Iran Tightens Restrictions on Ex-President Khatami

Reuters file photo: Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, May 3, 2007.
Reuters file photo: Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, May 3, 2007.
TT

Iran Tightens Restrictions on Ex-President Khatami

Reuters file photo: Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, May 3, 2007.
Reuters file photo: Former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, May 3, 2007.

Iran's opposition said Friday that restrictions have been tightened on reformist former president Mohammad Khatami, barring him from all public meetings for three months. 

Khatami has been banned from appearing in the media since mass protests against the government in 2009-2010, but continues to wield considerable power behind the scenes.

Agence France Presse quoted the opposition Kalemeh website as saying the Special Clerical Court had sent Khatami a letter asking him "not to take part in any political ceremonies and publicity for three months".

This was said to include any meetings, theater performances and concerts, and barred individuals, government and seminary officials and student union members from meeting with him.

The new restrictions were first revealed by Khatami's nephew Mohammad Reza Tabesh, a member of parliament, earlier this week.

The letter was said to have been signed by the head of the Special Clerical Court, Ebrahim Raisi, the hardline runner-up in this May's presidential election. 

Fars and Mehr news agencies said on Thursday that unnamed officials had denied the existence of the letter or the new restrictions.

Member of parliament Ali Motahari -- considered a political moderate -- criticized the new measures, saying they were illegal without proper consultation with Khatami or his lawyers.

"We have a good constitution and the parliament has also devised good laws but some councils and institutions such as the Special Clerical Court bypass the constitution and the parliament and drag the country towards autocracy," he said.

Two other opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, have been under house arrest since 2011 for their role in the anti-government protests.

Also Friday, Iranian Vice President Eshagh Jahangiri said that his brother, who heads several major tourism projects, had been arrested.

Mehdi Jahangiri has interests in large-scale developments, including a new tourism park outside Tehran, as well as a branding deal with France's Novotel and Ibis hotel chains signed in 2015.

"I do not have precise information on the reason and manner of the arrest," Eshagh Jahangiri said on his Instagram account. 

"I hope my brother's arrest is not a political abuse and that justice, the fight against corruption, and the rule of law apply the same to everyone," he added.

Eshagh Jahangiri has served as a deputy to President Hassan Rouhani since 2013, and ran as a candidate in May's presidential election only to stand down in his favor. 



US Judge Blocks Deportation of Columbia University Palestinian Activist

Mohsen Mahdawi at a press conference in Vermont last year - Photo by Alex Driehaus/AP
Mohsen Mahdawi at a press conference in Vermont last year - Photo by Alex Driehaus/AP
TT

US Judge Blocks Deportation of Columbia University Palestinian Activist

Mohsen Mahdawi at a press conference in Vermont last year - Photo by Alex Driehaus/AP
Mohsen Mahdawi at a press conference in Vermont last year - Photo by Alex Driehaus/AP

A US immigration judge has blocked the deportation of a Palestinian graduate student who helped organize protests at Columbia University against Israel's war in Gaza, according to US media reports.

Mohsen Mahdawi was arrested by immigration agents last year as he was attending an interview to become a US citizen.

Mahdawi had been involved in a wave of demonstrations that gripped several major US university campuses since Israel began a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip.

A Palestinian born in the occupied West Bank, Mahdawi has been a legal US permanent resident since 2015 and graduated from the prestigious New York university in May. He has been free from federal custody since April.

In an order made public on Tuesday, Judge Nina Froes said that President Donald Trump's administration did not provide sufficient evidence that Mahdawi could be legally removed from the United States, multiple media outlets reported.

Froes reportedly questioned the authenticity of a copy of a document purportedly signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio that said Mahdawi's activism "could undermine the Middle East peace process by reinforcing antisemitic sentiment," according to the New York Times.

Rubio has argued that federal law grants him the authority to summarily revoke visas and deport migrants who pose threats to US foreign policy.

The Trump administration can still appeal the decision, which marked a setback in the Republican president's efforts to crack down on pro-Palestinian campus activists.

The administration has also attempted to deport Mahmoud Khalil, another student activist who co-founded a Palestinian student group at Columbia, alongside Mahdawi.

"I am grateful to the court for honoring the rule of law and holding the line against the government's attempts to trample on due process," Mahdawi said in a statement released by his attorneys and published Tuesday by several media outlets.

"This decision is an important step towards upholding what fear tried to destroy: the right to speak for peace and justice."


Fire Breaks out Near Iran's Capital Tehran, State Media Says

Smoke rises from a fire caused by an explosion in Tehran (File photo - Reuters)
Smoke rises from a fire caused by an explosion in Tehran (File photo - Reuters)
TT

Fire Breaks out Near Iran's Capital Tehran, State Media Says

Smoke rises from a fire caused by an explosion in Tehran (File photo - Reuters)
Smoke rises from a fire caused by an explosion in Tehran (File photo - Reuters)

A fire broke out in Iran's Parand near the capital city Tehran, state media reported on Wednesday, publishing videos of smoke rising over the area which is close to several military and strategic sites in the country's Tehran province, Reuters reported.

"The black smoke seen near the city of Parand is the result of a fire in the reeds around the Parand river bank... fire fighters are on site and the fire extinguishing operation is underway", state media cited the Parand fire department as saying.


Pakistan PM Sharif to Seek Clarity on Troops for Gaza in US Visit

US President Donald Trump looks at Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaking following the official signing of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, during a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
US President Donald Trump looks at Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaking following the official signing of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, during a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
TT

Pakistan PM Sharif to Seek Clarity on Troops for Gaza in US Visit

US President Donald Trump looks at Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaking following the official signing of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, during a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
US President Donald Trump looks at Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif speaking following the official signing of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, during a world leaders' summit on ending the Gaza war, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, October 13, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

Before Pakistan commits to sending troops to Gaza as part of the International Stabilization Force it wants assurances from the United States that it will be a peacekeeping mission rather than tasked with disarming Hamas, three sources told Reuters.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is set to attend the first formal meeting of President Donald Trump's Board of Peace in Washington on Thursday, alongside delegations from at least 20 countries.

Trump, who will chair the meeting, is expected to announce a multi-billion dollar reconstruction plan for Gaza and detail plans for a UN-authorized stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave.

Three government sources said during the Washington visit Sharif wanted to better understand the goal of the ISF, what authority they were operating under and what the chain of command was before making a decision on deploying troops.

"We are ready to send troops. Let me make it clear that our troops could only be part of a peace mission in Gaza," said one of the sources, a close aide of Sharif.

"We will not be part of any other role, such as disarming Hamas. It is out of the question," he said.

Analysts say Pakistan would be an asset to the multinational force, with its experienced military that has gone to war with arch-rival India and tackled insurgencies.

"We can send initially a couple of thousand troops anytime, but we need to know what role they are going to play," the source added.

Two of the sources said it was likely Sharif, who has met Trump earlier this year in Davos and late last year at the White House, would either have an audience with him on the sidelines of the meeting or the following day at the White House.

Initially designed to cement Gaza's ceasefire, Trump sees the Board of Peace, launched in late January, taking a wider role in resolving global conflicts. Some countries have reacted cautiously, fearing it could become a rival to the United Nations.

While Pakistan has supported the establishment of the board, it has voiced concerns against the mission to demilitarize Gaza's militant group Hamas.