Iran Protests Enter Third Month with Deadly Clashes

Smoke rises during a protest after authorities raised fuel prices, in the central city of Isfahan, Iran, November 16, 2019. (AP)
Smoke rises during a protest after authorities raised fuel prices, in the central city of Isfahan, Iran, November 16, 2019. (AP)
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Iran Protests Enter Third Month with Deadly Clashes

Smoke rises during a protest after authorities raised fuel prices, in the central city of Isfahan, Iran, November 16, 2019. (AP)
Smoke rises during a protest after authorities raised fuel prices, in the central city of Isfahan, Iran, November 16, 2019. (AP)

Iran issued a series of death sentences as women-led protests over Mahsa Amini's death in custody entered a third month Wednesday, with clashes reportedly claiming at least seven lives in two days.

That toll did not include six people authorities said were killed by gunmen who attacked protesters and police later Wednesday in the southwestern province of Khuzestan.

Street violence raged across Iran as protests sparked by the September 16 death of Amini intensified on the anniversary of a lethal 2019 crackdown.

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman of Kurdish origin, died in the custody of the notorious morality police after her arrest for an alleged breach of Iran's strict dress code for women.

"We'll fight! We'll die! We'll take back Iran!" a crowd of protesters could be heard chanting on a Tehran street, in a video published by the 1500tasvir social media monitor.

In a widely shared video verified by AFP, security forces appear to open fire on dozens of commuters at a Tehran metro station, causing them to scramble and fall over each other on the platform.

Another verified video showed members of the security forces, including plainclothes officers, attacking women without hijab headscarves on an underground train.

Organisers of the protests have called for three days of actions to commemorate hundreds killed in the "Bloody Aban" -- or Bloody November -- demonstrations that erupted on November 15, 2019, after a shock decision to hike fuel prices.

The anniversary gave new momentum to the Amini protests, which have seen women burn their headscarves and confront security forces on the streets.

- 'Guards killed' -
State media said "rioters" -- a term Iranian officials use to describe protesters -- killed two members of the Revolutionary Guards and a member of its Basij paramilitary force on Tuesday.

One guard was shot dead in Bukan, a city in Amini's home province of Kurdistan, and another was gunned down in Kamyaran, a Kurdish-majority city in West Azerbaijan province, the official IRNA news agency reported.

The Basij member died after being hit by a Molotov cocktail in the southern city of Shiraz, it added.

A protester was killed on Wednesday in front of the house of one of three demonstrators shot dead the day before by the security forces in Kurdistan province, Oslo-based rights group Hengaw said.

The death of Burhan Karmi occurred in Kamyaran, where tensions were high for the funeral of mobile phone repair shop owner Fuad Mohammadi, the rights group said.

"Brother Fuad is a hero, the martyr of Kurdistan," crowds of mourners chanted, in videos posted on social media.

Special forces also opened fire on students Wednesday after entering Kurdistan University in the flashpoint western city of Sanandaj, Hengaw said.

Security forces have killed at least 342 people, including 43 children and 26 women, in the crackdown since Amini's death, according to the latest toll released by Iran Human Rights (IHR) on Wednesday.

The rights group also said at least 15,000 people have been arrested -- a figure the Iranian authorities deny.

Later on Wednesday, "armed and terrorist elements" on two motorcycles opened fire on protesters and security forces at a central market in the city of Izeh in Khuzestan, IRNA said. It said five people were killed and at least 10 wounded, adding later another victim had died in hospital.

Valiollah Hayati, the deputy governor of Khuzestan, said the fatalities included three men, a woman and a girl, while some of the wounded were in serious condition.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. IRNA reported three people tied to the "incidents and riots" in Izeh had been arrested.



Iran Threatens to Go On Offensive in Strait of Hormuz if Diplomacy with US Fails

A ship near the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters)
A ship near the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters)
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Iran Threatens to Go On Offensive in Strait of Hormuz if Diplomacy with US Fails

A ship near the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters)
A ship near the Strait of Hormuz (Reuters)

Iran has decided to shift its policy from defensive to "fully offensive" due to the deadlock in efforts to agree a permanent end to its war with the United States, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday.

