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Tag: Iranian

  • Israeli-owned ship allegedly targeted by alleged Iranian drone – USA

    Israeli-owned ship allegedly targeted by alleged Iranian drone – USA


    A ship owned by Israel was attacked by a suspected Iranian drone, as per a US defense official.

    The ship was in the Indian Ocean when it was attacked by a triangle-shaped bomb-carrying aircraft called Shahed 136.

    The ship is called the CMA CGM Symi and it sails for Malta.

    “We are watching the situation carefully,” the official said. The leader did not say why the US military thought Iran did the attack.

    Al-Mayadeen, a TV channel that supports the Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, first told about the event.

    The channel used sources that did not want to be named for the report, and later, Iranian media also reported about it.

    CMA CGM, a big shipping company from France, said to ask the owner of the Symi, Eastern Pacific Shipping, for answers to questions.

    That business is basically run by a very rich Israeli businessman named Idan Ofer.

    The event happened while there is a break in the fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza strip.

    A message from Eastern Pacific said they know about claims that one of their container ships might have been attacked on Friday night.

    The boat is currently sailing as scheduled, according to the statement. ‘Everyone on the crew is okay. ’

    Last November, the oil tanker Pacific Zircon, which flies the Liberian flag, was damaged in a possible attack by Iran off the coast of Oman.

    Experts say that the Symi’s crew had been acting like they thought the ship was in danger lately.

    The ship’s tracker, which helps others see where it is, was turned off on Tuesday when it left the port in Dubai.

    Ships need to keep their AIS on for safety.

    However, workers will switch them off if it seems like they might be attacked.

    It had done the same thing before when it was traveling through the Red Sea near Yemen, where the Houthi rebels are from and supported by Iran.

    Iran’s representatives at the United Nations did not answer when the Associated Press asked them for a comment.

  • ‘If you talk, they’ll put a bullet in your head’

    Soran raises two fingers to his left temple and motions firing a gun. “If you talk, they will put a bullet in your head,” he tells me.

    Around us, the Iranian mountains reach skywards. We’re at a bus station in Penjwen, a town in Iraq’s northern Kurdistan region that is close to the crossing post on the border with Iran. Cars sporadically pull in and discharge their occupants into the dusty courtyard. Some pause and drink tea, while others climb straight into the small minibuses that’ll take them to the nearby Iraqi city of Sulaimaniya.

    Soran uses his hands often when he talks. His feet too, as he kicks out to show me how he was beaten by Iranian security forces.

    “It happened a few days ago when I was protesting,” he says. “The regime beat me in the back, they kicked me and used truncheons to hit me. They shot my friend, and others too. All because I took part in the demonstrations.”

    Soran is 32 and lives in Saqqez, the home city of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish woman whose death in police custody three weeks ago sparked anti-government protests that have engulfed Iran.

    Soran has crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan to work, but he questions whether he’ll return home. The protests are growing, and life is hard. He says there hasn’t been any internet for three weeks now due to restrictions imposed by the Iranian authorities, which have cracked down violently on the protests.

    “We used to be afraid of the regime, but now the wall of fear has collapsed. Nobody is frightened anymore.”

    But when I asked if this would lead to the collapse of the Islamic Republic, his answer was clear: “No, the regime won’t collapse. It can’t be changed. They are strong and they keep killing people. We will never stop, and so they will keep killing us.”

    “It’s crazy, and it’s corrupt. Nobody cares about us. The outside world says it supports Iran, but nobody does. We are being tortured and killed every day.”

    A woman holds a placard during a protest following the death of Mahsa Amini and an Iranian attack on Iraq's Kurdistan Region, in Sulaimaniya, Iraq (28 September 2022)
    People in Iraqi Kurdistan have shown solidarity with the protests in Iran, sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini

    As a pack of wild dogs sleeps in the shade of a parked lorry, a new group forms at the minibus stop. Crouching in a low circle, they chat as they wait to leave. Most are Iraqi Kurds, but one is Iranian, and he describes his life to the others.

    Farhad is 36 and from Sanandaj, where there have been heavy protests and deadly clashes with security forces. The Kurdish human rights group Hengaw reports that at least 32 civilians have been killed by government forces and 1,540 others injured in Kurdish-populated western Iran, but Farhad believes the death toll is far higher.

    “At least 20 were killed last night,” he tells the the group. “Some say as many as 40. More than 70 were arrested. But we can’t talk about it, because we’ll be killed. Iranian intelligence are always watching, they secretly film. They imprisoned my brother in jail for political reasons.

