Iran Arrests Actress for Wishing Netanyahu Quick Recovery

Iranian actress Shohreh Ghamar. (Social media)
Iranian actress Shohreh Ghamar. (Social media)
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Iran Arrests Actress for Wishing Netanyahu Quick Recovery

Iranian actress Shohreh Ghamar. (Social media)
Iranian actress Shohreh Ghamar. (Social media)

Iran has arrested actress Shohreh Ghamar over charges of “spreading psychological insecurity in society” after she wished Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a quick recovery.

The IRGC-affiliated Tasnim and Fars news agencies declared that the actress was arrested for publishing content that supports rioters, offending officials, wishing a quick recovery for the Israeli prime minister, backing the Zionist entity, and provoking chaos in the street.

Mehr News Agency quoted Iranian Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib as saying that the Iranian judiciary is looking into several cases related to psychological security on the Internet.

When asked if he was monitoring the internet himself, he replied, “I can’t be a minister if I don’t.”

The actress was arrested days after posting a story on her four-million-follower Instagram page and wishing the Israeli PM a quick recovery. She wrote on his picture, "I prayed a lot for your health. Stay alive."

Last week, Netanyahu underwent a heart procedure. He left the hospital and resumed work.

Weeks before, the actress published another post criticizing the officials for threatening to eradicate Israel. She urged them to feed the hungry people in Kurdistan and Baluchistan first.

Dideban website - close to reformists - revealed that the actress took part in a propaganda video in favor of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi in the latest elections. The video went viral on Telegram.

Journalist and political analyst Ahmad Zeidabadi criticized the arrest of Ghamar, saying on his Telegram account that the recovery wishes are in fact “prayers for the destruction of Israel”.

Zeidabadi stressed that Netanyahu is bringing the Hebrew state closer to instability and collapse like no other leader and if he dies, then a moderate politician would replace him and work on an international coalition against Iran.



Iran’s Khamenei Calls for Death Sentence for Israeli Leaders

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
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Iran’s Khamenei Calls for Death Sentence for Israeli Leaders

A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
A handout picture provided by the office of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei shows him addressing the crowd during a meeting with members of the Basij volunteer militia in Tehran on November 25, 2024. (KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

The supreme leader of Iran, which backs the Hamas and Hezbollah fighters combating Israel in Gaza and Lebanon, said on Monday that death sentences should be issued for Israeli leaders, not arrest warrants.

Ali Khamenei was commenting on a decision by the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants on Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense chief and a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri.

"They issued an arrest warrant, that's not enough... Death sentence must be issued for these criminal leaders", Khamenei said, referring to the Israeli leaders.

In their decision, the ICC judges said there were reasonable grounds to believe Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant were criminally responsible for acts including murder, persecution and starvation as a weapon of war as part of a "widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population of Gaza".

The decision was met with outrage in Israel, which called it shameful and absurd. Gaza residents expressed hope it would help end the violence and bring those responsible for war crimes to justice.

Israel has rejected the jurisdiction of the Hague-based court and denies war crimes in Gaza.

The warrant for a Hamas leader, Ibrahim Al-Masri, lists charges of mass killings during the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel that triggered the war on the long-blockaded Palestinian enclave, and also charges of rape and the taking of hostages.

Israel has said it killed Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, in an airstrike in July but Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied this.