Progress towards peace talks and a resumption of oil tanker traffic through the strategic Strait of Hormuz has ground to a halt, with no sign that the warring parties are moving towards ending the conflict that the US and Israel launched on February 28.

"Iranian entities must be prepared to escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz and wider region, as Iran will be ready to make decisions and take action on difficult decisions," the Iranian official said, adding that Tehran would conduct a "timely and precise" military attack to break the US naval blockade if diplomacy failed, Reuters reported.

Monday marked the day by which Iran and the United States were expected to reach a final deal under a memorandum of understanding agreed in June and aimed at ending the war.

Signed on June 17, the MoU set out a 60-day timeframe, extendable by mutual consent, by which Washington and Tehran should reach an agreement that would cover broader issues such as the fate of Iran's nuclear programme.

The MoU, which declared the immediate and permanent cessation of military operations on all fronts, quickly unravelled, however, due to a dispute over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

IRAN TO SET DEADLINE

Tehran said point 5 of the MoU gives it the right to manage the waterway, while Washington rejected that interpretation. Hostilities resumed as Tehran began firing on vessels it said were trying to sail through the waterway on an unapproved route.

US President Donald Trump said on July 7 that the pact was "over". Tehran has repeatedly accused Washington of consistently violating its commitments.

"Within the short period of a few weeks set by Iran, all the agreement's provisions must be implemented by the US. This is a precondition for further negotiations with the US," the Iranian official told Reuters, adding that mediators would share Tehran's deadline with Washington and regional states.

Both Iran and the United States have stepped up rhetoric over the past week.

Trump warned Americans in a speech at a rally on Friday to prepare for continued high fuel prices as a result of the war, while also saying that "after we finish defeating Iran ... pretty soon I'll be declaring the Hormuz Strait a territory of the United States".

Earlier on Monday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: "The number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, a Nuclear Weapon", repeating one of his stated rationales for the war.


Trump Says Iran Cannot Have a Nuclear Weapon

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Morristown, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Morristown, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
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Trump Says Iran Cannot Have a Nuclear Weapon

President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Morristown, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One at Morristown Airport, Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026, in Morristown, N.J. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

US President Donald Trump reiterated on Monday that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon amid a lack ⁠of progress in diplomatic ⁠efforts to resolve the Middle East conflict.

"The ⁠number one Goal is, and always will be, that Iran cannot have, in any way, shape, or form, ⁠a Nuclear ⁠Weapon," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

His comment came as the 60-day negotiating period to find a peace deal between the US and Iran was expiring, with no word of an extension and both sides seemingly as far apart as they were two months ago.

Iran said Monday it is working to finalize a joint statement with Oman on a plan to manage the transit of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

Fully reopening the waterway to commercial shipping has been a key demand of the United States, but it remains unclear whether the deal will meet Washington's criteria.


Iran Working to Finalize Hormuz Agreement with Oman

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
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Iran Working to Finalize Hormuz Agreement with Oman

FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from Musandam, Oman, August 10, 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo

Iran said Monday it has reached an agreement with Oman over a plan for ships to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which runs between the two countries, and the sides are now working to finalize details for a joint statement.

Iranian Foreign Affairs spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told reporters in Tehran that “an understanding has been reached regarding the map of the transit route.”

He did not elaborate, but details that have previously emerged suggest the deal would reopen the strait with ships entering through a route close to Iran and exiting through a route close to Oman. Ships would transit without paying fees or tolls during the interim period.

The US has sought an acceptable deal on opening the strait before ending its blockade of Iranian ports and it was not clear whether this would meet Washington’s expectations.

Iran effectively closed the strait — through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil supplies passed before the war — after Israel and the US attacked the country on Feb. 28.

Baghaei conceded the talks with Oman have gone slowly, “but we had planned, and still plan, to finalize the understanding in the form of a package: the map plus a joint statement.”

His comments came as a 60-day deadline for finding an agreement to end the war expired, with no signs of a deal between the US and Iran.