Risking Revival of Unrest, Iran Rulers Tighten Curbs on Dissent 

An Iranian police force stands on a street during the revival of morality police in Tehran, Iran, July 16, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
An Iranian police force stands on a street during the revival of morality police in Tehran, Iran, July 16, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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Risking Revival of Unrest, Iran Rulers Tighten Curbs on Dissent 

An Iranian police force stands on a street during the revival of morality police in Tehran, Iran, July 16, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
An Iranian police force stands on a street during the revival of morality police in Tehran, Iran, July 16, 2023. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

Iran's clerical rulers are clamping down on dissent ahead of the anniversary of the death of a young woman in morality police custody, fearing a revival of nationwide protests that rocked the country for months.

Journalists, lawyers, activists, human rights advocates and students have been arrested, summoned or faced other measures in a campaign that one activist described as "instilling fear and intimidation".

In February, Iran's judiciary announced a broad amnesty, which included releases, pardons, or reduced sentences for those arrested, charged, or detained during the previous unrest.

Iranian Judiciary officials were not immediately available to comment on the current situation.

However, senior officials have defended the new crackdown as necessary to maintain stability. But some politicians and insiders have said that mounting repression could deepen a crisis between the clerical leadership and society at large at a time of growing popular discontent over economic woes.

Police on Sunday announced that the morality police force has intensified its crackdown on women flouting the compulsory dress code. In a show of civil disobedience, unveiled women have frequently appeared in public since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16 last year.

Amini fell into a coma and died three days later following her arrest by the morality police for allegedly violating the religious dress code.

The incident unleashed years of pent up anger over issues from tightening social and political controls to economic hardships, triggering the clerical establishment's worst legitimacy crisis in decades.

Security forces crushed months of unrest during which protesters from all walks of life called for the downfall of the republic and women took off and burned the compulsory headscarves in fury.

A senior former Iranian official said the authorities should not ignore realities on the ground this time round.

"People are still angry over Amini's death and they are frustrated because of their daily struggle to bring food to their tables," the former official said, asking not to be identified.

"These wrong decisions may have painful consequences for the establishment. People cannot take more pressure. If it continues, we will witness street protests again."

Social media was flooded with angry comments from Iranians criticizing the return of the morality police, who had largely vanished from streets since Amini died in their custody.

Rights advocates said the state had stepped up its repression to "keep people off the streets" ahead of Amini's death anniversary.

"The republic feels threatened. By redeploying the morality police, the regime is fuelling the people's revolution," said Atena Daemi, a prominent human rights activist in Iran.

"People are very angry due to repression, rights violations and worsening economic problems. All these will result in revival of street protests."

Iran's former president, pro-reform cleric Mohammad Khatami, denounced such measures as "self-destructive" that "would make the society even more inflamed than before", Iranian media reported.

Iran has been hit by the double hammer blows of continuing US sanctions over its nuclear program and mismanagement that offers scant comfort to the middle and lower-income Iranians who are shouldering much of the burden of the economic woes, from over 50% inflation to rising utility, food and housing prices.

The mood bodes ill for a parliamentary election scheduled for next February, when Iran’s rulers hope for a high turnout to show their legitimacy even if the outcome will not change any major policy.



Tanker with Jet Fuel Cargo Ablaze after Collision with Container Ship off UK Coast

 A vessel waits by the quayside at the Port of Grimsby, after a fuel tanker, operated by US company Crowley and owned by Stena, and a container vessel named Solong were involved in a collision off the coast of northeast England, in Grimsby, Britain, March 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A vessel waits by the quayside at the Port of Grimsby, after a fuel tanker, operated by US company Crowley and owned by Stena, and a container vessel named Solong were involved in a collision off the coast of northeast England, in Grimsby, Britain, March 10, 2025. (Reuters)
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Tanker with Jet Fuel Cargo Ablaze after Collision with Container Ship off UK Coast

 A vessel waits by the quayside at the Port of Grimsby, after a fuel tanker, operated by US company Crowley and owned by Stena, and a container vessel named Solong were involved in a collision off the coast of northeast England, in Grimsby, Britain, March 10, 2025. (Reuters)
A vessel waits by the quayside at the Port of Grimsby, after a fuel tanker, operated by US company Crowley and owned by Stena, and a container vessel named Solong were involved in a collision off the coast of northeast England, in Grimsby, Britain, March 10, 2025. (Reuters)

A tanker carrying jet fuel was ablaze and leaking in the North Sea off northeast England after a collision with a cargo vessel on Monday, with more than 30 crew sent to hospital.

The coastguard agency said a helicopter, fixed-wing aircraft, lifeboats and nearby vessels with firefighting capability had all been called to the incident to help.

Thirty-two casualties were brought ashore with ambulances waiting to take them to hospital in Grimsby, the chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East said via email. It was not clear how severe their condition was.

The vessels involved are the US-flagged 49,729 deadweight tonnage (dwt) tanker Stena Immaculate and the Portuguese-flagged 9,322 dwt container ship Solong. The tanker is one of 10 in a US government program designed to supply the armed forces with fuel when required.

Television images from the BBC showed at least one vessel ablaze with clouds of black smoke billowing into a grey sky.

The Stena Immaculate and Solong were alongside each other off the coast, according to the last AIS ship tracking position update at 1034 GMT, LSEG shipping data showed.

Stena said its tanker was operated by US logistics group Crowley. Crowley wrote on X that the tanker, carrying a cargo of Jet-A1 fuel, was struck by the Solong while anchored near Hull off the North Sea coast.

"The Stena Immaculate sustained a ruptured cargo tank," Crowley said.

"A fire occurred as a result of the allision and fuel was reported released," the company said, referring to when one vessel is stationary.

The crew of the Stena Immaculate abandoned the vessel following multiple explosions onboard and all mariners were safe and accounted for, Crowley said.

"The Stena vessel is a products tanker. Pollution risk less than if it were a crude carrier," one insurance specialist said.

"A lot depends really on cargo carried, how many tanks were breached and how bad the fire is."

It was too early to assess the extent of any environmental damage, a spokesperson with environmental group Greenpeace said.

"The magnitude of any impact will depend on a number of factors, including the amount and type of oil carried by the tanker, the fuel carried by both ships, and how much of that, if any, has entered the water," the Greenpeace spokesperson said.

"Sea and weather conditions will also be important in determining how any spill behaves."

The incident occurred in a busy stretch of waterway, with traffic running from the ports along Britain's northeast coast to the Netherlands and Germany, shipping industry sources said.

"There were reports that a number of people had abandoned the vessels following a collision and there were fires on both ships," the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a lifeboat service working on the emergency response, said.

Maritime analytics website Marine Traffic said the 183-meter-long Stena Immaculate was anchored off Immingham, northeast England, when it was struck by the 140-meter-long Solong, which was en route to Rotterdam.

Ship insurer Skuld of Norway would only confirm that the Solong was covered with it for protection & indemnity (P&I), a segment of insurance that covers environmental damage and crew injuries or fatalities.

Solong's manager, Hamburg-based Ernst Russ, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Stena Immaculate's P&I insurer, which was listed as Steamship, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United Nations shipping agency, the International Maritime Organization, said it was aware of the situation.