Latest news with #Gilan
Al Jazeera
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Iran moves to punish ‘spying' as it proclaims victory over Israel, US
Gilan, Iran – Iranian authorities are moving to allow for tougher punishment of cooperation with foreign governments after a 12-day war with Israel and the United States ended with a ceasefire on Monday. In a late Tuesday written message addressed to the Iranian nation, President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed a 'historic victory' and said plans to sow 'discord and division' among Iranians would fail. At the same time, the country's parliament and judiciary are advancing efforts to enforce more serious punishment against any action viewed as damaging to national security. The Iranian parliament on Monday approved a plan to 'intensify punishment for espionage and collaborators with the Zionist regime [Israel] and hostile countries against national security and interests'. Alireza Salimi, a member of the presiding board of the parliament, said 'any intelligence or espionage activity or practical action' that would favour Israel, the US and others could, as part of the proposal, be considered an example of 'corruption on Earth' – a crime that carries the death penalty. The legislation also targets people linked to weapons 'that can kill or create chaos and terror', as well as those who receive money, property or cryptocurrencies in exchange for services to hostile states. The bill is expected to 'give the security forces a freer hand', according to the lawmaker. Asghar Jahangir, the Iranian judiciary spokesperson, told state television on Tuesday that the country's current law on espionage is too general, and might not cover the types of espionage Iran currently faces. He said the current law would cause 'restrictions and limitations' for authorities who wish to punish people arrested during the war with Israel. Increased arrests In Urmia in northwest Iran's West Azerbaijan province, near the borders with Iraq and Turkiye, authorities on Wednesday morning executed three Iranians for collaborating with Israel. They were convicted of moharebeh or 'waging war against God' and corruption on Earth, after being accused of bringing equipment used to assassinate Iranian officials over the border. The judiciary did not name the assassinated figures, but the executions are believed to be linked to the killing of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in November 2020 by Israel. Iran has executed three other men, in three separate cases linked to spying for Israel, since the start of the war on June 13. More than 600 people were killed by Israeli attacks in Iran during the conflict, with many attacks – particularly those on the first night of bombing, when several Iranian military commanders were killed – linked to Israeli intelligence-gathering operations. At least 700 arrests were made across the country in the 12 days of the war, according to local media, and authorities are announcing more arrests each day. Amir Kholfian, the prosecutor general of Khuzestan province, in southwestern Iran bordering Iraq, said on Wednesday that indictments were issued against 23 people for 'sabotage acts' that included 'propaganda against the holy establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran'. Similar arrests or cases have been announced in many provinces, with some of the latest including 115 arrests in Kermanshah to the west, 53 in Fars to the south, and 36 in Gilan to the north of Iran. Amnesty International said last week that expedited trials and executions of those arrested for alleged collaboration with Israel 'show how the Iranian authorities weaponise the death penalty to assert control and instill fear among the people of Iran'. The anti-execution global rights monitor said there is a heightened risk of execution for those already on death row, adding such suspects often undergo 'grossly unfair trials'. Online dissent Iranian authorities are also trying to crack down on any online activity that can be construed as favouring Israel and the US, including any support for their military strikes on Iran. Some Iranians online have reported that they received an identical text message from the crime prevention department of the judiciary, telling them that membership in or following any online accounts affiliated with Israel is a crime punishable by law. 'Considering that your number has a record linked with the pages of the Zionist regime, you are warned to remove your supportive comments and likes and immediately leave those pages' or face punishment, the message reads. And after Israel extensively used explosive quadcopters and other small drones to hit Iranian targets from inside the country, rules governing those aircraft are expected to be toughened as well. The state-linked Fars news agency reported on Wednesday that the parliament approved the outlines of a plan to set punishments for people who own unlicensed drones. Lawmakers also emphatically approved a plan to suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which Iranian authorities claim acted in a way that paved the way for the US and Israeli strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities to take place. The parliament members again shouted 'death to America' and 'death to Israel' after they voted, and parliament speaker and former military commander Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf vowed that the country will advance its nuclear programme stronger and faster than before. Members of parliament have also expressed their support if Iran's Supreme National Security Council chooses to leave the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). US media outlets including CNN reported that US military strikes on Sunday failed to destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities buried deep in the mountains, which angered US President Donald Trump, who insisted that the sites were taken out. The IAEA has said it is unaware of the location of Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, including more than 408kg (900 pounds) of high-enriched 60 percent uranium.