    “These protests are getting bigger, but they won’t bring down the regime. No, it’s strong. Controlling. The Islamic Republic will definitely survive.”

    Tuana is next in line for the bus. He’s now based on the Iraqi side of the border, but spent more than 20 years living in Iran. He still returns there three times a week to work.

    Wearing a crisp white shirt and sunglasses, he describes some of the changes he’s seen in the last few weeks in western Iran.

    “There’s an increase in forces on the border. They don’t look like the military – maybe militias?” he says.

    “I’m seeing more vehicles transporting more men. It looks like they’re being brought from other parts of Iran into the Kurdish areas here. Helicopters too. We rarely saw them before, but now they’re always up in the sky.”

    Tuana also noticed a difference in the traffic at the Iranian border crossing.

    “It’s drastically reduced. People are only really coming now for work, they’re scared that if they leave they will be considered members of the opposition forces, or even a spy.”

    “Iranians really need some outside support. But they’re not getting that support.”

    There are rumours spreading too of drastic consequences if people join the demonstrations, Tuana says.

    “It spreads through conversations. My friends in Karaj [near Tehran] have been hearing these things. That the regime will empty the bank accounts of the participants. Or as winter nears, that their gas will be cut off and they’ll be left freezing.”

    An hour before sunset, there’s just a small handful of people still arriving.

    Iranian riot police officers drive motorcycles in Tehran, Iran (3 October 2022)
    Iran’s government says its security forces are confronting “rioters” backed by the country’s enemies

    Soroush is studying at Tehran University, and travelling over the border for a job related to his studies. His long beard is streaked with orange and silver, and tells me he speaks English as he collects the money from the other men in the queue to pay for the journey.

    “The students in Tehran are protesting, yes, and I am protesting. But 80% of people who live there are still happy with the regime, even though its men walk the streets with guns and kill people.”

    “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi,” Soroush smiles, punching the air. It’s the slogan of the protesters, and means “Woman, Life, Freedom”.

    It makes me acutely aware that, even though this is a female-led movement, I haven’t managed to hear stories from a single woman at the border. They make up a much smaller percentage of travellers than men. And of the ones I spoke to, each one was warned off from speaking about the demonstrations by their travelling companions.

    One older woman greeted me warmly as she climbed from the taxi, and asked how my day had been. When I wondered aloud what her thoughts were on the situation at home, her son cut in sharply. “Don’t say anything.”

    She picked up her overstuffed, white cotton bag, smiled, and silently walked away.

    Source: BBC

  • Iran protests: Death toll rises to 76 as crackdown intensifies – Rights group

    At least 76 protesters have been killed by Iranian security forces during 11 days of unrest sparked by the death of a woman in custody, activists say.

    Iran Human Rights (IHR), a Norway-based organisation, accused authorities of using disproportionate force and live ammunition to suppress the dissent.

    State media have put the number of dead at 41, including several security personnel, and blamed “rioters”. Hundreds of people have also been arrested, 20 of them journalists. “The risk of torture and ill-treatment of protesters is serious and the use of live ammunition against protesters is an international crime,” said.

    IHR’s director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. “The world must defend the Iranian people’s demands for their fundamental rights.” The UN human rights office also said it was very concerned by the authorities’ violent response and urged them to respect the right to protest peacefully.

    How Mahsa Amini became a symbol of defiance in Iran The anti-government demonstrations have spread to more than 80 cities and towns across Iran since the funeral of Mahsa Amini on 17 September.

    The 22-year-old Kurdish woman from the north-western city of Saqez had been visiting the capital, Tehran, on 13 September when she was arrested by morality police officers for allegedly violating the strict law requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf.

    She collapsed after being taken to a detention centre to be “educated” and died in hospital following three days in a coma. The police said Ms Amini died after suffering sudden heart failure, but her family have dismissed that and
    alleged that she was beaten by officers.

    Iranian morality officer: Why we tell women what to wear the protests against the morality police and hijab law triggered by her death quickly evolved into the most serious challenge that Iran’s Shia Muslim clerical establishment has faced in years.

    Videos posted on social media have shown women defiantly burning their headscarves on bonfires and cutting their hair in public to cheers and chants of “Women, life, freedom” and “Death to the dictator” – a reference to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

    On Monday, protests were reported in Tehran and a number of other cities, including Yazd, in the centre of the country, and

    Tabriz and Sanandaj, in the north- west. Students and teachers at more than 20 universities also staged a strike and walked out of their classrooms.

