عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Iran Puts on Trial Reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh

In this file photo taken on May 14, 2021 Iranian reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh speaks to the media after registering his candidacy at the Interior Ministry in the capital Tehran, for the Islamic Republic's upcoming presidential elections. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on May 14, 2021 Iranian reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh speaks to the media after registering his candidacy at the Interior Ministry in the capital Tehran, for the Islamic Republic's upcoming presidential elections. (AFP)
TT
TT

Iran Puts on Trial Reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh

In this file photo taken on May 14, 2021 Iranian reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh speaks to the media after registering his candidacy at the Interior Ministry in the capital Tehran, for the Islamic Republic's upcoming presidential elections. (AFP)
In this file photo taken on May 14, 2021 Iranian reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh speaks to the media after registering his candidacy at the Interior Ministry in the capital Tehran, for the Islamic Republic's upcoming presidential elections. (AFP)

Iran has put on trial the reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh, who was previously jailed and arrested again last month accused of undermining state security, local media reported.

The 65-year-old -- who last year made an unsuccessful bid for the presidency as a reformist and "political prisoner for seven years" -- went on trial in Tehran on Saturday, said the judicial authority's news agency Mizan Online.

"Mostafa Tajzadeh's hearing was held at Branch 15 of Tehran's Revolutionary Court" before judge Abolghassem Salavati, it said.

Tajzadeh had served as deputy interior minister during the 1997-2005 tenure of reformist former president Mohammad Khatami.

He was arrested in 2009 during protests disputing the re-election of then president Mahmud Ahmadinejad, which was contested by an opposition backing unsuccessful reformist candidates Mehdi Karoubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Tajzadeh was convicted the following year of harming national security and propaganda against the state, and released in 2016 after serving his sentence.

Since his release, Tajzadeh has often called on authorities to free Mousavi and Karoubi, who have been under house arrest for more than a decade over the protests.

He submitted his candidacy in May 2021, having long campaigned for democratic and "structural changes" in Iran.

He was again arrested on July 8 this year at his home and also faces accusations of "publishing lies to disturb public opinion", the Mehr news agency has reported.

According to Mizan, Tajzadeh in court faced "three counts, including conspiracy against national security".

The defendant declined to speak in court, the report added.

His lawyer, Houshang Pourbabai, was quoted as telling the reformist newspaper Etemad that "three days ago, I went to Evin prison to meet my client with the permission of the court".

"My client refused to meet me because he could not talk to me face to face," he said, adding that Tajzadeh had also announced that he "would not appear in court".

Etemad quoted Tajzadeh's wife as saying the activist "was forced to appear in court against his will".

Mizan said that, "given Tajzadeh's refusal to answer questions, the judge announced that he would give his verdict within the legal time limit".

Most Viewed

 
 
World

China Says It Opposes Outside Interference in Iran’s Internal Affairs

Iranians walk next to a billboard reading "Iran is our Homeland" at Enqelab Square in Tehran, Iran, 13 January 2026. (EPA)
Iranians walk next to a billboard reading "Iran is our Homeland" at Enqelab Square in Tehran, Iran, 13 January 2026. (EPA)
TT
TT

China Says It Opposes Outside Interference in Iran’s Internal Affairs

Iranians walk next to a billboard reading "Iran is our Homeland" at Enqelab Square in Tehran, Iran, 13 January 2026. (EPA)
Iranians walk next to a billboard reading "Iran is our Homeland" at Enqelab Square in Tehran, Iran, 13 January 2026. (EPA)

China opposes any outside interference in Iran's ​internal affairs, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday, after US President Donald Trump warned that Washington ‌would take "very ‌strong action" ‌against Tehran.

China ⁠does ​not ‌condone the use or the threat of force in international relations, Mao Ning, spokesperson at ⁠the Chinese foreign ministry, said ‌at a ‍regular ‍news conference when ‍asked about China's position following Trump's comments.

Trump told CBS News in ​an interview that the United States would take "very ⁠strong action" if Iran starts hanging protesters.

Trump also urged protesters to keep protesting and said that help was on the way.

World

South Korea Vows Legal Action Over Drone Incursion into North

A North Korean flag flutters on top of a 160-meter tower in North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong in this picture taken from the Dora observatory near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, April 24, 2018. (Reuters)
A North Korean flag flutters on top of a 160-meter tower in North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong in this picture taken from the Dora observatory near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, April 24, 2018. (Reuters)
TT
TT

South Korea Vows Legal Action Over Drone Incursion into North

A North Korean flag flutters on top of a 160-meter tower in North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong in this picture taken from the Dora observatory near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, April 24, 2018. (Reuters)
A North Korean flag flutters on top of a 160-meter tower in North Korea's propaganda village of Gijungdong in this picture taken from the Dora observatory near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Paju, South Korea, April 24, 2018. (Reuters)

The South Korean president's top advisor vowed on Wednesday to punish whoever is found responsible for a recent drone incursion into North Korea, after a furious Pyongyang demanded an apology.

