Renewed Protests in Iran’s Restive Southeast, Currency at New Low

People attend a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. (WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People attend a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. (WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Renewed Protests in Iran’s Restive Southeast, Currency at New Low

People attend a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. (WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People attend a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested by the republic's "morality police", in Tehran, Iran September 21, 2022. (WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Demonstrators marched in Iran's restive southeast on Friday amid reports on social media that security forces were surrounding a mosque at the center of weekly anti-government rallies.

Anti-government protests have been taking place across Iran since last September's death in custody of 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman Mahsa Amini for flouting hijab policy, which requires women to entirely cover their hair and bodies.

"We swear on our comrades' blood to stand strong until the end," hundreds of demonstrators were seen chanting in a video from the flashpoint city of Zahedan posted by the activist news agency HRANA.

Another widely-circulated video purported to show security forces beating and arresting a Baluch man trying to enter the Makki Mosque in Zahedan, capital of Sistan-Baluchistan province.

Reuters could not immediately verify the videos.

The Baluch minority, estimated to number up to 2 million people, has faced discrimination and repression for decades, according to rights groups. Sistan-Baluchistan, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, is one of Iran's poorest provinces and has seen repeated killings by security forces in recent years.

Zahedan saw one of the deadliest days of protests after Amini's death, with at least 66 people killed in a crackdown there on Sept. 30, Amnesty International said.

As with previous bouts of unrest, authorities appeared to have disrupted internet services on Friday.

"Confirmed: Real-time network data show a significant disruption to internet connectivity in Zahedan, #Iran; the incident comes amid a growing security presence during Friday protests," NetBlocks internet monitor said.

There was no immediate word on state media of Friday's protests. Tehran says the protests are instigated by its foreign enemies.

Meanwhile, Iran's currency continued its slide to hit new lows, weighed by the unrest and Tehran's increased isolation under mounting Western sanctions.

The rial plummeted to a new record low of 539,200 against the US dollar on Friday, compared to 526,500 on Thursday, according to foreign exchange site Bonbast.com, amid reports of new sanctions against Iran.

The US Commerce Department targeted Belarus, Iran and others in its latest response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, imposing export control measures and adding more targets to its entity list.

While the nationwide unrest has diminished in recent weeks, probably because of executions and crackdowns, acts of civil disobedience have continued from anti-government graffiti to unveiled women appearing in public.



Israel Says Killed Iran Intel Chief, Tells Military to Hunt Down Officials

Destroyed buildings of a police station and nearby houses are seen after Friday's US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Destroyed buildings of a police station and nearby houses are seen after Friday's US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
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Israel Says Killed Iran Intel Chief, Tells Military to Hunt Down Officials

Destroyed buildings of a police station and nearby houses are seen after Friday's US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Destroyed buildings of a police station and nearby houses are seen after Friday's US-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Israel Says Killed Iran Intel Chief, Tells Military to Hunt Down Officials 

Israel said Wednesday its forces had killed another top Iranian official, Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, and said its military was authorized to kill any senior figure of the country in its sights. 

The announcement, the day after Iranian security chief Ali Larijani was confirmed killed in an Israeli strike, is part of a longstanding strategy by Israel to target its enemy's leaders. 

"Last night Iran's Intelligence Minister Khatib was also eliminated," Israeli Defense Minister Katz said in a statement. 

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I have authorized the army to eliminate any senior Iranian official for whom the intelligence and operational circle has been closed, without the need for additional approval," he added. 

"We will continue to thwart and hunt them all down." 

There was no immediate comment or confirmation from Iran, which had responded with fury and vows of revenge to the death of Larijani. 

The two sides have been at war for more than two weeks since US-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28 killed supreme leader Ali Khamenei and ignited a regional conflict. 

Israel said this week it had also targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran. 

And it has vowed to hunt down Iran's new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not appeared in public since he succeeded his father. 

David Khalfa, co-founder of the Atlantic Middle East Forum, described Israel's strategy as "a campaign of 'counter-regime warfare". 

It was "aimed at dismantling the regime's politico-security architecture to make it waver on its foundations", he wrote on X before the news on Khatib. 

Katz said that “significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all the fronts,” without elaborating.

Khatib’s killing follows Israel killing top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force.

The US Treasury had sanctioned Khatib in 2022, over the Intelligence Ministry “engaging in cyber-enabled activities against the United States and its allies.”

