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)
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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. 



Seoul: US, South Korea in Talks over US Commander's Remarks

US President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 29, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters
US President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 29, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters
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Seoul: US, South Korea in Talks over US Commander's Remarks

US President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 29, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters
US President Donald Trump meets with South Korean President Lee Jae-myung on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in Gyeongju, South Korea, October 29, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein, Reuters

South Korea and the United States are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul's presidential office said Saturday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China.

In a recent podcast interview, Xavier Brunson described South Korea as "the dagger in the heart of Asia" from China's east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say this week that he had "truly crossed the line".

The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington may seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key ally of North Korea and Russia, AFP reported.

Brunson last year also underscored South Korea's strategic value in the broader Indo-Pacific, describing the US ally as a "fixed aircraft carrier" in the region, Yonhap reported.

South Korea's presidential Blue House said Saturday that it was "aware of Commander Brunson's recent series of public remarks" and that Seoul and Washington "have been maintaining communication at various levels regarding all relevant issues".

South Korea's local media outlet News1 said the presidential office complained to the US over the remarks, while broadcaster JTBC reported that such concerns had been raised 10 times previously.

The Blue House said it was "unable to confirm the specific details of the discussions held through diplomatic and security channels between South Korea and the United States".

"When they (the Chinese) look out from the east coast of China, what they see is there's Korea, the dagger in the heart of Asia," Brunson said, according to a transcript posted on the Strategic Studies Institute of the US Army War College.

Then there's Japan, he added, "sort of that shield that's sort of a backstop, if you will, for them trying and their ambitions beyond that into the South China Sea and then down to their southeast is the Philippines".

The Chinese Embassy in Seoul said Brunson's comments "truly crossed the line", and asked the USFK commander: "are your remarks rife with hostility and aggression regarding China authorized by Washington?"

"By calling your host nation an 'aircraft carrier' or 'dagger' or other such instruments of war, are you merely showing your own belligerence, or are you seeking to use another country as a pawn?" an unnamed spokesperson said, according to a transcript posted on the embassy's website on Friday.

About 28,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea to help guard against the nuclear-armed North.


Russia Recalls Envoy to Armenia for 'Consultations' over Yerevan's EU Ties

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a speech during a state dinner in honor of the French leader at the presidential palace in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a speech during a state dinner in honor of the French leader at the presidential palace in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
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Russia Recalls Envoy to Armenia for 'Consultations' over Yerevan's EU Ties

Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a speech during a state dinner in honor of the French leader at the presidential palace in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)
Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan gives a speech during a state dinner in honor of the French leader at the presidential palace in Yerevan on May 4, 2026. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Russia said Saturday it had recalled its ambassador to Armenia for "consultations" over Yerevan's growing ties with the EU, a day after President Vladimir Putin warned the Caucasus country against pivoting to Brussels.

Armenia has angered the Kremlin by warming ties with the EU in recent years, frustrated with Russia's perceived failure to protect it during conflicts with Azerbaijan, AFP said.

"The Russian ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, S. Kopyrkin, has been recalled to Moscow for consultations on steps taken by the Armenian leadership on a rapprochement with the European Union, undermining cooperation within Eurasian Economic Union," Moscow's foreign ministry said in a statement, referencing the Russian-led customs union.

The diplomat was called back after Putin escalated his rhetoric on Armenia during a summit with allies.

Speaking in Kazakhstan on Friday, Putin said the "Ukrainian scenario" began with Kyiv trying to join the EU and called on Armenia to hold a referendum on the issue "as soon as possible".

Putin said Armenia had to choose between the EU and the EEU, as it was "impossible to reconcile the two".

Armenia will hold an election next Sunday in a test of the premiership of Nikol Pashinyan, who has pursued ties with both Russia and the West.

Armenia held a European summit earlier this month, with the EU hailing a "leap forward" in ties.


Ukrainian Drones Strike Port, Oil Depot in Southern Russia, Authorities Say

Servicemen of the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine take part in a tactical training exercise on a shooting range at an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 29 May 2026, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
Servicemen of the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine take part in a tactical training exercise on a shooting range at an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 29 May 2026, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
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Ukrainian Drones Strike Port, Oil Depot in Southern Russia, Authorities Say

Servicemen of the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine take part in a tactical training exercise on a shooting range at an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 29 May 2026, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)
Servicemen of the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine take part in a tactical training exercise on a shooting range at an undisclosed location in the Kharkiv region, northeastern Ukraine, 29 May 2026, amid the Russian invasion. (EPA)

Ukrainian ‌drones struck a tanker at Russia's port of Taganrog overnight and hit an oil depot in the city of Armavir, authorities in the southern regions of Rostov and Krasnodar said on Saturday.

Rostov region Governor Yury Slyusar said on Telegram ‌that fires on ‌the tanker and in ‌the ⁠port of Taganrog - ⁠a city of about 240,000 - had been extinguished, with no oil spill reported. Two people were injured, he said.

The city's mayor, Svetlana Kambulova, ⁠said a local state of emergency, ‌introduced ‌on May 27, had been extended.

In ‌the neighboring Krasnodar region, ‌authorities in Armavir, which has a population of 185,000, said a fire at an oil depot in the ‌city's industrial zone had been brought under control and ⁠that ⁠there were no injuries.

Rostov governor Slyusar said that almost 50 drones had been downed in the region, with attacks reported across the province, which borders Ukraine's Donbas, the focus of fighting between Russia and Ukraine.

Outside Taganrog, he said, only minor damage was reported.