticism from anti-government protesters who have blamed the team for not being more vocal about the security force’s violent put down of the demonstrations. Human rights groups say over 400 protesters have been killed in the crackdown, with thousands more arrested.
An image of players bowing in the presence of President Ebrahim Raisi before setting off to the tournament was widely criticized by activists on social media. A hardline cleric, Raisi has likened protesters to “flies” and dismissed the movement as a foreign plot, without offering any proof.
Mehran Samak, 27, was shot dead after honking his car in support of the U.S. win after Tuesday’s match in the city of Bandar Anzali in northwest Iran. Oslo-based Iran Human Rights reported he was “shot in the head by state forces when he went out to celebrate the Islamic Republic’s loss.”
Samak is also a childhood friend of Iranian midfielder Saeed Ezatollahi, who mourned his death on his social media. But again he received criticism from activists for not explicitly stating Samak was killed by government forces.
Read more: US Soccer's gesture of support for Iranian protesters
Many Iranian celebrities have however been targeted by the government with arrest or other measures for speaking out on behalf of the protesters.
Iranian officials acknowledged but downplayed compatriots celebrating the U.S. win. Gen. Hossein Salami, chief of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said those who had celebrated were doing so on “behalf of the enemies,” adding “it is not important to us.” His comments appeared in the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
A former culture minister and editor-in-chief of the Ettelaat newspaper, Abbas Salehi, who has close ties with Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, tweeted: “Iran’s defeat in the game against America was bitter, but even more bitter was the happiness of some people.”
Iran was eliminated from the tournament in Qatar following the loss to the U.S. on Tuesday that saw the players scrambling to score a goal in the last remaining minutes of the game. Striker Sardar Azmoun told reporters he was not satisfied with his performance in the last match.
It was the sixth time Iran has participated in the World Cup.
Anti-government protests first erupted in September, following the death of 22-year old Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran’s morality police in the capital, Tehran. The protests quickly grew into the most serious challenge to Iran’s theocracy since its establishment in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Some football fans in Iran celebrate US win over the country's national team in World Cup
Soccer fans in Iran's Kurdish region set off fireworks and honked car horns early Wednesday to celebrate the U.S. win over the Iranian national team in a politically charged World Cup match that divided the protest-riven country.
Cheering fans hit the streets in Iran's Kurdish-majority province of Kurdistan and fireworks lit the skies over the Bukan area of West Azerbaijan province to celebrate the Iranian team’s 1-0 loss.
Some shouted “Death to the dictator,” a popular protest slogan referring to the Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Kurdish areas of Iran have been hot spots of ongoing anti-government demonstrations.
The protests first erupted in September, following the death of a young Kurdish woman in the custody of Iran's morality police in the capital of Tehran.
The protests quickly morphed into the most serious challenge to Iran's theocracy since its establishment in the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iranian authorities have blamed foreign actors, chiefly the U.S., for orchestrating the protest movement, but have provided no evidence.
Read more: Iran shuts out noise at World Cup but United States looms
Iran’s Kurdish-majority areas have seen waves of unrest amid nationwide protests against the government. The national team’s loss to the United States was seen by some as a victory against what they see as oppression by the government.
Even in areas of Tehran some chanted protest slogans following the U.S. win.
Videos posted online showed cars out on the streets of Saqqez, the capital of Kurdistan province, and the home town of Mahsa Amini, the young woman died in police custody in September.
But not everyone was cheering. Parham Azmand, a soccer fan in Tehran, said the Iranian team had done its best.
“We worked very hard but we couldn’t score although we did whatever we could," he said. "This was their day (the Americans). Our players did their best and I hope we will perform better in future world cups and God willing go through to the second round.”
Following the match, state TV commentator Mohammad Hossein Misaghi said the U.S. took advantage of “many opportunities” in the match.
Read more: Iran-US World Cup clash rife with political tension
“It was not our day,” said another commentator, Mohammadreza Ahmadi. He brushed off the defeat, saying “a match is like that; it has win and loss."
US, Iran fans mingle in Qatar ahead of World Cup clash
Smiling U.S. and Iranian fans mingled and posed for photos outside a stadium in Doha ahead of a politically charged World Cup match on Tuesday.
The atmosphere was generally festive though the political divisions among Iran fans were apparent outside Al Thumama Stadium, as they have been during previous Iran games during the tournament, with pro-government fans confronting those expressing support for the anti-government protests across Iran.
Two London-based Iranians, wearing T-shirts with the slogan of protests, were repeatedly harassed while talking to an Associated Press journalist on Tuesday. One of them, who identified herself as Maryam, received a grazing slap to the face by an Iranian man following her. Security guards got between them, but did not detain the man who slapped her.
Other men blew vuvuzelas at the two or filmed them. One man shouted at them in Farsi “why don’t you think Iran is good?”
Maryam, who like other Iran fans declined to give her last name for fear of government reprisals, said her friends were similarly harassed at Iran-Wales match on Friday.
“They can’t stop us. People are getting killed and I’m not going to get stopped by some random guy. I’m not afraid of them,” she said.
Read more: Iran-US World Cup clash rife with political tension
Dalia, an 18-year-old Iranian from the southern city of Ahvaz who attended the game with her parents, said Tuesday’s match had exposed divisions within her family between those still committed to supporting Iran’s national team and others who reject the players as tools of the government.
The Iranian players in Qatar have declined to comment or made vague statements about the protests in Iran, which were sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman while in the custody of Iran’s morality police.
“It’s so sad for me because I want to support them so badly but I just can’t,” Dalia said.
Mehrdad and Eli from Arizona brought pictures of the young women killed in Iran’s protests to the match. But holding them up invited harassment, they said, so Eli kept them in her purse. They described a deep sense of unease at the stadium.
“I feel like I am surrounded by IRGC agents,” said Mehrdad, referring to the country’s powerful Revolutionary Guard. “Everybody’s watching you.”
Elsewhere, U.S. and Iranian fans appeared unfazed by the tensions between the two countries, posing together for photos.
The two teams have played in a World Cup once before, in 1998 in France, when Iran beat the U.S. 2-1.
“It has been amazing to see Americans. They are so friendly,” said Yas, a 14-year-old Iran fan from the city of Shiraz. "I hope this is a chance for people to connect and share their cultures peacefully.”
Her older sister had an X written with a black marker over her lips.
“She’s doing that to show we all can’t talk about the politics in our country,” Yas said.
Read more: Iran shuts out noise at World Cup but United States looms
The latest protests mark one of the biggest challenges to Iran’s ruling clerics since the 1979 Islamic Revolution that brought them to power. Rights groups say security forces have unleashed live ammunition and bird shot on the protesters, as well as beating and arresting them, with much of the violence captured on video.
At least 452 protesters have been killed and more than 18,000 detained since the start of the unrest, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran, a group that has been monitoring the protests.
Two former members of the national soccer team arrested this month in connection with the protests have been released on bail.
Parviz Boroumand, a retired goalkeeper, was arrested nearly two weeks ago on charges of participating in protests in the capital, Tehran, and was accused of damaging property. Voria Ghafouri was arrested last week for “insulting the national soccer team and propagandizing against the government,” according to state-linked media.