Khatib “directs several networks of cyber threat actors involved in cyber espionage and ransomware attacks in support of Iran’s political goals,” the Treasury said at the time.

The Treasury also called Iran’s Intelligence Ministry in another round of sanctions “one of the Iranian government’s main security services which is responsible for serious human rights abuses.”

“Under his leadership, the (Intelligence Ministry) has cracked down on a large number of human rights defenders, women-rights activists, journalists, filmmakers, and members of religious minority groups,” it said.

Israel has pursued what analysts have described as a policy of decapitation against Iran and the armed movements it backs in the region, killing Hassan Nasrallah of Hezbollah in 2024 and several top Hamas figures since the October 7, 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war. 


Kremlin Condemns US-Israeli ‘Murder’ of Iran’s Leaders After Larijani Killing

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Iran's then parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as they meet after a session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, October 22, 2015. (Reuters)
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Iran's then parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as they meet after a session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, October 22, 2015. (Reuters)
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Kremlin Condemns US-Israeli ‘Murder’ of Iran’s Leaders After Larijani Killing

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Iran's then parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as they meet after a session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, October 22, 2015. (Reuters)
Russia's President Vladimir Putin (R) shakes hands with Iran's then parliament Speaker Ali Larijani as they meet after a session of the Valdai International Discussion Club in Sochi, Russia, October 22, 2015. (Reuters)

The Kremlin on Wednesday condemned what it called "the murder" of Iran's leaders in US-Israeli airstrikes, a day after Iran's semi-official Fars news ‌agency confirmed that ‌Ali Larijani, ‌a ⁠senior adviser to Iran's ⁠late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, had been killed in Tehran.

"We unequivocally ⁠condemn any actions ‌aimed ‌at harming the health ‌of, or indeed ‌murdering or eliminating, members of the leadership of sovereign and ‌independent Iran, as well as those of ⁠other ⁠countries. We condemn such actions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about Russia's reaction to Larijani's death.

Larijani is the most prominent figure of the country killed since Israel and the United States launched their attacks on Iran on February 28, killing Khamenei and igniting a war across the Middle East.

"Iran's response to the assassination of the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council will be decisive and regrettable," Iranian army chief Amir Hatami said in a statement.


Türkiye Says NATO Deploying More Defenses to Guard Southern Base

This handout picture taken and released by the Turkish Ministry of National Defense press office on March 12, 2026 shows Turkish soldiers waiting in front of Incirlik military base in Adana. (Turkish Defense Ministry / Turkish Ministry of National Defense / AFP)
This handout picture taken and released by the Turkish Ministry of National Defense press office on March 12, 2026 shows Turkish soldiers waiting in front of Incirlik military base in Adana. (Turkish Defense Ministry / Turkish Ministry of National Defense / AFP)
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Türkiye Says NATO Deploying More Defenses to Guard Southern Base

This handout picture taken and released by the Turkish Ministry of National Defense press office on March 12, 2026 shows Turkish soldiers waiting in front of Incirlik military base in Adana. (Turkish Defense Ministry / Turkish Ministry of National Defense / AFP)
This handout picture taken and released by the Turkish Ministry of National Defense press office on March 12, 2026 shows Turkish soldiers waiting in front of Incirlik military base in Adana. (Turkish Defense Ministry / Turkish Ministry of National Defense / AFP)

NATO ‌is deploying another US Patriot missile defense system to the southern Turkish province of Adana, where personnel from the United States and other countries are located in the Incirlik Air Base, Türkiye’s Defense Ministry said on Wednesday.

Türkiye, which has NATO's second-largest army and neighbors Iran, said last week ‌the alliance ‌had deployed a Patriot ‌system to ⁠its southeastern Malatya ⁠province, near a NATO radar base, as part of steps to boost air defenses against missile threats from the Iran war.

Adana hosts Türkiye’s Incirlik Air Base, where personnel ⁠from the United States, ‌Spain, and ‌Poland are located, as well as Turkish troops.

"In ‌addition to national-level measures taken ‌to ensure the security of our airspace and our citizens, another Patriot system, commissioned by Allied Air Command in Ramstein/Germany, is ‌being deployed in Adana, in addition to the existing ⁠Spanish Patriot ⁠system stationed there," the ministry said at a weekly briefing.

Türkiye, an emerging leader in the global defense industry, lacks its own fully fledged air defenses despite development efforts, and has relied on NATO air defenses stationed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea to intercept three missiles it says were fired from Iran since the war began.