    1px transparent line Iran Human Rights said it had recorded the deaths of 76 protesters across 14 provinces as of Monday, including six women and four children, although it warned that restrictions on the internet were causing delays in reporting.

    Thirty-five of the deaths were reported in Mazandaran and Gilan provinces, north of Tehran, and 24 in the Kurdish-populated, north-western provinces of West Azerbaijan, Kermanshah, Kurdistan and Ilam, it added.

    IHR said that videos and death certificates it had obtained confirmed that live ammunition was being fired directly by security forces at protesters – something Iranian authorities have denied.

    Iranian officials have also announced the arrests of more than 1,200 people. The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists demanded the release of at least 20 reporters and bloggers who had been detained, as well as human rights defenders, lawyers and civil society activists.

    “Iranian security forces must drop their repressive measures against the journalists telling this critical story and restore the internet access that is vital to keep the public informed,” the CPJ said.

    The BBC’s Kasra Naji says there are reports that the unrest has stretched the security forces to the limit, with the head of the judiciary seen in one video saying that riot police had been deployed “24 hours a day” and that “they did not sleep last night and the nights before”.

    There are also claims of serious doubts among security personnel about engaging with the protesters, our correspondent adds.

    The commander of the riot police in the capital was filmed telling his men not to hesitate and to fight the protesters, just as Iranians fought invading Iraqi forces in the 1980s.

    President Ebrahim Raisi has meanwhile spoken of the need
    to “take decisive action against opponents of the security and peace of the country”.

     

  • One dead after Afghan-Iran border clash

    On the border between the two nations, the Taliban, who currently control Afghanistan, have clashed with Iranian border guards.

    According to the militants, one of their members was killed during a battle on Sunday in the region where Nimroz province in Afghanistan and Hirmand in Iran meet.

    Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan a year ago, this incident—the most recent—has been placed on both countries by the other.

    Taliban soldier have clashed with Iranian security forces on the border between the two countries.

    Last month Iran reported the death of one of its guards in an incident in the same area.

    The details of the most recent clash are unclear, but according to an Iranian account, the Taliban forces attempted to hoist their flag on non-Afghan soil when the firing began.

    No casualties were recorded on the Iranian side.

  • Iran’s atomic energy chief says country could build a bomb but has no plan to

    Iran’s atomic energy chief says the country has the ability to build a nuclear weapon but has no plan to, an Iranian news agency reports.

    Mohammad Eslami‘s comments echo a similar recent statement by a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader.

    Such public claims by top officials are rare and are likely to intensify concerns over the nature of Iran’s nuclear program.

    It has advanced its nuclear activities since a deal limiting them faltered.

    The 2015 agreement began to unravel when the US pulled out and reinstated crippling economic sanctions.

    Iran has repeatedly claimed its nuclear program is for purely peaceful purposes but Western powers and the global nuclear watchdog say they are not convinced.

    Western officials have warned time is running out to restore the deal before Iran’s program reaches such a point where it cannot be reversed.

    In his remarks reported on Monday by the semi-official Fars news agency, Mr. Eslami reiterated comments made by the senior adviser, Kamal Kharrazi.

    “As Mr. Kharrazi mentioned, Iran has the technical ability to build an atomic bomb, but such a program is not on the agenda,” Mr. Eslami said.

    In his own remarks made to the Al Jazeera news channel on 17 July, Mr. Kharrazi said: “Iran has the technical means to produce a nuclear bomb but there has been no decision by Iran to build one.”

    There have been growing concerns over the so-called breakout time or the amount of time it will take Iran to amass enough highly enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon.

    In June, the head of the global atomic energy agency, Rafael Grossi, said Iran could acquire such a quantity in a matter of weeks. The US put the breakout time at about a year during the period in which the nuclear deal was intact.

    However, Mr. Grossi said possessing enough material did not mean Iran could manufacture a nuclear bomb.

    In its latest report in May, the IAEA said Iran had 43.1kg (95lb) of uranium enriched to 60% purity. About 25kg of uranium enriched to 90% is needed for a nuclear weapon.

    The claims from Iran that it has the technical know-how to develop a bomb come at a time when Iran and world powers are at loggerheads over reviving the 2015 deal.

    Months-long on-off-talks in Vienna have stalled, and rare indirect negotiations between the US and Iran on the issue which took place in Qatar in June ended without agreement.

    Source: bbc.com