Al Arabiya
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Nine people killed in Israeli strikes on Iran before ceasefire takes effect: Governor
At least nine people were killed in Israeli strikes on residential buildings in the northern Iranian province of Gilan, the deputy provincial governor tells Tasnim News Agency. Developing...
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Iran vows response to US strikes as it hits back at Israel
Tehran is weighing its military options as it follows up internationally on the US and Israeli strikes. Gilan, Iran – Iran continues to promise retaliation for United States strikes on critical nuclear facilities, as it launched a new wave of missiles and drones against Israel. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the new chief of staff of Iranian armed forces, said in a short statement on Monday morning that the US violated Iran's sovereignty when it attacked the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites on Sunday and had 'entered the war clearly and directly'. 'The criminal US must know that in addition to punishing its illegitimate and aggressive offspring, the hands of Islam's fighters within the armed forces have been freed to take any action against its interests and military, and we will never back down in this regard,' he said, in reference to Israel. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, who is acting as the spokesman of Iran's retaliatory strikes against Israel, said in his latest televised statement on Monday that the US's attacks were meant to 'revive the dying Zionist regime' but will actually serve to 'expand the scope of the legitimate and various targets of Iranian armed forces, and create the grounds for expanding war in the region'. Referring to US President Donald Trump, Zolfaghari said in English: 'Gambler Trump, you may start this war, but we will be the ones to finish it.' Iran's army announced on Monday it had fired dozens of one-way drones with anti-fortification explosive warheads at Israel. It claimed the majority of the projectiles fired since the early hours of the day had successfully reached their targets. Advertisement Sirens also began sounding across Israel before noon on Monday, with a large number of impacts recorded in several areas, including the Ashdod area in southern Israel and the Lachish area, south of Jerusalem. The attacks came after the X account of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei republished an excerpt of a televised speech he made last week from an unknown location, which said Israel 'must be punished and it is being punished right now'. The Israeli military continues to launch air attacks across Iran as well, saying in an announcement on Monday it hit at least six airports in western, eastern and central Iran, including the Mehrabad airport in the capital, Tehran. 'The strikes damaged runways, underground bunkers, a refuelling plane and F-14, F-5, and AH-1 aircraft belonging to the Iranian regime,' it said, adding that 15 of its air force jets also carried out attacks in Kermanshah to target launch and storage sites for Iranian surface-to-surface missiles. Later on Monday, Iranian officials said the Fordow nuclear site was attacked again, without specifying who was behind the attack. Morteza Heydari, spokesman of Qom's crisis management organisation, said 'no danger is posed to citizens' in the area. Massive Israeli air raids, meanwhile, targeted Tehran and nearby Karaj around noon local time, with large plumes of rising visible in areas across the capital. The live feed of state television was cut for several minutes, and it was confirmed that a technical building supporting live broadcasts for several channels was hit. The entrance of the Evin Prison was also bombed, as was a building of the Red Crescent Society. The prestigious Shahid Beheshti University in northern Tehran was targeted, as well. According to the latest figures by Iran's Ministry of Health, as of Saturday, more than 400 people have been killed in the Israeli attacks, mostly civilians. At least 24 people have been killed in Israel by Iranian projectiles, according to Israeli authorities. After the US strikes on the three nuclear facilities, which Trump claimed 'obliterated' them, Iranian officials have threatened to hit US military bases across the region. There have also been discussions about the possibility of trying to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz and a potential exit from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). Iranian lawmakers have signalled they would back a bill to leave the NPT and suspend cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but the final decision will lie with Iran's Supreme National Security Council. Advertisement The Iran-aligned Houthis in Yemen had also pledged to restart their maritime attacks if the US entered the war in favour of Israel. The group had reached an agreement with Trump in early