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Tehran Toughens Stance against Protesters, Judiciary Threatens Capital Punishment

Students of the Faculty of Art at the University of Tehran raise papers demanding the release of detainees (Coordinating Committee of Student Unions)
Students of the Faculty of Art at the University of Tehran raise papers demanding the release of detainees (Coordinating Committee of Student Unions)
    London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Tehran Toughens Stance against Protesters, Judiciary Threatens Capital Punishment

Students of the Faculty of Art at the University of Tehran raise papers demanding the release of detainees (Coordinating Committee of Student Unions)
Students of the Faculty of Art at the University of Tehran raise papers demanding the release of detainees (Coordinating Committee of Student Unions)

Iranian officials have sharpened their threats against anti-regime protesters with the country's hardliner Chief Justice Gholam-Hossein Ejei announcing on Monday his support for delivering the death penalty against demonstrators.

“The deputy head of the judiciary and the public prosecutor are following up on a daily basis the files of key figures in the recent unrest,” Ejei said on the third day of the eighth week of civil disobedience following the death of 22-year-old Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Ejei also vowed to intensify the punishment of those arrested during the protests following a call by the parliament members who have urged the judiciary to issue death sentences for the protesters.

“Whoever carries a firearm or a cold weapon and uses it as an agent of the enemy, threatens the security of the country and raises terror in any region, and at the same time kills a person, retribution (execution) may be carried out against them, and other charges may apply,” said Ejei.

Despite backing calls for serving capital punishment to some protesters, Ejei said that the judiciary will differentiate between demonstrators those who were moved emotionally to participate in the unrest and those who committed crimes and acted on foreign orders.

“The enemies have received a resounding defeat and are trying to carry out harmful actions,” state-run ISNA news agency quoted Ejei as saying.

Later, a court in Tehran convicted three protesters of “war against god.”

The official IRNA news agency stated that the three detainees were brought before the judiciary on charges of sabotaging public funds by setting fire, disrupting public order, assembling, collusion, and carrying out attacks against the regime.

A lawyer for one of the defendants said that his client had burned tires on a highway, which are not considered public money.

Hassan Hassanzadeh, commander of Revolutionary Guards forces in Tehran, threatened to deal with protesters “strictly” on Monday.

He said that the Revolutionary Guards and the police had arrested 14 people they believe are involved in the killing of a prominent member of the Basij forces, west of Tehran.

“The judiciary will deal seriously with those who committed crimes and caused the death of security personnel,” said Hassanzadeh.

“Our security ability to identify and arrest those who stir unrest remains high,” the commander added in an interview with the Revolutionary Guard's affiliated Fars News Agency.

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World

Iran Arrests Man Accused of Running Starlink Internet Network

A man leaves a subway train past an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)
A man leaves a subway train past an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)
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Iran Arrests Man Accused of Running Starlink Internet Network

A man leaves a subway train past an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)
A man leaves a subway train past an image of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, March 13, 2026. (AP)

Iranian authorities have arrested a man accused of leading a network that sold access to the internet via Starlink terminals, a technology that is banned in Iran, the ISNA news agency reported on Friday.

Iran has been digitally sealed off from the rest of the world by a complete internet blackout since the start of the Middle East war.

To get around those restrictions, some Iranians have turned to Starlink terminals from the US company SpaceX, which connect to the internet via satellites.

Doing so is a criminal offence in Iran punishable with prison time.

"A 37-year-old man, who had put in place a network in several provinces of the country to sell access to the unrestricted internet via Starlink, has been arrested" in Shiraz, ISNA reported, citing a deputy police commander for Fars province.

It did not say when the arrest took place.

Iranians were previously placed under an 18-day internet blackout in January, the longest so far, amid anti-government protests during which thousands were killed.

At the time, the authorities managed to disrupt the operation of Starlink terminals.

Under Iranian law, people found guilty of "the use, transportation, purchase or sale of electronic internet communication devices such as Starlink" used to access banned content can be jailed for up to two years in prison.

