Iran's Security Forces Briefly Detain Mahsa Amini's Father

Young protesters flash the V sign during a rally marking the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody, Reddacliff Place, Brisbane, Australia, 16 September 2023. EPA/JONO SEARLE
Young protesters flash the V sign during a rally marking the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody, Reddacliff Place, Brisbane, Australia, 16 September 2023. EPA/JONO SEARLE
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Iran's Security Forces Briefly Detain Mahsa Amini's Father

Young protesters flash the V sign during a rally marking the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody, Reddacliff Place, Brisbane, Australia, 16 September 2023. EPA/JONO SEARLE
Young protesters flash the V sign during a rally marking the one-year anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in custody, Reddacliff Place, Brisbane, Australia, 16 September 2023. EPA/JONO SEARLE

The father of Mahsa Amini was briefly detained on Saturday, human rights groups said, amid a heavy security force presence on the first anniversary of his daughter's death in Iranian police custody that sparked months of anti-government protests.

Amjad Amini was warned against marking the anniversary of his daughter's death before being released, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network said.

Iran's official IRNA news agency denied that Amjad Amini was arrested, but it did not say if he was briefly detained or warned.

Earlier, social media and reports by rights groups spoke of security forces taking up positions around Amini's home in Saqez, in western Iran.

The death of the 22-year-old Kurdish woman in the custody of the morality police last year for allegedly flouting the mandatory dress code triggered months of protests that represented the biggest show of opposition to the authorities in years.

Many called for an end to more than four decades of clerical rule.

According to social media posts, Amini's parents had said in a statement earlier this week that, despite government warnings, they would hold a "traditional and religious anniversary ceremony" at their 22-year-old daughter's grave in Saqez.

A massive security force presence was deployed in Iran's mostly Kurdish areas on Saturday in anticipation of unrest, according to human rights groups.

Widespread strikes were also reported in multiple cities in Iran's Kurdistan region.

However, IRNA said Amini's hometown of Saqez was "completely quiet" and that calls for strike in Kurdish areas had failed due to "people's vigilance and the presence of security and military forces.”

It quoted an official in the Kurdistan province as saying: "A number of agents affiliated with counter-revolutionary groups who had planned to create chaos and prepare media fodder were arrested in the early hours of this morning."

In the protests that followed Amini's death more than 500 people, including 71 minors, were killed, hundreds injured and thousands arrested, rights groups said. Iran carried out seven executions linked to the unrest.



China Sends Naval, Air Forces to Shadow US Plane over Taiwan Strait

A ship sails between wind turbines in the Taiwan strait off the coast of Pingtan Island, Fujian province, China, April 10, 2023. (Reuters)
A ship sails between wind turbines in the Taiwan strait off the coast of Pingtan Island, Fujian province, China, April 10, 2023. (Reuters)
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China Sends Naval, Air Forces to Shadow US Plane over Taiwan Strait

A ship sails between wind turbines in the Taiwan strait off the coast of Pingtan Island, Fujian province, China, April 10, 2023. (Reuters)
A ship sails between wind turbines in the Taiwan strait off the coast of Pingtan Island, Fujian province, China, April 10, 2023. (Reuters)

China's military said on Tuesday it deployed naval and air forces to monitor and warn a US Navy patrol aircraft that flew through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, denouncing the United States for trying to "mislead" the international community.

Around once a month, US military ships or aircraft pass through or above the waterway that separates democratically governed Taiwan from China - missions that always anger Beijing.

China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the strait is an international waterway.

The US Navy's 7th fleet said a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft had flown through the strait "in international airspace", adding that the flight demonstrated the United States' commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.

"By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations," it said in a statement.

China's military criticized the flight as "public hype", adding that it monitored the US aircraft throughout its transit and "effectively" responded to the situation.

"The relevant remarks by the US distort legal principles, confuse public opinion and mislead international perceptions," the military's Eastern Theater Command said in a statement.

"We urge the US side to stop distorting and hyping up and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability."

In April, China's military said it sent fighter jets to monitor and warn a US Navy Poseidon in the Taiwan Strait, a mission that took place just hours after a call between the Chinese and US defense chiefs.