Iranian Killed at Memorial for Slain Protesters

A person holds a placard showing late Iranian woman Mahsa Amini with a message reading "woman, life, freedom" outside the Iranian embassy in Rome, Italy, 10 December 2022, following the execution of a protester in Iran. (EPA)
A person holds a placard showing late Iranian woman Mahsa Amini with a message reading "woman, life, freedom" outside the Iranian embassy in Rome, Italy, 10 December 2022, following the execution of a protester in Iran. (EPA)
TT
20

Iranian Killed at Memorial for Slain Protesters

A person holds a placard showing late Iranian woman Mahsa Amini with a message reading "woman, life, freedom" outside the Iranian embassy in Rome, Italy, 10 December 2022, following the execution of a protester in Iran. (EPA)
A person holds a placard showing late Iranian woman Mahsa Amini with a message reading "woman, life, freedom" outside the Iranian embassy in Rome, Italy, 10 December 2022, following the execution of a protester in Iran. (EPA)

Iran's security forces fired on a crowd in the Kurdish-populated west on Saturday, killing a 22-year-old, a rights group said, more than 100 days after the death of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini sparked nationwide protests. 

The country has been rocked by demonstrations since Amini died in custody on September 16 following her arrest for an alleged breach of the country's strict dress code for women. 

Norway-based human rights group Hengaw said the man was killed in a cemetery in the city of Javanroud as residents marked the end of a 40-day mourning period for slain protesters. 

Security forces fired live ammunition and tear gas, killing Borhan Eliasi and wounding eight others, Hengaw said, in a report that could not be independently verified. 

Two of those wounded were said to be in critical condition. 

Activists have used social media to call for gatherings in Tehran and other cities to protest the worsening economic situation. 

The sanctions-hit country replaced its central bank chief on Thursday, state media said, after the rial shed nearly a third of its value on the parallel market in the past two months. 

US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported small gatherings in the capital and the central cities of Isfahan and Najafabad, sharing videos of protesters chanting anti-regime slogans. AFP was unable to immediately verify the footage. 

On Friday, hundreds took to the streets of the southeastern city of 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". 

Footage shared by protest monitor 1500tasvir and verified by AFP shows the crowd in the Sistan-Baluchistan provincial capital chanting "Death to the dictator", taking aim at Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei. 

Sistan-Baluchistan, an impoverished province on Iran's border with Afghanistan and Pakistan, had been the site of often deadly violence even before protests erupted over Amini's death.  

At least 14,000 people have been arrested since the nationwide unrest began, the United Nations said last month. HRANA has put the figure at 19,000.  

Retrial for death row inmate 

Iranian officials say hundreds of people have been killed in the unrest, including members of the security forces, and thousands arrested.  

In an updated death toll issued Tuesday, Oslo-based group Iran Human Rights (IHR) said 476 protesters have been killed so far.  

Earlier in December, Iran executed two people in connection with the protests.  

The judiciary's Mizan Online news website reported that the supreme court has ordered the retrial of a third death row inmate sentenced over the nationwide protests.  

Foreign-based rights groups had reported Sahand Nourmohammad-Zadeh was sentenced to death for tearing down street railings and setting fire to rubbish bins and tyres.  

Mizan said the 26-year-old had been granted a retrial.  

"The appeal against the decision issued by a Tehran Revolutionary Court was upheld in the Supreme Court," a statement said, adding that Nourmohammad-Zadeh's case had been referred to a different court to be tried again.  

His lawyer, Hamed Ahmadi, told the ILNA news agency on December 21 that Nourmohammad-Zadeh had been sentenced to death after being convicted of the religious law offense of "moharebeh", or "enmity against God".  

Nourmohammad-Zadeh is the third person reportedly on death row to be granted a retrial after Kurdish rapper Saman Seydi, also known as Saman Yasin, and Mahan Sadrat.  

Majidreza Rahnavard, 23, was hanged in public on December 12 after being sentenced to death by a court in Iran's second city Mashhad for killing two members of the security forces with a knife.  

Four days earlier, Mohsen Shekari, also 23, was executed for wounding a member of the security forces.  

The judiciary has said nine others have been sentenced to death, while IHR said this week that dozens of protesters face charges that can carry the death penalty. 



Iran FM Araghchi Arrives in Oman Ahead of Nuclear Talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
TT
20

Iran FM Araghchi Arrives in Oman Ahead of Nuclear Talks with US

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrives ahead of negotiations with the US, in Muscat, Oman, April 25, 2025. Iranian Foreign Ministry/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via Reuters

Iran's top diplomat Abbas Araghchi arrived in Oman on Friday ahead of fresh nuclear talks with the United States, after both sides said progress had been made in previous rounds.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X that "Araghchi and his accompanying delegation arrived in Muscat for the third round of Iran-US talks".

Iran's Mehr news agency released a brief video showing the foreign minister disembarking from an Iranian government plane in Muscat.

Baqaei said Araghchi would be leading the delegation of diplomats and technical experts in the indirect discussions with the US side.

US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, will represent the United States in the talks.

The latest round will include expert-level talks on Iran's nuclear program, with Michael Anton, who serves as the State Department's head of policy planning, leading the technical discussions on the US side, the department said.

Iran's Tasnim news agency reported that deputy foreign ministers Kazem Gharibabadi and Majid Takht-Ravanchi will lead the Iranian technical team.

Baqaei wrote on X that Iran's delegation is "resolved to secure our nation's legitimate and lawful right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes while taking reasonable steps to demonstrate that our program is entirely peaceful".

"Termination of unlawful and inhumane sanctions in an objective and speedy manner is a priority that we seek to achieve," he added.

According to Baqaei, the dialogue will again be mediated by Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi on Saturday morning.

The meeting follows two earlier rounds of Omani-mediated negotiations in Muscat and Rome starting on April 12.

- Calling for 'goodwill' -

Since his return to office in January, Trump has reimposed sweeping sanctions under his policy of "maximum pressure" against Tehran.

In March, he sent a letter to Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei calling for talks but warning of possible military action if they failed to produce a deal.

Western countries including the United States have long accused Iran of seeking to acquire nuclear weapons -- an allegation Tehran has consistently denied, insisting that its program is for peaceful civilian purposes.

Baqaei earlier Friday said "progress in the negotiations requires the demonstration of goodwill, seriousness, and realism by the other side".

Iran will treat Saturday's talks seriously, Araghchi said in a recent interview, "and if the other party also enters seriously, there is potential for progress".

In 2018, Trump withdrew the United States from a nuclear deal signed three years earlier between Tehran and major world powers. The agreement eased sanctions on Iran in return for curbs on its nuclear program.

After Trump's pullout, Tehran complied with the agreement for a year before scaling back its compliance.

Iran currently enriches uranium up to 60 percent, far above the 3.67 percent limit in the 2015 deal but still below the 90 percent threshold required for weapons-grade material.

In an interview published by Time Magazine on Friday, Trump said the United States will "lead the pack" in attacking Iran if nuclear talks do not lead to a new deal.

But he expressed hope that an agreement could be reached and said he would be willing to meet Khamenei.