Iranian Government Says It Will Pardon Tens of Thousands of Prisoners
Iran has pardoned detainees in the past on the February 11 anniversary of its 1979 Islamic Revolution; it is unclear to what extent participants in the ongoing anti-government protests will be included in this pardon, which excludes those convicted of certain crimes (WaPo)
Iranian-Supplied Weapons Seized by French Forces
French forces seized Iranian-supplied weapons from a smuggling ship off the Yemeni coast; there were more than three thousand assault rifles, at least a half million rounds of ammunition, and over twenty antitank guided missiles (WSJ)
Iran and Russia Link Banking Systems
According to a senior Iranian official, the countries have connected interbank communication and transfer systems to help boost trade and financial transactions (Reuters)
Iranian banks can now rely on Russian bank messaging services to make international transactions and bypass much of the global banking establishment, said Mohsen Karimi, the deputy governor of Iran’s central bank (NYT)
US: Israel Behind Drone Strike on Iranian Factory
U.S. officials believe Israel was behind an overnight drone attack on an Iranian military factory; Iran claims to have intercepted the drones, and an Israeli military spokesperson declined to comment (Reuters)
Iran Possesses Enough Material for Several Nuclear Weapons
International Atomic Energy Agency Chief Rafael Grossi said Iran had amassed enough materials to create “several nuclear weapons”; Grossi also emphasized the need for political dialogue on limiting Iran’s nuclear program (CNN)
EU Ministers Agree to New Iran Sanctions Package
The Swedish presidency of the Council of the European Union tweeted that the new sanctions package will target those driving repression of Iran’s anti-government protests (Reuters)
Gas Crisis in Northern Iran Renews Criticism of President Raisi
President Ebrahim Raisi is facing renewed criticism after gas shortages in the country’s north left tens of thousands of Iranians unable to heat their homes, Bloomberg reported (Bloomberg)
Iran Issues Death Sentence to Former Minister
Former Deputy Defense Minister Alireza Akbari was sentenced to death on spying charges, Iran’s judiciary announced; Akbari is an Iranian British dual citizen (NYT)
Iranian Protests Mark Three Years Since Downing of Passenger Plane
Videos shared online appeared to show demonstrators in Tehran and several other cities decrying Iranian forces for shooting down a passenger plane over Tehran in 2020; more than 170 people were killed in the event (Bloomberg)
Iranian Chess Player Warned Not to Return Home After Competing Without Hijab
Sara Khadem arrived in Spain after receiving threatening phone calls telling her not to return to Iran following a chess tournament in Kazakhstan last week, an unnamed source told the Sydney Morning Herald(SMH)
Iranian Soccer Star Says Family Faced Travel Ban Over Support for Protests
Former soccer player Ali Daei said his wife and daughter were blocked from leaving the country yesterday (AP)
UN Official: Iran Has ‘Worrying Quantities’ of Enriched Uranium
The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates that Iran has over eighteen times more enriched uranium than is allowed under the 2015 nuclear deal, the UN political affairs chief said (UN News)
Iran-Saudi Arabia Talks Reportedly Stalled Over Iran Protests
The Iraq-mediated rapprochement talks have stalled largely because Iran is claiming that Saudi Arabia helped incite anti-government protests in the country, Iraqi officials told the Associated Press (AP)
Iran Removed From UN Women’s Rights Body
The UN Economic and Social Council voted 29-8, with 16 abstentions, to remove Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women over the country’s crackdown on women-led anti-government protests (CNN)
Iran Executes Second Protestor In Public
The country executed a second person in relation to ongoing anti-government protests, the judiciary’s news agency said; the twenty-three-year-old man was publicly hanged after a court found him guilty of fatally stabbing two security force members (BBC)
Amnesty International stated Iran is seeking the death penalty for twenty-one other individuals (Reuters; Amnesty)
Iran Executes First Person Jailed in Relation to Ongoing Protests
An Iranian news agency said the man had blocked a street and attacked a security force member during the anti-government protests (AP)
Iranian Workers Strike to Support Anti-Government Protests
Shopkeepers and truck drivers staged walkouts in almost forty cities across Iran in a show of solidarity with anti-government protesters, the Guardian reported; demonstrators had called for a three-day general strike after eleven weeks of protests, which were sparked when a Kurdish Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, died after being detained by the country’s morality police (The Guardian)
Strikes were reported in major cities such as Tehran and across western Iran, home to most of the country’s Kurdish population; security forces have been heavily deployed in central Tehran, witnesses told Reuters (Reuters)
The head of Iran’s judiciary said yesterday that protesters charged with serious crimes will have their sentences carried out soon, Iranian media reported; Amnesty International said at least twenty-eight protesters could be sentenced to death (Bloomberg)
Iranian Official Says Authorities Are Reviewing Headscarf Law
Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said Iran’s mandatory headscarf law for women is under review (AFP)
He also suggested that Tehran is disbanding the morality police, who enforce the law, but state media outlets refuted the comment; a woman’s death after being detained by the morality police sparked Iran’s ongoing countrywide protests (BBC)
Iran Claims Over Three Hundred People Killed During Protests
A top official from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps acknowledged that over three hundred protesters and security force members have been killed during two months of anti-government protests; Norway-based Iran Human Rights says authorities have killed 416 people (AFP)
U.S. Soccer Federation’s Social Media Posts Show Solidarity With Iranian Protesters
The federation’s social media accounts temporarily displayed a version of the Iranian flag that has been used by anti-government protesters; the U.S. and Iranian teams face each other in a World Cup match tomorrow (CNBC)
Iranian Police Seen Shooting at Protesters From Helicopters
Police carried out a fresh crackdown on protesters across Iran as anti-government demonstrations entered their third month, the New York Times reported (NYT)
Iranians Strike to Commemorate 2019 Protests
Shops, universities, and factories across the country went on strike to mark the protests that killed 1,500 people in 2019; the strike comes amid continued protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, placing additional pressure on the Islamic Republic (Reuters)
Iran Issues First Death Sentence Linked to Ongoing Anti-government Protests
A court issued the sentence for a protester found guilty of setting fire to a building; authorities did not release their name (Guardian)
At least twenty people are facing charges that could result in death sentences, the Norway-based group Iran Human Rights said (BBC)
Iran Says It Built Hypersonic Ballistic Missile
An aerospace commander quoted by Iranian state media called the missile “a big generational leap;” there are no reports of Tehran testing such a missile (Reuters)
Iranian Security Forces Crack Down on Protests in Border Provinces
At least seventeen people have been killed since Friday as Iran’s security forces quashed anti-government protests in provinces with large ethnic minority populations, rights groups said (Bloomberg)