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".



Norway Refuses to Toughen Investment Rules in Israeli Companies

 This picture shows the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank (foreground) and the Israeli settlement of Shilo (background) on June 1, 2025. (AFP)
This picture shows the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank (foreground) and the Israeli settlement of Shilo (background) on June 1, 2025. (AFP)
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Norway Refuses to Toughen Investment Rules in Israeli Companies

 This picture shows the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank (foreground) and the Israeli settlement of Shilo (background) on June 1, 2025. (AFP)
This picture shows the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank (foreground) and the Israeli settlement of Shilo (background) on June 1, 2025. (AFP)

The Norwegian parliament on Wednesday rejected moves to toughen rules on its sovereign wealth fund investing in companies operating in the occupied West Bank.

Lawmakers voted by 88 to 16 against a proposal to order the fund to withdraw from companies "that contribute to Israel's war crimes and the illegal occupation" of the West Bank.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, fueled by vast revenue from the country's oil and gas exports, is the biggest the world and has nearly $1.65 trillion invested around the globe.

The government though is under pressure to use its financial clout to influence Israeli policy in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, where its settlement policy has been deemed illegal under international law.

In a letter signed by about 50 non-governmental organizations, Norway's main union LO called on the Labor government to ensure that the fund's investments were in line with the country's legal obligations.

The UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories on May 20 urged Oslo to "fully and unconditionally divest from all entities linked to Israel's unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory".

Francesca Albanese said Norway's fund held $121.5 billion -- or 6.9 percent of its total value -- in companies "involved in supporting or enabling egregious violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territories".

Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg in response called for an end to violence, the liberation of Israeli hostages kidnapped on October 7, 2023 and the resumption of humanitarian aid.

But he said the fund's investments "do not violate Norway's obligations under international law".

The fund is regulated by a raft of ethical rules and has already divested from 11 companies because of their activities in the occupied West Bank.

In May, it withdrew its investment in Paz Retail and Energy, which distributes fuel in Israeli settlements.

Relations between Norway and Israel have soured since May 2024, when the country joined Spain and Ireland in recognizing the state of Palestine.