'Iran launches new strikes' on Kurdish opposition in Iraq

Tehran has accused Kurdish armed groups based in Iraq's Kurdistan region of stoking a wave of unrest that has rocked Iran since death of Mahsa Amini

A wounded soldier is taken to hospital following strikes by Iran on the village of Altun Kupri, in Iraq's Kurdistan region, on 28 September 2022 (AFP)

By MEE and agencies
Published date: 1 October 2022 

Iran launched artillery and drone strikes on Saturday targeting Kurdish militants in Iraq's north, an Iranian Kurdish official has claimed, days after cross-border attacks killed 14 people.

Tehran has accused Kurdish armed groups based in Iraq's Kurdistan region of stoking a wave of unrest that has rocked the Islamic republic since Mahsa Amini, a Kurd, died in custody last month.

"The Iranian forces launched artillery fire and drone strikes" on bases used by exiled Iranian group Komala in the Mount Halgurd area, near the Iranian border, Atta Nasser, an official from Komala, told AFP.

Iran: Deadly bombing of Iranian Kurdish opposition inside Iraq sparks outrage

Read More »

The strikes "destroyed some outposts, without causing casualties among our ranks", Nasser said.

On Wednesday, a barrage of some 70 missiles and "kamikaze drone" strikes left 14 people dead and 58 wounded, Kurdish officials said. Iraqi Kurdish authorities said most of the casualties were civilians.

In a statement on Thursday, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said they would press on with attacks on rear bases in neighbouring Iraq until Kurdish rebels had been disarmed.

"We ask the central government and the government of the northern region of Iraq to show more seriousness in their responsibilities towards Iran as a neighbour," it said.

Iran has seen a major wave of protests since the death of Amini, 22, was announced on 16 September after her arrest by the "morality police". A crackdown has left dozens of demonstrators dead.
'Vague incident'

Several Iranian Kurdish groups have been based in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region for decades.

While combat activities have greatly declined over the years, they continue to mobilise on social media, playing a key role in circulating images of the protests in the aftermath of Amini's death.

'The Iranian state is a target and so any incident is exploited… to incite against this state'

- Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah

The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement has said that the death of Amini was a "vague incident" that was being exploited against Tehran.

In a speech on Saturday, Hassan Nasrallah said that her death, in circumstances he said remained unclear, was being exploited to incite the protests.

"The Iranian state is a target and so any incident is exploited… to incite against this state," Nasrallah said.

"This vague incident was exploited and people took to the streets," he said.

The Hezbollah chief, a staunch Iran ally, said that the protests rocking the country did not reflect the true will of the Iranian people who he said are loyal to their leadership.

Iran "is stronger than ever and will not be affected", he said.

Iranian Kurds go on strike to protest IRGC attacks on Kurdistan Region

A coordinated strike took place in cities in Iranian Kurdistan on Saturday.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Several cities in Iranian Kurdistan went on strike on Saturday 

(Photo: Hengaw).

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A coordinated strike took place in cities in Iranian Kurdistan on Saturday in response to Wednesday's Iranian drone and missile attacks on the Kurdistan Region, which killed at least 14, and injured 60 others.

Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw on Saturday said the widespread took place in 15 cities including Urmia, Oshnovieh, Naqadeh, Bukan, Mahabad, Piranshahr, Rabat, Sardasht, Saqqez, Diwandareh, Mariwan, Sanandaj, Kamiyaran, Rawansar, Shahu, and Ilam.

A Hengaw report said that on Thursday, the Center for the Cooperation of Iranian Kurdistan Parties issued a statement calling on the people of Iranian Kurdistan to go on a general strike on Saturday.

Videos posted by activists show that shop owners in several cities in Iranian Kurdistan closed their shops.

On Wednesday, Iran attacked Kurdish opposition groups with missiles and ‘suicide drones’ into the Kurdistan Region’s Sulaimani and Erbil provinces, killing at least 14, and injuring 60 others.

Mostly civilians were injured during the attack. Also one pregnant woman Reyha Kenani and her child Wanyar died in the Iranian attack.

