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.



International Criminal Court Refers Hungary to Its Oversight Body for Failing to Arrest Netanyahu 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shake hands after a press statement at the Carmelite Monastery in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. (AP) 
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shake hands after a press statement at the Carmelite Monastery in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. (AP) 
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International Criminal Court Refers Hungary to Its Oversight Body for Failing to Arrest Netanyahu 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shake hands after a press statement at the Carmelite Monastery in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. (AP) 
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, shake hands after a press statement at the Carmelite Monastery in the Buda Castle in Budapest, Hungary, April 3, 2025. (AP) 

A panel of judges at the International Criminal Court reported Hungary to the court’s oversight organization for failing to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he visited Budapest in April, saying the move undercut the court's ability to bring suspects to justice.

The Israeli leader received a red carpet welcome from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during a state visit, in defiance of an ICC arrest warrant. Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant are accused of crimes against humanity in connection with the war in Gaza.

Israel is not a member of the court and staunchly rejects the charges.

In a filing released late Thursday, the three-judge panel wrote that “the obligation to cooperate was sufficiently clear to Hungary” and the failure to arrest Netanyahu “severely undermines the Court’s ability to carry out its mandate.”

The ICC has no police force and relies on countries around the world to execute arrest warrants.

The court's oversight body, the Assembly of States Parties has limited powers to sanction Hungary. It will consider the next steps during its annual meeting in December.

The Hungarian leader, regarded by critics as an autocrat and the EU’s most intransigent spoiler in the bloc’s decision-making, has defended his decision to not arrest Netanyahu. During the visit, Orbán said his country’s commitment to the ICC was “ half-hearted ” and began the process to withdraw Hungary from the court.

Orbán signed the Rome Statute, the treaty which created the court, in 2001 during his first term as prime minister.

The court dismissed arguments from Hungary that Parliament never incorporated the court’s statute into Hungarian law, writing “it was Hungary’s responsibility to ensure that such legislation was in place.”

The decision comes as Gaza’s population of more than 2 million Palestinians is in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, now relying largely on the limited aid allowed into the territory.

Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of using “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid, and of intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza.