North Korea's Kim Sends Condolence Message to Iran

This picture taken on December 27, 2022 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 28, 2022 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un giving a report on the second day of the 6th expanded plenary session of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, at the Party Central Committee headquarters in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on December 27, 2022 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 28, 2022 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un giving a report on the second day of the 6th expanded plenary session of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, at the Party Central Committee headquarters in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
TT

North Korea's Kim Sends Condolence Message to Iran

This picture taken on December 27, 2022 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 28, 2022 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un giving a report on the second day of the 6th expanded plenary session of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, at the Party Central Committee headquarters in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
This picture taken on December 27, 2022 and released from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on December 28, 2022 shows North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un giving a report on the second day of the 6th expanded plenary session of the 8th Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, at the Party Central Committee headquarters in Pyongyang. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has sent a condolence message to Iran over the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.

In the message, Kim said the death of Raisi was a "great loss" to Iran and he hoped the bereaved families would recover as soon as possible.

He was "an outstanding statesman and a close friend" who made a "great contribution to the cause of the Iranian people for safeguarding the sovereignty, development and interests of their country and the gains of the Islamic revolution," Kim was quoted as saying by KCNA, Reuters reported.

North Korea and Iran have close ties and are suspected of having cooperated on ballistic missile programs, possibly exchanging technical expertise.

 

 

 



Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
TT

Iran Police Commander Dismissed After Death in Custody

A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)
A view of the entrance to Evin prison in Tehran, Iran (Reuters)

Iran's police force has dismissed the commander of a city in the northern province of Gilan after the death in custody of a detainee, state media said on Saturday.

Mohammad Mir Mousavi, 36, was arrested on July 22 after being involved in a fight in Lahijan, police said in a statement carried by the official news agency IRNA.

"The police commander... was dismissed due to insufficient oversight of the conduct and behaviour of staff," the police said, AFP reported.

"Due to the complexity of the matter, the final conclusion on the cause of Mohammad Mir Mousavi's death depends on the medical examiner's final report.

The police said the station commander and several officers involved in the incident had been suspended.

"The behaviour of some law enforcement officers was against the professional policy of the police and that is not acceptable in any way, so they were referred to the judicial authority," the statement added.

The Norway-based Kurdish human rights organization, Hengaw, on Wednesday said Mir Mousavi "was killed under torture in the detention center".

On Thursday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian ordered an investigation into the case.

Dismissals of members of the security forces are rare in Iran.

In 2022, the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who had been arrested in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country's strict dress code for women, sparked months of deadly nationwide protests.