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Iran Begins Trial of Opposition Figure Ruhollah Zam

Ruhollah Zam
Ruhollah Zam
TT
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Iran Begins Trial of Opposition Figure Ruhollah Zam

Ruhollah Zam
Ruhollah Zam

Tehran court began the trial of opposition figure Ruhollah Zam, an Iranian in exile in France, who was arrested by the Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in Iraq last October, according to the French Press Agency (AFP).

Zam, a journalist-turned-activist who headed Telegram’s Amadnews with more than 1 million followers on social media, was based in France. Tehran accused him of carrying calls for violence on the channel during the protests in winter 2017-2018.

In the three years before his arrest, Zam published leaks of major cases involving senior officials and their children. He is also accused of revealing sensitive intelligence information on the deployment and role of al-Quds Force in Syria and Iraq.

Amadnews was suspended by the messaging app Telegram last year at the request of Iranian authorities, saying this channel incites violence, reported AFP.

However, after the closure, Telegram gave Amadnews another opportunity to broadcast, which further highlighted Iranian violations against the demonstrators.

Fars news agency, IRGC’s media platform, said that a representative of the public prosecutor read Zam indictment’s which includes 15 charges.

Among the other charges, he was suspected of having “committed offenses against the country's internal and external security” and “espionage for the French intelligence service”.

He was also accused of having insulted "the sanctity of Islam."

IRGC arrested Zam in October, in mysterious circumstances and accused him of “working with French intelligence and receiving support from the US intelligence and the Zionist regime.”

On Monday, Iranian state television announced it will broadcast a documentary revealing Zam’s connections.

Zam's father was an official close to the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, making it easier for him to communicate with sources and children of officials to leak confidential information of decision-makers in Iran.

Amnesty International has repeatedly called on Iran to stop broadcasting videos of “confessions” by suspects, saying they “violate defendants’ rights.”

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At Least 13 People Killed in Pakistani Strikes on Suspected Militant Hideouts in Afghanistan

In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)
In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)
TT
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At Least 13 People Killed in Pakistani Strikes on Suspected Militant Hideouts in Afghanistan

In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)
In this file photo, taken on August 3, 2021, Pakistan Army troops patrol along the fence on the Pakistan Afghanistan border at Big Ben hilltop post in Khyber district. (AP/File)

Local Afghans and the Pakistani Taliban said Wednesday that civilians, including women and children, were killed after Pakistan launched rare airstrikes inside neighboring Afghanistan.
Pakistani security officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity in line with regulations, told The Associated Press that Tuesday's operation was to dismantle a training facility and kill insurgents in the province of Paktika, bordering Afghanistan.
Residents in the area told an AP reporter over the phone that at least 13 people were left dead, adding that the death toll could be higher. They also said the wounded were transported to a local hospital.
Meanwhile, in a statement, Mohammad Khurasani, the spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban or Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, claimed that 50 people, including 27 women and children, have died in the strikes.
Pakistan has not commented on the strikes. However, on Wednesday, the Pakistani military said security forces killed 13 insurgents in an overnight intelligence-based operation in South Waziristan, a district located along eastern Afghanistan's Paktika province.
The strikes are likely to further spike tensions between the two countries. Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban government denounced the attack, saying on Tuesday that most of the victims were refugees from the Waziristan region and promising retaliation.
The TTP is a separate group but also a close ally of the Afghan Taliban, who seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
In March, Pakistan said intelligence-based strikes took place in the border regions inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan has seen innumerable militant attacks in the past two decades but there has been an uptick in recent months. The latest was this weekend when at least 16 Pakistani soldiers were killed when TTP attacked a checkpoint in the country’s northwest.
Pakistani officials have accused the Taliban of not doing enough to combat militant activity across the shared border, a charge the Afghan Taliban government denies, saying it does not allow anyone to carry out attacks against any country.