May to stop attacking if the US halts its daily air raids on Yemen, but they have kept up missile attacks on Israel in opposition to its war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 56,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was in Moscow on Monday for a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Upon arriving in the Russian capital, Araghchi told Iranian state media that Tehran appreciates the Kremlin's condemnation of the US strikes, and hopes that it can be backed by 'practical steps' in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and other international forums. The UNSC late on Monday held its third meeting on the attacks on Iran since the start of the war, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he remains concerned about 'dangerous developments' across the region and called for an immediate halt to hostilities. The IAEA's Board of Governors is also holding an exceptional meeting on Monday in light of the attacks on Iranian nuclear sites, while European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels, where they will discuss Iran and Gaza conflicts, among other matters. Iranian newspapers on Monday dedicated their front pages to the US attacks on Iran, as well as the missile attacks on Israel. 'Iranian Kheibar Shekans set Israel ablaze,' read a headline from ultraconservative Keyhan, in reference to the advanced ballistic missiles that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used in its wave of attacks on Sunday. Reformist Ham-Mihan newspaper published an image of Trump with a demonic appearance, saying he was heavily relying on 'bullying diplomacy', while the Shargh newspaper wrote, 'Hello world, we are here', to report on the civilian toll of the Israeli attacks.
Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Iranians react after US bombs three nuclear sites in support of Israel
Gilan, Iran – Iranians inside and outside the country have been closely monitoring and reacting to rapidly unfolding events after United States President Donald Trump ordered the bombing of Iran's top nuclear sites amid the ongoing conflict with Israel. US bunker-buster bombs dropped from B-2 Spirit strategic bombers and Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from naval platforms hit Iran's three main nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan early on Sunday. Trump claimed the nuclear facilities were 'totally obliterated', though there has been no evidence shown as of yet to confirm that. Iranian authorities confirmed the strikes after several hours, but said there was no radioactive leak. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also confirmed there was no off-site contamination. Iranian state media appeared to downplay the impact, with the government-run IRNA reporting from an area near Fordow, the most significant and hard-to-reach nuclear site, that there was only limited smoke rising from the place where air defences were believed to be stationed and no major activity from emergency responders. Satellite images circulating on Sunday appeared to show possible impact sites at Fordow, where the massive GBU-57 bombs are believed to have burrowed deep underground before detonating in an attempt to destroy the Iranian nuclear facilities dug beneath the mountains. The head of Iran's Red Crescent Society, Pir Hossein Kolivand, said there had been no deaths in the US strikes. Images also showed substantial movement of trucks and bulldozers around Fordow in the days preceding the strikes, in what appeared to be an attempt by Iran to move out equipment and nuclear materials stored at the protected site in anticipation of US strikes. Heavy machinery also appeared to have been deployed to fill the entrance tunnels of the facility with earth, in a move aimed at limiting damage at the site from the incoming bombs. Speaking in Turkiye's Istanbul, where he was attending a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi indicated a military response by Tehran is inevitable. 'My country has been invaded, and we must respond,' he told reporters. 'We must remain patient and show a proportionate response to these aggressions. Only if these measures are stopped, then will we make decisions about diplomatic pathways and the possibility of restarting negotiations.' In a televised message issued last week from an unknown location, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had warned that it would be to the detriment of Washington if it chooses to directly enter the war. 'The damage it will suffer will be far greater than any harm that Iran may encounter. The harm the US will suffer will definitely be irreparable if it enters this conflict militarily,' he said. Hardliners call for action Iranian state media and many hardline politicians led a furious response after the US strikes. State television's Channel 3 showed a map of US military bases across the region, including in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Iraq, which are within range of Iranian missiles. 