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.



Russia Pledges ‘Full Support’ for Venezuela Against US ‘Hostilities’

The US Navy replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (T-AO-196) arrives at port in Ponce, Puerto Rico, amid ongoing military movements, December 21, 2025. (Reuters)
The US Navy replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (T-AO-196) arrives at port in Ponce, Puerto Rico, amid ongoing military movements, December 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Russia Pledges ‘Full Support’ for Venezuela Against US ‘Hostilities’

The US Navy replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (T-AO-196) arrives at port in Ponce, Puerto Rico, amid ongoing military movements, December 21, 2025. (Reuters)
The US Navy replenishment oiler USNS Kanawha (T-AO-196) arrives at port in Ponce, Puerto Rico, amid ongoing military movements, December 21, 2025. (Reuters)

Russia on Monday expressed "full support" for Venezuela as the South American country confronts a blockade of sanctioned oil tankers by US forces deployed in the Caribbean, the two governments said.

In a phone call, the foreign ministers of the two allied countries blasted the US actions, which have included bombing alleged drug-trafficking boats and more recently the seizure of two tankers.

A third ship was being pursued, a US official told AFP Sunday.

"The ministers expressed their deep concern over the escalation of Washington's actions in the Caribbean Sea, which could have serious consequences for the region and threaten international shipping," the Russian foreign ministry said of the call between ministers Sergei Lavrov and Yvan Gil.

"The Russian side reaffirmed its full support for and solidarity with the Venezuelan leadership and people in the current context," it added.

"The ministers agreed to continue their close bilateral cooperation and to coordinate their actions on the international stage, particularly at the UN, in order to ensure respect for state sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs."

The UN Security Council is to meet Tuesday to discuss the mounting crisis between Venezuela and the United States after a request from Caracas, backed by China and Russia.

On Telegram, Venezuela's Gil said he and Lavrov had discussed "the aggressions and flagrant violations of international law being perpetrated in the Caribbean: attacks on vessels, extrajudicial executions, and illicit acts of piracy carried out by the United States government."

US forces have since September launched strikes on boats Washington said, without providing evidence, were trafficking drugs in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean.

More than 100 people have been killed, some of them fishermen, according to their families and governments.

US President Donald Trump on December 16 announced a blockade of "sanctioned oil vessels" sailing to and from Venezuela.

Trump has claimed Caracas under Maduro is using oil money to finance "drug terrorism, human trafficking, murder and kidnapping.

Gil said Lavrov had affirmed Moscow's "full support in the face of hostilities against our country."


Turkish Agents Capture an ISIS Member on the Afghan-Pakistan Border

A Turkish soldier stands guard outside the Silivri Prison and Courthouse complex near Istanbul, Turkey. (File/Reuters)
A Turkish soldier stands guard outside the Silivri Prison and Courthouse complex near Istanbul, Turkey. (File/Reuters)
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Turkish Agents Capture an ISIS Member on the Afghan-Pakistan Border

A Turkish soldier stands guard outside the Silivri Prison and Courthouse complex near Istanbul, Turkey. (File/Reuters)
A Turkish soldier stands guard outside the Silivri Prison and Courthouse complex near Istanbul, Turkey. (File/Reuters)

Turkish intelligence agents have captured a senior member of the ISIS terror group in an area along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, allegedly thwarting planned suicide attacks in Türkiye and elsewhere, Türkiye's state-run news agency reported Monday.

Anadolu Agency said the suspect was identified as Mehmet Goren and a member of the group's Afghanistan-based ISIS-Khorasan branch. He was caught in a covert operation and transferred to Türkiye.

It was not clear when the operation took place or whether Afghan and Pakistani authorities were involved.

The report said the Turkish citizen allegedly rose within the organization’s ranks and was given the task of carrying out suicide bombings in Türkiye, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Europe.

ISIS has carried out deadly attacks in Türkiye, including a shooting at an Istanbul night club on Jan. 1, 2017, which killed 39 people.

Monday's report said Goren’s capture allegedly also exposed the group's recruitment methods and provided intelligence on its planned activities.


Iran Arrests Norwegian-Iranian Dual Citizen

Iran's Evin Prison (File photo: Reuters)
Iran's Evin Prison (File photo: Reuters)
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Iran Arrests Norwegian-Iranian Dual Citizen

Iran's Evin Prison (File photo: Reuters)
Iran's Evin Prison (File photo: Reuters)

A Norwegian-Iranian dual citizen has been arrested in Iran, Norway's foreign ministry told AFP on Monday.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware that a Norwegian citizen has been arrested in Iran, but due to our obligation to respect confidentiality we cannot provide further details," ministry spokesman Mathias Rongved said in an email.

He confirmed the individual was a dual Norwegian-Iranian national and noted the government advises against travel to Iran.

On its website, the Norwegian government states that Iran does not recognise dual citizenship, and it is "therefore very difficult -- virtually impossible -- for the embassy to assist Norwegian-Iranian citizens if they are imprisoned in Iran".

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) identified the dual national as Shahin Mahmoudi, born in 1979.

It said she was arrested on December 14 after being ordered to report to authorities in Saqqez, in Iran's western Kurdistan province.

She is being held at a detention center in Sanandaj, it added.

HRANA said her family had not been informed of the reason for her arrest nor had they received any news of her health and well-being.