Iran’s Sunni Leader Accuses Regime Snipers of Shooting at Demonstrators

A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of the young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)
A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of the young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)
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Iran’s Sunni Leader Accuses Regime Snipers of Shooting at Demonstrators

A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of the young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)
A protester shows a portrait of Mahsa Amini during a demonstration to support Iranian protesters standing up to their leadership over the death of the young woman in police custody, Sunday, Oct. 2, 2022 in Paris. (AP)

Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi, Iran's Sunni leader, accused security forces of targeting demonstrators by deploying snipers to rallies in Zahedan city.

In an Instagram message, he said “special Revolutionary Guard forces have fired at youth and teenagers on Friday.”

“Government forces responded by firing live bullets at young men who threw stones at a police station,” noted Ismaeelzahi.

“Most of the bullets were fired at the heads and hearts of the worshipers, and it was clear that it was the work of snipers,” he added.

Ismaeelzahi condemned what happened as a “disaster” and a “great injustice.”

“Security forces officers in plain clothes shot at people who were making their way back home,” he revealed.

Thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets over the last two weeks to protest the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who had been detained by Iran's morality police in the capital of Tehran for allegedly not adhering to Iran's strict Islamic dress code.

On Saturday, Iran’s Tasnim news agency accused the Baluch opposition Jaish Al-Adl organization of being behind the attack on a police station.

Ali Mousavi, a Revolutionary Guard intelligence chief in the Sistan and Baluchistan province, was shot during the clashes on Friday and pronounced dead at a hospital.

The Baloch Activists Campaign said at least 56 people have died in Zahedan, the capital of the Sistan and Baluchistan province.

In a statement, the Campaign also revealed that 300 individuals were wounded in the clashes that authorities blamed on “separatist groups.”

Local media in the province reported that the protests continued despite the authorities cutting the internet in the area.

Iranian media reported that 20 civilians and five members of the Revolutionary Guard and Basij forces were killed on Friday.

In turn, a non-governmental organization called “Human Rights of Iran” accused security forces of carrying out “bloody repression” against a demonstration that took place after Friday prayers in Zahedan.

According to the human rights group, the protest was triggered by reports of a police chief raping a 15-year-old girl from the Sunni Baluch minority in Chabahar.



Russian Drone Strike Kills 2, Wounds 14 in Ukraine's Odesa

A view shows an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Nina Liashonok
A view shows an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Nina Liashonok
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Russian Drone Strike Kills 2, Wounds 14 in Ukraine's Odesa

A view shows an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Nina Liashonok
A view shows an apartment building hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Odesa, Ukraine June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Nina Liashonok

Two people were killed and at least 14 wounded when a Russian drone smashed into a residential high-rise in Ukraine's Black Sea city of Odesa, authorities said on Saturday.

Three children were among the wounded in the overnight attack, with one in critical condition, said regional Governor Oleh Kiper.

Footage posted by the State Emergency Service showed firefighters battling a blaze and rushing residents down a dark stairwell in the 21-storey building.

Separately, authorities of Ukraine's southern Kherson region said one person was killed and three others were wounded in Russian strikes over the past day.

"Russian troops targeted critical and social infrastructure and residential areas in the region," Kherson's governor, Oleksandr Prokudin, said on Telegram early on Saturday.

Russia has stepped up drone and missile strikes on Ukrainian cities in recent weeks as diplomatic efforts to end the nearly three-and-a-half-year-old war have stalled.