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Iran Arrests Ex-President Rafsanjani’s Daughter, Uses Excessive Force to Oppress Protesters

Iranian women demonstrating in Tehran (AFP)
Iranian women demonstrating in Tehran (AFP)
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Iran Arrests Ex-President Rafsanjani’s Daughter, Uses Excessive Force to Oppress Protesters

Iranian women demonstrating in Tehran (AFP)
Iranian women demonstrating in Tehran (AFP)

Anti-regime rallies have been flaring up in Tehran and other Iranian cities. Security forces met these demonstrations with excessive force, arresting hundreds of protesters, most prominent of whom was the daughter of ex-president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Faezeh Hashemi was arrested on the 11th night of protests that have swept Iran nationwide in the aftermath of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, dying under mysterious circumstances while in police custody.

Revolutionary Guard websites announced the arrest of Hashemi on the grounds of her support for the protests.

A “Quds Force” channel reported on Telegram that Hashemi was arrested while participating in rallies east of Tehran.

“Faezeh Hashemi has been arrested in the east of Tehran by a security agency for inciting rioters to street protests,” the Tasnim news agency reported, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, footage circulated on social media showed crowds of Iranians descending to streets in various neighborhoods of Tehran despite the dangers and the strict security environment.

Riots erupting in Tehran coincided with renewed protests in the city of Sanandaj, the center of Kurdistan province, and major cities such as Tabriz, Isfahan, Karaj and Ahwaz.

Videos posted on social media from inside Iran showed protesters chanting, “Woman, Life, Liberty,” while women waved and burnt their veils.

Some raised other slogans against the ruling establishment, targeting Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei particularly.

Many videos shared online showed riot police using live ammunition to restrain the protesters.

Twitter account 1500tasvir, which follows the protests closely, published a video showing Iranian women and girls burning their headscarves.

Despite a growing death toll and a fierce crackdown by security forces using tear gas and, in some cases, live ammunition, videos posted on social media showed protesters calling for the fall of the clerical establishment while clashing with security forces in Tehran, Tabriz, Karaj, Qom, Yazd and many other Iranian cities.

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World

Iran Says No Country Can Deprive it of Enrichment Rights

A handout photo made available by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
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Iran Says No Country Can Deprive it of Enrichment Rights

A handout photo made available by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT
A handout photo made available by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)'s official website Sepahnews on 17 February 2026 shows IRGC conducting a military drill in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Persian gulf, southern Iran. EPA/SEPAHNEWS HANDOUT

Iran's atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami said no country can deprive the Iranian republic of its right to nuclear enrichment, after US President Donald Trump again hinted at military action following talks in Geneva.

"The basis of the nuclear industry is enrichment. Whatever you want to do in the nuclear process, you need nuclear fuel," said Eslami, according to a video published by Etemad daily on Thursday.

"Iran's nuclear program is proceeding according to the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and no country can deprive Iran of the right to peacefully benefit from this technology."

The comments follow the second round of Oman-mediated talks between Tehran and Washington in Geneva on Tuesday.

The two foes had held an initial round of discussions on February 6 in Oman, the first since previous talks collapsed during the 12-day Iran-Israel war in June.

The United States briefly joined the war alongside Israel, striking Iranian nuclear facilities.

On Wednesday, Trump again suggested the United States might strike Iran in a post on his Truth Social site.

He warned Britain against giving up sovereignty over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean, saying that the archipelago's Diego Garcia airbase might be needed were Iran not to agree a deal, "in order to eradicate a potential attack by a highly unstable and dangerous regime".

Washington has repeatedly called for zero enrichment, but has also sought to address Iran's ballistic missile program and its support for militant groups in the region -- issues which Israel has pushed to include in the talks.

Western countries accuse the Iranian republic of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.

Tehran denies having such military ambitions but insists on its right to this technology for civilian purposes.

Trump, who has ratcheted up pressure on Iran to reach an agreement, has deployed a significant naval force to the region, which he has described as an "armada".

After sending the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and escort battleships to the Gulf in January, he recently indicated that a second aircraft carrier, the Gerald Ford, would depart "very soon" for the Middle East.

Separately, the Iranian and Russian navies were conducting joint drills in the Sea of Oman and the northern Indian Ocean on Thursday.

World

Karachi Building Collapse after Blast Kills 16

Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
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Karachi Building Collapse after Blast Kills 16

Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN
Rescue workers and people gather at the site of a residential compound following a suspected gas leakage blast in Karachi, Pakistan, 19 February 2026. EPA/REHAN KHAN

A building collapse caused by an explosion in Pakistan's southern megacity of Karachi killed at least 16 people on Thursday, including children, officials said.

More than a dozen people were injured in the incident in the Soldier Bazaar neighborhood of Karachi at around 4:00 am, when Muslim families start preparing Sehri, the pre-sunrise meal eaten during Ramadan.

World

Australian Police Investigate Threatening Letter to Country's Largest Mosque

FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
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Australian Police Investigate Threatening Letter to Country's Largest Mosque

FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A security guard stands outside the Lakemba Imam Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque as people arrive for Friday prayers in Sydney, Australia, December 19, 2025. REUTERS/Hollie Adams/File Photo

Australian police said on Thursday they had launched an investigation after a threatening letter was sent to the country’s largest mosque, the third such incident in the lead-up to the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

The letter sent to Lakemba Mosque in Sydney’s west on Wednesday contained a drawing of a pig and a threat to kill the "Muslim race", local media reported. Police said they had taken the letter for forensic testing, and would continue to patrol ‌religious sites including ‌the mosque, as well as community events.

The latest letter ‌comes ⁠weeks after a ⁠similar message was mailed to the mosque, depicting Muslim people inside a mosque on fire.

Police have also arrested and charged a 70-year-old man in connection with a third threatening letter sent to Lakemba Mosque's staff in January.

The Lebanese Muslim Association, which runs the mosque, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp (ABC) it had written to the government to request more funding for additional security guards and ⁠CCTV cameras.

Some 5,000 people are expected to attend ‌the mosque each night during Ramadan. More ‌than 60% of residents in the suburb of Lakemba identify as Muslim, according to ‌the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Bilal El-Hayek, mayor of Canterbury-Bankstown council, where Lakemba ‌is located, said the community was feeling "very anxious".

"I've heard first-hand from people saying that they won't be sending their kids to practice this Ramadan because they're very concerned about things that might happen in local mosques," AFP quoted him as saying.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ‌condemned the recent string of threats.

"It is outrageous that people just going about commemorating their faith, particularly during the ⁠holy month ⁠for Muslims of Ramadan, are subject to this sort of intimidation," he told ABC radio.

"I have said repeatedly we need to turn down the temperature of political discourse in this country, and we certainly need to do that."

Anti-Muslim sentiment has been growing in Australia since the war in Gaza War in late 2023, according to a recent report commissioned by the government.

The Islamophobia Register Australia has also documented a 740% rise in reports following the Bondi mass shooting on December 14, where authorities allege two gunmen inspired by ISIS killed 15 people attending a Jewish holiday celebration.

"There's been a massive increase post-Bondi," Mayor El-Hayek said. "Without a doubt, this is the worst I have ever seen it. There's a lot of tension out there."