North Korea accused the South over the weekend of sending a drone across their shared border into the city of Kaesong this month, releasing photos of debris from what it said was the downed aircraft.

And on Tuesday the North Korean leader's powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, demanded an apology over the incident from the "hooligans of the enemy state" responsible.

Seoul has denied any involvement but has left open the possibility that civilians may have flown the drone, a position reiterated by National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac on Wednesday.

"Our understanding so far is that neither the military nor the government carried out such an operation," Wi told reporters on the sidelines of a summit between the leaders of South Korea and Japan in the Japanese city of Nara.

"That leaves us the task to investigate if someone from the civilian sector may have done it," he said.

"If there is anything that warrants punishment, then there should be punishment."

South and North Korea remain technically at war, as the 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Wi noted that despite Pyongyang's criticism and its demand for an apology, the North has also sent its own drones into South Korea.

"There have been incidents in which their drones fell near the Blue House, and others that reached Yongsan," he said, referring to the current and former locations of the presidential offices.

"These, too, are violations of the Armistice Agreement," he said.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has ordered a joint military-police probe into the drone case.

Any civilian involvement would be "a serious crime that threatens peace on the Korean peninsula", he warned.

World

Iran’s Judiciary Signals Fast Trials and Executions for Detained Protesters Despite Trump’s Warning

This video grab taken on January 14, 2026 from UGC images posted on social media on January 13, 2026, shows dozens of bodies lying on the ground at the Tehran Province Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Centre in Kahrizak, as grieving relatives search for their loved ones. (UGC / AFP)
This video grab taken on January 14, 2026 from UGC images posted on social media on January 13, 2026, shows dozens of bodies lying on the ground at the Tehran Province Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Centre in Kahrizak, as grieving relatives search for their loved ones. (UGC / AFP)
TT
TT

Iran’s Judiciary Signals Fast Trials and Executions for Detained Protesters Despite Trump’s Warning

This video grab taken on January 14, 2026 from UGC images posted on social media on January 13, 2026, shows dozens of bodies lying on the ground at the Tehran Province Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Centre in Kahrizak, as grieving relatives search for their loved ones. (UGC / AFP)
This video grab taken on January 14, 2026 from UGC images posted on social media on January 13, 2026, shows dozens of bodies lying on the ground at the Tehran Province Forensic Diagnostic and Laboratory Centre in Kahrizak, as grieving relatives search for their loved ones. (UGC / AFP)

The head of Iran’s judiciary signaled Wednesday there would be fast trials and executions ahead for those detained in nationwide protests despite a warning from US President Donald Trump.

The comments from Iran’s judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei come as activists had warned hangings of those detained could come soon.

Already, a bloody security force crackdown on the demonstrations has killed at least 2,571, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported. That figure dwarfs the death toll from any other round of protest or unrest in Iran in decades and recalls the chaos surrounding the country’s 1979 revolution.

Trump repeatedly has warned that the United States may take military action over the killing of peaceful protesters, just months after it bombed Iranian nuclear sites during a 12-day war launched by Israel against the Islamic Republic in June.

Mohseni-Ejei made the comment in a video shared by Iranian state television online.

“If we want to do a job, we should do it now. If we want to do something, we have to do it quickly," he said. “If it becomes late, two months, three months later, it doesn’t have the same effect. If we want to do something, we have to do that fast.”

His comments stand as a direct challenge to Trump, who warned Iran about executions an interview with CBS aired Tuesday. “We will take very strong action,” Trump said. “If they do such a thing, we will take very strong action.”

Meanwhile, activists said Wednesday that Starlink was offering free service in Iran. The satellite internet service has been key in getting around an internet shutdown launched by the theocracy on Jan. 8. Iran began allowing people to call out internationally on Tuesday via their mobile phones, but calls from people outside the country into Iran remain blocked.

“We can confirm that the free subscription for Starlink terminals is fully functional,” said Mehdi Yahyanejad, a Los Angeles-based activist who has helped get the units into Iran. “We tested it using a newly activated Starlink terminal inside Iran.”

Starlink itself did not immediately acknowledge the decision.

Security service personnel also apparently were searching for Starlink dishes, as people in northern Tehran reported authorities raiding apartment buildings with satellite dishes. While satellite television dishes are illegal, many in the capital have them in homes, and officials broadly had given up on enforcing the law in recent years.