Palestinian Intellectuals, Authors Express Solidarity with Iranian Protests

People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017. (Reuters video grab)
People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017. (Reuters video grab)
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Palestinian Intellectuals, Authors Express Solidarity with Iranian Protests

People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017. (Reuters video grab)
People protest in Tehran, Iran December 30, 2017. (Reuters video grab)

A group of Palestinian intellectuals and writers issued a statement in solidarity with protests in Iran, saying that the demonstrations witnessed in Tehran and several Iranian cities in the last few days confirmed the longing of the Iranian people for freedom and to rid themselves of theocratic tyranny they live under.

Ayatollah clerical hierarchy was exploited to impose absolute control over the people, they said.

The Faqih totalitarianism’s power is cemented by the regime, guardian of the jurist, the Revolutionary Guard militia, its extra-territorial arm, the Quds Force and other security services.

“In this statement, we affirm our unbound solidarity with these popular movements (the Tehran protests) and their just and legitimate demands based on issues related to freedoms and justice, and for establishing neighborly relations not overwhelmed with prejudice and aspirations of hegemony,” the statement said.

They also collectively backed the “restoration of the rights of the Iranian people and the liberation of Arab countries—such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen—from the heavy toll brought about by the Iranian regime, and freedom from its crude and malicious interventions.”

The signatories considered that the success of the Iranians in overthrowing the state Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist, the Faqih rule, and the Revolutionary Guard, putting the country back on the rightful track of revolution and building a pluralistic and democratic system, which recognizes human rights as stipulated in international charters, will have a profound and positive impact on the structure of subsequent political transformations in the Arab world.

It would also open a new horizon for transformations towards a state based on freedom, citizenship and democracy in the Middle East.



Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
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Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)

Iran's police force has dismissed the commander of a city in the northern province of Gilan after the death in custody of a detainee, state media said on Saturday.

Mohammad Mir Mousavi, 36, was arrested on July 22 after being involved in a fight in Lahijan, police said in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

"The police commander... was dismissed due to insufficient oversight of the conduct and behaviour of staff," the police said, AFP reported.

"Due to the complexity of the matter, the final conclusion on the cause of Mohammad Mir Mousavi's death depends on the medical examiner's final report.

The police said the station commander and several officers involved in the incident had been suspended.

"The behaviour of some law enforcement officers was against the professional policy of the police and that is not acceptable in any way, so they were referred to the judicial authority," the statement added.

The Norway-based Kurdish human rights organization, Hengaw, on Wednesday said Mir Mousavi "was killed under torture in the detention center".

On Thursday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into the case.

Dismissals of members of the security forces are rare in Iran.

In 2022, the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who had been arrested in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country's strict dress code for women, sparked months of deadly nationwide protests.