Furthermore, for the seventh consecutive day Iranian artillery on Saturday bombed a number of border areas inside the Kurdistan Region amidst widespread anti-government protests in Iran over the death of Jina Amini at the hands of Iran's morality police.

 

Canada, EU, Belgium strongly condemn IRGC attacks on Kurdistan Region


The EU, Canada and Belgium recently strongly condemns Iran’s missile and drone attacks against the Kurdistan Region.

Wladimir van Wilgenburg

Kurdish school children hide from Iranian attacks near Koya
(Photo: social media).

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Both Canada and the European Union on Friday strongly condemned the Iranian shelling of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq this week.

“The EU condemns in the strongest possible terms the shelling of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq this week, for which Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have claimed responsibility,” the statement read.

“Our thoughts are with the victims and their families. These attacks are a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The EU reiterates its full solidarity with the Iraqi people, the Iraqi Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government.”

Moreover, the EU expressed concern about the recent political and security escalation in Iraq amidst the third anniversary of the Oct. 2019 protests in Baghdad.

“Violence is never a solution and must not be allowed to undermine the democratic process,” it said, calling on all parties to work to de-escalation.

Also the Canadian government on Friday “strongly condemns Iran’s missile and drone attacks against the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which have resulted in multiple civilian deaths and injuries.”

“The Government of Canada extends its condolences to all those affected,” it said.

Moreover, Canada called “on Iran to refrain from attacking its neighbours and to stop undermining peace and stability in the Middle East. These attacks violate Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, jeopardize civilian lives and do nothing to address the legitimate concerns of the Iranian people.”

“Canada will continue to stand by the Iraqi and Iranian peoples in the face of the Iranian regime’s continued violence and human rights violations.”

Also the Belgian Foreign Ministry in a tweet on Saturday condemned the the Iranian missile attacks in Iraq.

"Our country calls for respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country and for international law. Our thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones," it said.

As a result of the Iranian strikes, at least 14 people were killed on Wednesday while nearly 60 others were wounded.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility and said they would resume strikes unless Iranian Kurdish opposition groups would surrender.

Furthermore, for the eighth consecutive day Iranian artillery on Saturday bombed a number of border areas inside the Kurdistan Region.

Read More: Recent attacks on Kurdistan show ‘repeated pattern of Iranian destabilization’, says UK envoy

Several countries over the past days have condemned the Iranian strikes, including the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Poland, Germany, UK, US, Jordan and Egypt.

UNCHR says civilians lives “must be 

protected” after Iranian attack“

We are extremely shocked and concerned that the

attack has impacted refugee families."

Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Shaza Shekfeh, a media officer of the United Nations Refugee Agency, known as UNHCR, told Kurdistan 24 on Thursday that the Iranian attack on Kurdish opposition parties in Koya affected refugees living in the vicinity.

“The Kurdistan Regional Government is leading the response to support those who are impacted by yesterday's attack and according to the Department of Health in Koya, regrettably the attack resulted in nine casualties and 28 people were injured,” she said.

According to later data, at least 14 people were killed by the Iranian missile and drone attacks on Wednesday while nearly 60 others were wounded. Also one pregnant woman Reyha Kenani and her child Wanyar died in the Iranian attack near Koya.

The Iranian attacks come amidst widespread protests in Iran over the death of Zhina Amini at the hands of the morality police in mid September.

“We are extremely shocked and concerned that the attack has impacted refugee families. It also impacted a school where refugee students were present. Civilian lives must be protected at all times, including the refugees and especially the children," Shaza Shekfeh underlined.

"The UNHCR is in close dialogue with the authorities concerning the immediate needs of the most affected,” she added.

Koya hosts around 500 refugee families who fled Iran. The UNCHR in a statement on Wednesday also underlined UNHCR “is gravely concerned about today’s attack, which impacted the Iranian refugee settlements in Koya, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.”

Read More: UN Refugee Agency says Iranian attacks affected refugees in Koya

"The attack is reported to have resulted in a number of civilian casualties and injuries, including Iranian refugees – among them are women and children. "UNHCR extends our deepest condolences to all those affected."

Moreover, the UNCHR confirms the attack "reportedly impacted a primary school where refugee students were present."

“We have started engaging with authorities in dialogue since yesterday. Our partners on the ground are providing psychosocial support to traumatized families, especially children who are in school at the moment,” Shekfeh said.

Moreover, she said “refugee outreach volunteers are showing strength and resilience by supporting their communities as well and offering comfort and psychosocial support.”

“I'd like to extend our appreciation for the work the outreach volunteers are doing on the ground despite these difficult circumstances.”

However, she underlined that the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is leading the humanitarian response to the attack. “And of course, UNHCR is closely engaging in dialogue how to better respond to those who are mostly impacted.”

She also said that the UNHCR has been supporting Kurdish refugees from Iran in Koya with cash assistance with the winter assistance, registration and education services. “They were also receiving health benefits from the public institutions that are available”

She said in line with the ‘one refugee approach, ‘the Iranian refugees in these settlements were receiving the same services as any refugee in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.”

Egypt condemns Iranian attack on 

Kurdistan region of Iraq

September 30, 2022

Smoke rises over the headquarters following an attack in the Koy Sanjaq district of Erbil, Iraq on September 28, 2022.

 [Ahsan Mohammed Ahmed Ahmed - Anadolu Agency]

September 30, 2022 at 5:56 pm

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has condemned the Iranian bombing of areas in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, describing it as a "blatant violation of Iraq's sovereignty and security".

In a press statement made available to the Russia Today Arabic news website, the Ministry denounced Iran's attacks on areas in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, which resulted in the death of "innocent civilians".

Egypt "has been monitoring the tensions in the region over the past few days, and warns of their repercussions on the stability of the region and the safety of its people," the statement read.

Egypt further expressed its "sincere condolences to the government and people" of Iraq for the victims of this attack, and it wished a speedy recovery to the injured.

UPDATES

Protests In Iran Continue Despite Violent Government Crackdown
October 01, 2022 
By RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Protesters in Sanandaj, the capital of Mahsa Amini's native Kurdistan Province, take to the streets for the 10th night in a row on September 26.

Iranians are continuing to protest the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody two weeks ago despite government warnings that a harsh crackdown will continue.

Videos posted on social media showed demonstrations taking place in several cities across the country on the evening of September 29 and the morning of September 30.

The latest wave of protests in Iran was sparked by the death Mahsa Amini on September 16 after she was detained by the morality police for allegedly improperly wearing a hijab, or headscarf.

Activists and relatives say Amini was killed as a result of blows to the head by police, while the authorities claim she died of a heart attack, a rare event for someone her age.

News of her death struck a nerve in a country already wracked by social unrest over poor living conditions and economic hardships exacerbated by crippling U.S. economic sanctions in response to Iran's nuclear program.

Protests have erupted in more than 80 cities to denounce state violence against women and demand greater rights, freedom, and justice for women. Many of the protesters have also called for an end to the Islamic republic.

Police have responded harshly. Iran Human Rights, an Oslo-based rights organization, said 83 people, including children, have been killed during the two-weeks of protest.

SEE ALSO:
Iran 'Ruthlessly' Suppressing Protests, Amnesty Says

Iran's Intelligence Ministry said on September 30 that nine foreigners had been arrested in connection with the protests.

Those arrested include citizens of Germany, Poland, Italy, France, the Netherlands, and Sweden, state news agency IRNA reported. It was not immediately clear if they held dual citizenship.

The violent response, however, has not stopped Iranians, including popular figures, from taking to the streets in protest or voicing their anger on social media.

On the evening of September 29, protesters gathered in the northeastern city of Mashhad, according to posts on social media. An officer can be seen firing at least twice at the demonstrators, thought it did not appear that anyone was hurt.

The same evening, young people in the northern city of Rasht gathered to chant anti-government slogans, according to another video.

Meanwhile, protesters can be seen running in the central city of Kerman on the evening of September 29 as gunshots ring out.

