Rights Group Urges International Probe Into Iranian Comatose Girl's Case

At least 116 people were killed and about 100 injured Thursday when several weaponized drones hit the Homs Military Academy's courtyard where families were gathered with the new officers, minutes after Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas had left. More than 30 women and children were killed in the attack.

There have been no claims of responsibility for the attack, but Syria's defense and foreign ministries blamed what they described as “terrorist groups backed by known international forces” without specifying further, and vowed to respond "with full force".

Iranian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, the military commander serving at the country’s most senior military position, wrote to his Syrian counterpart Abdul Karim Mahmoud Ibrahim and Syria’s Defense Minister Ali Mahmoud Abbas to express readiness for closer cooperation with Damascus “in the fight against terrorism.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian also held a phone call with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Mekdad on Thursday, while President Ebrahim Raisi condemned the attack.

Sunni Islamist groups Tahrir al-Sham and ISIS as well as Islamist militias with close links to Turkey have bases in the region that is announced as the origin of the drone, pundit Ali Sadrzadeh told Iran International.

The United States on Thursday shot down an armed Turkish drone that was operating near its troops in Syria, the Pentagon said, the first time Washington has brought down an aircraft of NATO ally Turkey. Tensions have flared and there have been close calls. In 2019, US troops in northern Syria came under artillery fire from Turkish positions.

A Turkish defense ministry official said the drone that was shot down did not belong to the Turkish armed forces but did not say whose property it was. According to Turkish security source, Turkey's National Intelligence Agency carried out strikes in Syria against Kurdish militant targets after a bomb attack in Ankara last weekend.

In a recently released report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres highlighted a surge in executions, the detainment of protestors, pressures on students and educators, and gender-based discrimination. The report, submitted to the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September, details the progress made in the implementation of resolution 77/228, addressing human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The report noted that Iran's engagement with UN human rights bodies remained limited, and the implementation of recommendations from international human rights mechanisms remained low.

The report raised concerns about Iran's death penalty, revealing that at least 419 people were reportedly executed, including 409 men and 10 women, between January 1, 2023, and July 31, 2023, marking a 30 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

It also highlighted the cases of seven men executed for their involvement in nationwide protests triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022. The report also mentioned, "At least seven men are allegedly considered at risk of execution, including those from minority communities connected to the nationwide protests."

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The Secretary-General expressed alarm over large-scale arrests and detentions carried out by security forces targeting protesters and their supporters. It estimated that between September 17, 2022, and February 8, 2023, approximately 20,000 individuals were arrested for participating in protests, with many of them possibly children, given the reported average age of 15 among those arrested.

The report also noted overcrowding in prisons, with prisons in areas with minority populations being particularly affected.

Regarding the crackdown on dissent, the report highlighted that Iranian authorities continued to justify restrictions on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, both online and offline, using a strict national security approach. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's call to "eliminate dissenting voices" from online spaces raised further concerns.

The report mentioned 17 journalists (9 men and 8 women) detained in connection with the protests between September 16, 2022, and March 31, 2023.

In the section on Iran's economic situation, the UN report discussed rising poverty, inequalities, and the increased cost of living. Iran faced high inflation and a significant decrease in the value of its currency, rial, along with increased poverty and unemployment levels.

The UN report expressed concerns about Iran's new hijab law, which would further discriminate against women and girls by expanding the scope of offenses related to compulsory veiling. The bill would impose punishments such as monetary fines, restrictions on accessing banking services, confiscation of personal property, travel restrictions, bans on online activity, and imprisonment of up to 25 years for repeat offenders. It would also allow flogging for women appearing "uncovered in public."

The report concluded with recommendations for the Iranian government, which have been reiterated multiple times, yet the Islamic Republic has not heeded them.

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy told Iran International that they “are following this worrying case.” 

“While all the details are not yet clear, the reports indicate that her condition is the result of a confrontation with the police,” Borrell said, adding, “If confirmed this would be unacceptable and unjustifiable.”

Touching upon the issue of the human rights situation in Iran, Borrell noted that “it is something that the EU not only follows closely and raises regularly with the Iranian authorities (most recently with the Foreign Minister of Iran)," but also reacts to with public condemnation and with sanctions against those responsible.

Despite growing concerns expressed by numerous activists and officials regarding her condition, Iranian authorities have escalated efforts to suppress information about her.

Security has remained high at the Fajr hospital where Armita is receiving intensive care since the beginning of the week.

According to information obtained by Iran International, physicians and nurses entering her room are subjected to continuous physical search to ensure they do not carry mobile phones or cameras. The surveillance cameras in her room have also been disconnected to prevent hacking or leakage of images.

Authorities are not forthcoming about the circumstances surrounding Armita's coma. Meanwhile, the media is filled with concerns from Iranians, foreign activists, and officials, all fearing a scenario similar to Mahsa Amini's death could reoccur.

Mohammad-Vali Heydarbeigi, who has lost both his legs, one ear, and his teeth during the eight-year war, was given the sentence by the criminal court of the city of Abhar in Zanjan province, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported Thursday.

His charges include five years for “collaborating with a hostile government;” one year for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic system;" two years for “insulting the Supreme Leader;” and another five years for “conspiracy and collusion against national security and membership in anti-revolutionary groups.”

Under the laws of the Islamic Republic, if this verdict is upheld by the court of appeal, he must serve the harshest punishment, which will be five years imprisonment in his case.

The war veteran was arrested on November 19, 2022, and was transferred to the Intelligence Detention Center of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in Zanjan. He was released on bail several weeks later. It is not clear if he was arrested during street protests that rocked Iran last year after the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

The award-making committee urged Iran to release Mohammadi, one of the nation's leading activists who has campaigned for both women's rights and the abolition of the death penalty.

Hailing Mohammadi as a "freedom fighter", the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee started her speech by saying, in Farsi, the words for "woman, life, freedom" -- the main slogan of the current wave of protests against the Iranian government.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all," Berit Reiss-Andersen said in the citation.

The award also recognised the hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated against Iranian discrimination and oppression of women, Reiss-Andersen said. "Only by embracing equal rights for all can the world achieve the fraternity between nations that (prize founder) Alfred Nobel sought to promote," she said.

"This prize is first and foremost a recognition of the very important work of a whole movement in Iran, with its undisputed leader, Narges Mohammadi," Reiss-Andersen noted. "If the Iranian authorities make the right decision, they will release her so that she can be present to receive this honour (in December), which is what we primarily hope for."

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Friday the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Mohammadi highlighted the courage and determination of Iranian women.

"We've seen their courage and determination in the face of reprisals, intimidation, violence and detention," OHCHR spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell told reporters in Geneva.

"They've been harassed for what they do or don't wear. There are increasingly stringent legal, social and economic measures against them. This really is something that highlights the courage and determination of the women of Iran and how they are an inspiration to the world," Throssell added. "We and other partners of the UN human rights system have repeatedly called for her release."

Mohammadi was arrested on November 16, 2021, and one year after being released, was detained again. Currently, she is serving a total sentence of 9 years and 8 months, along with 154 lashes and additional penalties in Evin Prison. Charges include spreading propaganda against the state.

She has also been denied access to medical care amid deteriorating health. Mohammadi has been imprisoned several times over the past two decades for her work fighting for human rights.

She is the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, a non-governmental organisation led by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the 122-year-old prize and the first one since Maria Ressa of the Philippines won the award in 2021 jointly with Russia's Dmitry Muratov.

In her letter to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March, she said she is ready to testify against the authorities of the Islamic Republic regarding the torture, harassment and abuse of prisoners.