Iranians Hit Streets Again as Protests Enter 4th Month

Iran has seen waves of demonstrations since the September 16 death in custody of Amini. AFP
Iran has seen waves of demonstrations since the September 16 death in custody of Amini. AFP
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Iranians Hit Streets Again as Protests Enter 4th Month

Iran has seen waves of demonstrations since the September 16 death in custody of Amini. AFP
Iran has seen waves of demonstrations since the September 16 death in custody of Amini. AFP

Hundreds took to the streets Friday in Iran's restive southeast, footage shared by human rights groups showed, beginning a fourth month of protests sparked by Mahsa Amini's death.

Iran has seen waves of demonstrations since the September 16 death in custody of Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd who had been arrested for allegedly violating the country's strict dress code for women.

Protesters in Zahedan, the Sistan-Baluchestan provincial capital, chanted "Death to the dictator", taking aim at supreme leader Ali Khamenei, according to a video shared by Oslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and verified by AFP.

Other images from Zahedan showed crowds of men, some raising posters with anti-regime slogans, and a group of black-clad women marching down what appeared to be a nearby street, also chanting slogans.

Sistan-Baluchestan, on Iran's southeastern border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, had been the site of often deadly violence even before nationwide protests erupted.

The province's Baluchi minority, who adhere to Sunni Islam, have long complained of discrimination.

US-based rights group HRANA said hundreds rallied after Friday prayers in Zahedan, which has seen weekly protests since the security forces killed more than 90 people in the city on September 30, in what has been dubbed "Bloody Friday".

The trigger for that violence was the alleged rape in custody of a 15-year-old girl by a police commander in the province's port city of Chabahar.

But analysts say Baluchis were inspired by the protests that flared over Amini's death, which were initially driven by women's rights but have expanded to include other grievances.

Last week, a cleric was killed after being kidnapped from his mosque in Khash, a town in Sistan-Baluchestan.

Zahedan's chief prosecutor said Tuesday that the killers of cleric Abdulwahed Rigi had been arrested, and accused them of seeking to stir trouble between Sunnis and Shiites.

The largely peaceful demonstrations sparked by Amini's death have been met with a crackdown by the Iranian security forces that has killed at least 458 protesters, according to a toll issued on December 7 by the Norway-based IHR.

Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, said on December 3 that more than 200 people had been killed in the unrest, including security personnel.

The United Nations says Iran's security forces have arrested at least 14,000 people.

Iran's judiciary said it has handed down 11 death sentences in connection with the protests.

Iran executed Mohsen Shekari on December 8 and Majidreza Rahnavard on Monday. Both were 23 years old.

Rahnavard was hanged in public rather than in prison.

Amnesty International said on Friday that at least 26 people were at risk of execution in connection with the protests in Iran, which according to the London-based rights group is already the world's most prolific user of the death penalty after China.

The crackdown on the demonstrations has led to international condemnation, sanctions and Iran's removal Wednesday from a UN women's rights body.

Solidarity protests have also erupted worldwide, and a group of Iranians in Germany on Friday reached the final day of a hunger strike while camped outside their country's consulate in the city of Frankfurt.

Ultraconservative cleric Ahmad Khatami meanwhile lashed out at the European Union after the bloc slapped him with sanctions over what it called "repression against protesters".

Khatami was sanctioned for allegedly inciting violence against protesters, including demanding the death penalty.

During a Friday sermon in Tehran, the cleric said the EU had a "black" human rights record, state news agency IRNA reported.

The EU "is on the top of the list of human rights violators", Khatami charged.

Iran's foreign ministry on Thursday condemned the EU measures, branding them "unacceptable and groundless".



Rubio to Make First Asia Trip as Trump Unveils Tariffs on Host and Allies

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacts as he testifies at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump's State Department budget request for the Department of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, May 20, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacts as he testifies at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump's State Department budget request for the Department of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, May 20, 2025. (Reuters)
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Rubio to Make First Asia Trip as Trump Unveils Tariffs on Host and Allies

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacts as he testifies at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump's State Department budget request for the Department of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, May 20, 2025. (Reuters)
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio reacts as he testifies at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on US President Donald Trump's State Department budget request for the Department of State, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, US, May 20, 2025. (Reuters)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Malaysia this week to attend meetings of Southeast Asian Nations in his first trip to Asia as America's top diplomat, the State Department said on Monday.

The department announced the July 8-12 trip, billed as a move to reaffirm Washington's commitment to the Indo-Pacific, just hours before President Donald Trump said he would impose 25% tariffs on imports from Japan and South Korea, the key US allies in the region and vital partners in countering China's growing might, as well as on Malaysia.

Trump also announced 40% tariffs on Laos and Myanmar, which along with Malaysia are members of ASEAN.

Rubio will take part in meetings with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, whose ministers are gathering in Kuala Lumpur and will also meet with senior Malaysian government officials, the State Department said.

Rubio will seek to firm up US relationships with partners and allies unnerved by Trump's global tariff strategy and the president's announcements look certain to dampen the mood.

The trip has been seen as part of a renewed US focus on the Indo-Pacific and an effort to look beyond conflicts in the Middle East and Europe that have consumed much of the Trump administration's attention.

"Top topics that he's going to want to hit, obviously, are to reaffirm our commitment to East Asia, to ASEAN, to the Indo-Pacific, and not just ... for its own sake," a senior State Department official told reporters.

"I think a key message that the secretary likes to deliver is that we're committed, and we prioritize it because it is in America's interests, right? It promotes American prosperity and it promotes American security."

The official said Rubio would be prepared to discuss trade, including reiterating that the need to rebalance US trade relationships is significant and echoing messages from the White House and US Trade Representative.

ASEAN countries have been nervous about Trump's tariffs and questioned the willingness of his "America First" administration to fully engage diplomatically and economically with the region.

"There is a hunger to be reassured that the US actually views the Indo-Pacific as the primary theater of US interests, key to US national security," said Greg Poling, director of the Southeast Asia Program at Washington's Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The White House said twelve other countries after Japan and South Korea will receive trade letters informing them of new tariffs to take effect from August 1.

Trump said on Sunday the US was close to finalizing several trade pacts and would notify other countries by July 9 of higher tariff rates. He also sent a message to BRICS group of developing nations as its leaders met in Brazil, threatening an additional 10% tariff on any aligning themselves with "anti-American" policies.

The BRICS includes ASEAN member Indonesia, as well as China and India.

Trump announced last week he had reached a trade agreement with important Southeast Asian partner and ASEAN member Vietnam and could reach one with India, but cast doubt on a possible deal with Japan, which is not only Washington's main Asian ally, but a major investor in the United States.

Rubio has yet to visit Japan, or South Korea, the other main US ally in Northeast Asia, since taking office in January, even though Washington sees the Indo-Pacific as its main strategic priority given the perceived threat from China.

South Korea's presidential security adviser Wi Sung-lac headed to Washington on Sunday for trade and defense talks, with Seoul seeking to head off US tariffs. He aims to meet with Rubio and discuss a possible summit between Trump and President Lee Jae Myung, who took office last month.