Iranians Protest in Zahedan Despite Tight Security

Demonstrators protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Berlin, Germany (File photo: Reuters)
Demonstrators protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Berlin, Germany (File photo: Reuters)
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Iranians Protest in Zahedan Despite Tight Security

Demonstrators protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Berlin, Germany (File photo: Reuters)
Demonstrators protest following the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, in Berlin, Germany (File photo: Reuters)

Thousands took to the streets in Zahedan Friday despite the checkpoints and roadblocks established by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces and police officers.

Videos from the march showed protesters carrying banners and chanting against the Iranian government.

The military forces designated checkpoints in different areas of Zahedan and outside the homes of Baloch citizens in anticipation of these protests.

Residents complained about the treatment of the military forces, as everyone was interrogated, searched, and forced to show their identity cards.

According to the Iran International website, military forces were also present at some schools, noting that they had been converted into what resembled military bases.

Iran has been witnessing massive protests for months, after the death of the young woman, Mahsa Amini, on September 16, 2022, at the hands of the "morality police."

Despite pressures and threats, anti-regime Friday protests continued for the fifteenth week in Zahedan.

According to the United Nations, Iran arrested at least 14,000 people during the protests.

The authorities executed four people for their role in the unrest and imposed death sentences on 18 people, sparking widespread international outrage.

The EU will impose new sanctions on 37 Iranian officials and organizations over the crackdown on protests but is still debating listing the Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist group, diplomats said Friday.

Foreign ministers from the bloc will agree to adopt the fourth package of sanctions against Tehran due to its repression of the demonstrators at a scheduled meeting on Monday in Brussels.

The EU imposed sanctions, including freezing assets and a visa ban on more than 60 Iranian officials and entities over the suppression of protests, including the morality police, IRGC commanders, and state media.

However, the EU is still discussing adding the IRGC to the blacklist of terrorist organizations despite calls from Germany and other member states to take this step.

For its part, Iran warned the EU against this move, and European officials fear that it could hinder attempts to revive the 2015 agreement on Tehran's nuclear program, mediated by Brussels.

"I think it's not a good idea because it prevents you from going ahead in other issues," a senior EU official said.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said that the EU foreign ministers are expected to agree to impose more sanctions targeting IRGC commanders at their meeting in Brussels on Monday.

Asked at a regular government news conference in Berlin whether sanctions could hamper diplomatic efforts to prevent Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, the spokesperson said: "The focus of our policy currently is increasing pressure on the Iranian regime."



Kremlin Says Putin Is Ready to Talk to Trump and Is Waiting for Word from Washington 

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via videoconference at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via videoconference at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Kremlin Says Putin Is Ready to Talk to Trump and Is Waiting for Word from Washington 

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via videoconference at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a cabinet meeting via videoconference at Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025. (Gavriil Grigorov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to hold a phone call with US President Donald Trump and Moscow is waiting for word from Washington that it is ready too, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

Trump said on Thursday he wanted to meet Putin as soon as possible to secure an end to the war with Ukraine and expressed his desire to work towards cutting nuclear arms, something the Kremlin said Putin had made clear he wanted too.

When asked if Putin and Trump would use this weekend to hold their first phone call since Trump's inauguration - an essential precursor ahead of a face-to-face meeting for deeper talks - Peskov said:

"Putin is ready. We are waiting for signals (from Washington). Everyone is ready. It is difficult to read the coffee grounds here. As soon as there is something, if there is something, we will inform you."

Trump, who on Thursday was addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos via video link, said he wanted to work towards cutting nuclear arms, adding that he thought Russia and China might support reducing their own weapons capabilities.

"We'd like to see denuclearization ... and I will tell you President Putin really liked the idea of cutting way back on nuclear. And I think the rest of the world, we would have gotten them to follow, and China would have come along too," Trump said.

Peskov said Putin had made it clear he wanted to resume nuclear disarmament negotiations as soon as possible, but said such talks would need to be wider than in the past to cover other countries' nuclear arsenals, including those of France and Britain.

"So there is something to talk about, we need to talk. Time has been lost in many respects. We have spoken about such interest before, so the ball is in the court of the US, which has stopped all substantive contacts with our country," said Peskov.

The New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, which caps the number of strategic nuclear warheads that the United States and Russia can deploy, and the deployment of land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them, is due to run out on Feb. 5, 2026.

It is the last remaining pillar of nuclear arms control between the world's two biggest nuclear powers.

Peskov also took issue with Trump's assertion that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy was ready to strike a peace deal, pointing out that Zelenskiy had, in a 2022 decree, ruled out any negotiations with Putin.

"In order to reach a settlement, it is necessary to hold negotiations. (But) Zelenskiy has banned himself from conducting in his own decree."

Zelenskiy said this week that at least 200,000 European peacekeepers would be needed to prevent a new Russian attack on Ukraine after any ceasefire deal.