World

Middle East War ‘Benefits No One and Harms Many’, Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Bardufoss in connection with Cold response 2026, in Bardufoss, Norway, 13 March 2026. (EPA)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Bardufoss in connection with Cold response 2026, in Bardufoss, Norway, 13 March 2026. (EPA)
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Middle East War ‘Benefits No One and Harms Many’, Merz

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Bardufoss in connection with Cold response 2026, in Bardufoss, Norway, 13 March 2026. (EPA)
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in Bardufoss in connection with Cold response 2026, in Bardufoss, Norway, 13 March 2026. (EPA)

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday that the Middle East war must end "as soon as possible" as the conflict "benefits no-one and harms many economically, including us".

Asked whether Europeans should make direct contact with Iran to ask for the Strait of Hormuz to be reopened, Merz said: "We are making every effort to end this war... all diplomatic channels are being used."

Speaking at a press conference in Norway alongside his Norwegian and Canadian counterparts Jonas Gahr Store and Mark Carney, Merz stressed that Germany shared the "important goals of the United States and Israel".

"Iran must not threaten Israel and other neighbors," Merz said, adding that Tehran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs must end and that the country "must stop supporting terrorism at home and beyond".

However, Merz added that "with each day of war, more questions arise than answers" and that "a convincing plan is needed" on conducting the war.

"We are witnessing a dangerous escalation. Iran is indiscriminately attacking states in the region, including close partners and allies of our own country, Germany," the chancellor said.

"The Strait of Hormuz has become impassable. We condemn this in the strongest possible terms.

"We have no interest in an endless war," Merz added. "We need a perspective for a peaceful order now."

World

Iran’s New Supreme Leader Wounded, Likely Disfigured, Hegseth Says

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)
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Iran’s New Supreme Leader Wounded, Likely Disfigured, Hegseth Says

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press conference at CENTCOM headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, Florida, USA, 05 March 2026. (EPA)

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded and likely disfigured, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday, questioning Khamenei's ability to govern after nearly two weeks of US and Israeli attacks on Iran.

No images have been released of Khamenei since an Israeli strike at the start of the war that killed much of his family, including his father and wife. His first comments came in a statement read out by a television presenter on Thursday. In the statement, he vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and called ‌on neighboring ‌countries to close US bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting ‌them.

"We ⁠know the new ⁠so-called not so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday. A weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement," Hegseth told a briefing.

"Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father - dead. He's scared, he's injured, he's on the run and he lacks legitimacy."

An Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that the newly appointed supreme leader was lightly injured, but ⁠was continuing to operate, after state television described him as war-wounded.

Hegseth was joined ‌by General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs ‌of Staff, at a briefing in which they emphasized US military strikes to knock out Iran's missile and ‌drone capabilities and its navy.

'NO QUARTER'

During the briefing, Hegseth said that the United States would show ‌no mercy in the war.

"We will keep pressing, keep pushing, keep advancing. No quarter, no mercy for our enemy," Hegseth said.

"No quarter" is the refusal to spare the life of someone who has expressed their intention to surrender - something prohibited by law.

"International humanitarian law prohibits the use of this procedure, that is, ordering that there shall ‌be no survivors, threatening the adversary therewith, or conducting hostilities on this basis," according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Hegseth has moved to ⁠reshape the top ranks ⁠of the military justice system, replacing the judge advocates general for the Army, Navy and Air Force.

The United States has carried out strikes against more than 6,000 targets in Iran over the past 14 days. Almost two weeks of US-Israeli bombings have killed around 2,000 people in Iran.

A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon was sending an additional warship, along with the Marines on board, to the Middle East. The Pentagon has previously said additional troops would be heading to the region.

But despite the US attacks on Iran, more Iranian drones were reported flying into Kuwait, Iraq, the UAE, Bahrain and Oman. Additionally, six US service members were killed on Friday when a US military refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, in an incident the US said involved another aircraft but was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.

Since the US and Israel started carrying out strikes against Iran on February 28, 11 US troops have been killed.