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Israelis buoyant after Hamas leader assassinated in Iran

Jerusalem Reuters Israel’s government maintained a deliberate silence over the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Iran on Wednesday but for many Israelis, the killing of one of their most high profile enemies was a welcome moment after months of war. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose security credentials were shattered by one of the […]

Iran Supreme Leader leads prayers at Raisi funeral as election looms

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Iran’s Supreme Leader led prayers in Tehran on Wednesday at the funeral of President Ebrahim Raisi as the clerical establishment hurried to organise the election of a successor, which could further erode its legitimacy amid growing public discontent. The 28th June vote to replace Raisi, killed in a helicopter crash […]

Iranian President Raisi’s memorial muted amid public discontent

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Thousands of Iranians turned out to mourn President Ebrahim Raisi in the city of Tabriz on Tuesday, after he was killed in a helicopter crash near the Azerbaijan border at the weekend along with his foreign minister and seven others. State TV broadcast live images of mourners, many of them […]

In divided Iran, President’s death met by muted mourning and furtive celebration

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Iran proclaimed five days of mourning for President Ebrahim Raisi on Monday, though the muted atmosphere revealed little of the spectacular public grief that has accompanied the deaths of other senior figures in the Islamic Republic’s 45-year history. While government loyalists packed into mosques and squares to pray for Raisi […]

Sporadic protests continue in Iran as Mahsa Amini anniversary passes

Newspapers, with a cover picture of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic republic's "morality police" are seen in Tehran, Iran, on 18th September, 2022

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Sporadic protests continued in Iran on Sunday amid a widespread crackdown by security forces a year after a young Kurdish woman’s death in custody set off some of the worst political unrest in four decades. The death on 16th September last year of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman arrested […]

Risking revival of unrest, Iran rulers tighten curbs on dissent

An Iranian woman walks in a street in Tehran, Iran, on 9th April, 2023.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Reuters Iran’s clerical rulers are clamping down on dissent ahead of the anniversary of the death of a young woman in morality police custody, fearing a revival of nationwide protests that rocked the Islamic Republic for months.  Journalists, lawyers, activists, human rights advocates and students have been arrested, summoned or faced […]

Iran vows crack down on people who promote removing the veil

Reuters People who encourage women to remove the hijab will be prosecuted in criminal courts and will have no right of appeal against any conviction, Iran’s Deputy Attorney General was quoted as saying on Saturday. His comments come as an increasing number of women have been defying Iran’s compulsory dress code, appearing unveiled in malls, […]

Iran installs cameras in public sites to identify unveiled women – police statement

A CCTV camera is seen in a street in Tehran, Iran, on 9th April, 2023.

Reuters In a further attempt to rein in the increasing number of women defying Iran’s compulsory dress code, authorities are installing cameras in public places and thoroughfares to identify and penalise unveiled women, the police announced on Saturday. After they have been identified, violators will receive “warning text messages as to the consequences”, police said […]

Iran’s judiciary chief threatens to prosecute “without mercy” unveiled woman

FILE PHOTO: Veiled Iranian women attend a conservatives campaign gathering for the upcoming parliamentary elections and the upcoming vote on the Assembly of Experts, in Tehran February 24, 2016. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi/TIMA

Reuters Faced with an increasing number of women defying the compulsory dress code, Iran’s judiciary chief has threatened to prosecute “without mercy” women who appear in public unveiled, Iranian media reported on Saturday. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei’s warning comes on the heels of an Interior Ministry statement on Thursday that reinforced the government’s mandatory hijab law. Veiled […]