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Rallies Held Across Iran to Support War-battered Gaza

An Iranian man sits next to the symbolic shrouds of Gaza children's dead bodies during a gesture in a street in Tehran, Iran November 13, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/ File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
An Iranian man sits next to the symbolic shrouds of Gaza children's dead bodies during a gesture in a street in Tehran, Iran November 13, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/ File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
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Rallies Held Across Iran to Support War-battered Gaza

An Iranian man sits next to the symbolic shrouds of Gaza children's dead bodies during a gesture in a street in Tehran, Iran November 13, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/ File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights
An Iranian man sits next to the symbolic shrouds of Gaza children's dead bodies during a gesture in a street in Tehran, Iran November 13, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS/ File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

Thousands of Iranians held rallies across the country Saturday against Israel's unrelenting bombardment of the Gaza strip following the shock attacks by the Palestinian militant group Hamas last month.

The demonstrations in the capital Tehran and other cities were held in "support of the oppressed children of Gaza" under the slogan "Palestine is not alone", according to local media.

Israel's air and ground campaign has killed an estimated 12,000 people in the Palestinian territory, including 5,000 children, according to Hamas authorities, which have ruled Gaza since 2007.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas in response to the group's October 7 attacks which Israeli officials say killed about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and in which about 240 people were taken hostage.

In Tehran, crowds of demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, while others held banners reading "Down with America" and "Down with Israel", according to AFP journalists.

Others burnt Israeli flags while some waved the flags of Lebanese group Hezbollah, Iran's ally, which has been engaged in border skirmishes with Israel since October 7.

"The Zionist regime (Israel) can no longer see peace and security," Hossein Salami, the head of the Revolutionary Guard Corps, said in a speech during the Tehran rally.

"Muslims will take revenge on behalf of the oppressed people of Gaza, and this revenge has no expiration date."

Similar demonstrations took place in other major cities including Shiraz, Kerman and Isfahan.

Iran has made support for the Palestinian cause a centrepiece of its foreign policy since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Tehran, which supports Hamas financially and militarily, has hailed the October 7 attacks a "success" but denied any involvement.

It has also lambasted Israel's bombardment of Gaza as "genocide" while denouncing the United States over its support for Israel.

On Saturday, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani decried Israel's "attacks" on hospitals in the Gaza strip.

"Attacking hospitals is in conflict with all human rights standards, international law and Geneva Conventions and makes the criminal nature of this regime even more obvious to the world," he said on X, formerly Twitter, in reference to Israel.

His statement came as hundreds of people fled Gaza's main Al-Shifa hospital, where more than 2,000 patients, medics and displaced people were trapped.

Israel has been pressing military operations inside the hospital, searching for a Hamas operations centre it says lies under the sprawling complex -- a charge Hamas denies.

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Trump Administration Cancels Travel for Refugees Already Cleared to Resettle in the US

An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)
An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)
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Trump Administration Cancels Travel for Refugees Already Cleared to Resettle in the US

An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)
An Afghan refugee man, who asked not to use his name and not to show his face fearing his identity could lead to his capture, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Wednesday, Jan. 22, 2025. (AP)

Refugees who had been approved to travel to the United States before a deadline next week suspending America's refugee resettlement program have had their travel plans canceled by the Trump administration.

Thousands of refugees who fled war and persecution and had gone through a sometimes yearslong process to start new lives in America are now stranded at various locations worldwide. That includes more than 1,600 Afghans who assisted America's war effort, as well as relatives of active-duty US military personnel.

President Donald Trump paused the refugee resettlement program this week as part of a series of executive orders cracking down on immigration. His move had left open the possibility that refugees who had been screened to come to the US and had flights booked before the Jan. 27 deadline might be able to get in under the wire.

But in an email dated Tuesday and reviewed by The Associated Press, the US agency overseeing refugee processing and arrivals told staff and stakeholders that "refugee arrivals to the United States have been suspended until further notice."

There are a little more than 10,000 refugees from around the world who had already gone through the lengthy refugee admission process and had travel scheduled over the next few weeks, according to a document obtained by the AP. It was not immediately clear how many of those had been set to arrive by upcoming deadline.

Among those are more than 1,600 Afghans cleared to come to the US as part of the program that the Biden administration set up after the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.

Many veterans of America's longest war have tried for years to help Afghans they worked with, in addition to their families, find refuge in the US. Many were prepared for a suspension of the resettlement program but had hoped for special consideration for the Afghans.

"The Trump administration’s early pause of refugee flights is alarming, leaving thousands of Afghan allies in fear and uncertainty," said Shawn VanDiver, a Navy veteran and head of #AfghanEvac, a coalition supporting Afghan resettlement efforts. "We are ready to partner to fix this and urge clear communication with impacted families. Let’s honor our promises and uphold America’s values."

There is a separate path — the special immigrant visa program— specifically for Afghans who worked directly with the US government. VanDiver's group said that program, set up by Congress, did not appear to be affected at this time.

Trump's order signed Monday had given the State Department a week before it began to halt all processing and traveling. It appears the timing was moved up, though it was not immediately clear what prompted the change.

The State Department referred questions to the White House.

Agencies that help refugees settle and adjust to life in America have argued that this is the type of legal immigration that Trump and his supporters say they like and have pointed to the stringent background checks and sometimes yearslong wait that refugees endure before setting foot in America.

"This abrupt halt to refugee admissions is devastating for families who have already endured unimaginable hardship and waited years for the chance to rebuild their lives in safety," Krish O’Mara Vignarajah, head of Global Refuge, one of the 10 US resettlement agencies, said in a statement Wednesday.

"Refugees go through one of the most rigorous vetting processes in the world, and many are now seeing their travel canceled just days, or even hours, before they were set to begin their new lives in the United States," she said. "It’s utterly heartbreaking."

Refugees are distinct from people who come directly to the US-Mexico border with the goal of eventually seeking asylum. Refugees must be living outside of the US to be considered for resettlement and are usually referred to the State Department by the United Nations.

While the resettlement program has historically enjoyed bipartisan support, the first Trump administration also temporarily halted resettlement and then lowered the number of refugees who could enter the country annually.