'It is now clearer than ever, not just for the Iranian nation but for the whole peoples of the region, that all US citizens and military personnel are legitimate targets. We were negotiating and progressing through a diplomatic path, but you chose to spill the blood of your soldiers. The US president in the Oval Office chose to take delivery of the coffins of up to 50,000 US soldiers in Washington,' the channel's anchor Mehdi Khanalizadeh said. Amirhossein Tahmasebi, another anchor who had released a defiant video from inside the state television IRIB buildings in northern Tehran after they were bombed by Israel last week, said he 'spits' on Trump and anyone who claims he is a president of peace. Hossein Shariatmadari, the Khamenei-appointed ultraconservative head of Keyhan daily newspaper, wrote: 'It is now our turn to immediately rain missiles down on the US naval force in Bahrain as a first measure.' He also renewed his longtime call for Iran to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz and said Tehran must deny access to ships from the US, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. Hamid Rasaei, one of the most hardline members of Iran's parliament who is close to the Paydari (Steadfastness) faction led by security council member and failed presidential candidate Saeed Jalili, went one step further and said Iran must hit US bases in Saudi Arabia. Relations between Tehran and Riyadh, however, have thawed considerably in recent years. Threats against 'treachery' Most Iranians in the country are still unable to go online due to state-imposed internet restrictions, but those who have managed to find a working proxy connection are also reacting angrily to the war. 'Thirty years of Iranian oil money and thirty years of economic opportunities that could have turned tens of millions of people into citizens like the rest of the world have become three deep pits,' wrote one user on X, in reference to the nuclear sites. 'Trump says let me just drop the heaviest bomb in the world and then it will all be about peace,' another user sarcastically wrote. 'Stalwart like Damavand, to the last breath for Iran,' wrote two-time Oscar-winning film director Asghar Farhadi on Instagram with a picture of Mount Damavand, the highest peak in Iran at 5,609 metres (18,402 feet) and a symbol of national pride. But some Iranians living overseas who are against the ruling theocratic establishment, along with some inside the country, were in favour of the US and Israeli attacks in the belief that they may help overthrow the governing body. This has prompted denunciations, and even threats, by Iranian authorities and state media against any form of 'treachery'. Elias Hazrati, the head of President Masoud Pezeshkian's communications council, said during a late-night state television interview on Saturday that the state views those who side with Israel and the US as 'dishonourable opposition' who are selling out their own country. In a statement on Friday, Iran's Supreme National Security Council said those who have willingly or unwillingly collaborated with Israel have until the end of Sunday to turn themselves in – or face 'the harshest punishment as fifth column and colluders with a hostile country during wartime'. Iran has executed several people since the start of the war, including one person on Sunday morning, after convicting them of 'spying' for Israel.
The Guardian
5 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
‘I want my viewer to ask – what is happening here?': Meysam Hamrang's best phone picture
For Meysam Hamrang, this image was years in the making. The Iranian photographer took it in 2019 at a religious ceremony in the village of Masuleh, part of a historic city in the northern province of Gilan, Iran. 'On the sixth day of Muharram – the first month of the Islamic calendar – Shia Muslims mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein in a ritual called Alam Bandan,' says Hamrang. 'It's held in a 1,200-year-old shrine. People from surrounding villages gather to participate in, or observe, the ritual.' The unique architecture of Masuleh, where most buildings are only one or two storeys high, and the yard above one house forms the roof of the house below, allows residents, local people and visitors to gather en masse. 'It's always conducted with great passion and solemnity,' he says. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Hamrang says one of his goals with this image was to spark curiosity. 'I want to prompt my viewer to ask, 'What is happening here?' In today's world, many traditional ceremonies risk being forgotten. Documenting such moments through photography is my way of contributing to preserving them.' He adds: 'I also love this picture because it wasn't captured by chance. It came from years of attending the ritual and waiting for the right vantage point, and the right moment.'
