10% of Detained Protesters in Iran Are Women  

A woman protests the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran in October. (AP)
A woman protests the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran in October. (AP)
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10% of Detained Protesters in Iran Are Women  

A woman protests the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran in October. (AP)
A woman protests the death of Mahsa Amini in Tehran in October. (AP)

The Iranian regime said Tuesday that women make up 10% of people arrested during the protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.   

Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died on Sept. 16 in custody of the country’s morality police. She was detained for allegedly violating Iran’s strict dress code for women.  

Some foreign media have names some of the women as victims in the recent riots, but the available evidence clearly shows their cause of death, the Mehr News Agency quoted Vice-President for Women and Family Affairs Ensieh Khazali as saying. 

She added that the West “practices dictatorship in the name of women, but actually does not allow them to make their demands.” 

She recalled Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Oct. 3 statements, when he stressed that the “morality police was just a pretext to spark chaos,” and that if there had been no such issue, they might have invented other excuses to riot.  

“They can’t tolerate seeing our progress in various fields,” Khazali said.   

She underscored the role of women in the country’s decision-making process, noting that the government had appointed several women in the supreme councils. 

Commenting on the hijab debate, Khazali said no country enjoys absolute freedom in terms of dress code.



Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Grossi Wants to Meet with Iran’s Pezeshkian ‘at Earliest Convenience’

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi speaks to the media at the Dupont Circle Hotel in Washington, US, March 15, 2023. (Reuters)

Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi announced he intends to visit Tehran through a letter he addressed to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Iranian Mehr Agency reported that Grossi sent a congratulatory message to the Iranian president-elect, which stated: “I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to you on your election win as President of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

“Cooperation between the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been at the focal attention of the international circles for many years. I am confident that, together, we will be able to make decisive progress on this crucial matter.”

“To that effect, I wish to express my readiness to travel to Iran to meet with you at the earliest convenience,” Iran’s Mehr news agency quoted Grossi as saying.

The meeting – should it take place - will be the first for Pezeshkian, who had pledged during his election campaign to be open to the West to resolve outstanding issues through dialogue.

Last week, American and Israeli officials told the Axios news site that Washington sent a secret warning to Tehran last month regarding its fears of Iranian research and development activities that might be used to produce nuclear weapons.

In May, Grossi expressed his dissatisfaction with the course of the talks he held over two days in Iran in an effort to resolve outstanding matters.

Since the death of the former Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, the IAEA chief refrained from raising the Iranian nuclear file, while European sources said that Tehran had asked to “freeze discussions” until the internal situation was arranged and a new president was elected.