Security forces reportedly tried to prevent protesters from gathering in the southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz on September 30. In videos published online, women in Ahvaz can be seen chanting slogans against the government without headscarves.

Iranian media reported on September 29 that Hossein Mahini, the retired captain of Iranian soccer giant Persepolis FC, has been arrested on charges of "encouraging riots and sympathizing with the enemy" after he posted content on social media in support of the protesters.

Actress Katayon Riahi, one of the first Iranian celebrities to have removed her hijab in protest of Amini's death, reportedly fled before police showed up at her home to arrest her.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda. With reporting by AP

Weekend rally in Seattle will show support for Iranian women protesting mandatory hijab law

Niku Kazori
Fri, September 30, 2022 

Women in Iran are leading a nationwide protest against the mandatory hijab law, following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.

She was picked up by the Iranian morality police for improperly wearing her hijab.

People across the globe are now coming together for a nationwide day of action, Saturday, Oct. 1.

“Everyone from around the world has united and is calling out what is happening in Iran. So we’re going to have people who are Iranian and non-Iranians. Churches reached out, and they wanted to help, and some other American activists have reached out. It’s going to be everyone from all ages coming together to protest what’s happening in Iran.”

While access to the internet has been cut off by the government, Iranian Americans are doing what they can to support those who are risking their lives on the streets by organizing protests and raising awareness to what’s happening inside Iran.

“We are going to continue fighting until Iranians are fighting on the streets for their freedom of expression. We’re just going to gather here, we’re going to chant things they’re chanting in Iran to again continue echoing their voice,” said protester Saghar Amini.

Ever since the revolution 44 years ago, it has been mandatory for women to wear the hijab in public. Now, many are demanding change.

“Women deserve to be supported everywhere, and I’m happy to see that. We’re all here to support the people of Iran, and it’s nice to see that people care,” said protester Nilu Jenks.

OPINION

The hijab protests have resonated beyond Iran – to all countries that want to control women

No state, whether it is Iran, India or any other, has the right to tell women what to wear.

Rafia Zakaria, Dawn.com

Delhi University students and activists during a condolence meeting after the death of Mahsa Amini on September 26. | Reuters

She was a Kurdish woman who had been visiting relatives in the Iranian capital Tehran. Mahsa Amini (who was also called Jina) was out and about in the city when she was detained by the morality police for not wearing the hijab according to Iranian law. No one knows what happened in the time she was brought to the centre where the authorities impart “education” about the proper hijab. The next time Amini’s family saw her she was dead.

A photo circulating on the internet showed the 22-year-old woman before the detention, another showed her hooked up to various tubes, blood oozing from her ear. Her body appears lifeless even in the photo. Reportedly, a woman who had also been detained said that Amini complained she had been hit by the police. The state released a short CCTV clip which purportedly shows Amini collapsing.

In the meantime, a wave of protests has erupted in Iran.

The protests that began in Tehran have spread to cities and towns in most Iranian provinces. Led largely by young people they have included a wide variety of social classes and ethnicities.

There are a number of issues that have caused the festering discontent in Iran – not least the horrendous condition of the Iranian economy, that has faced international sanctions for years, and corruption in the bureaucracy.

Also enervating for many have been examples of how unapologetic some Iranian leaders are in indulging their nepotistic tendencies.

It is all of these factors that form the seething background for the current protests. At its heart lies the struggle over the hijab – over which Mahsa Amini was arrested and likely killed in custody. Iran’s ruling clergy considers the hijab to be a requirement for all Muslim women

.

An Iranian woman living in Turkey cuts her hair during a protest outside the Iranian consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, on September 21. Credit: Reuters.

It is a convenient belief because in the era when politics from the United States to everywhere else has become mostly about performance, imposing the hijab also makes for excellent political theatre. Just like the reinstated Afghan Taliban in Kabul, Iran’s conservative circles can look around at the women present in the public spaces of their country and get an instant power high about their own might.

Similarly, hungry for power highs, Islamophobic politicians from parties such as Marine le Pen’s National Rally in France and Narendra Modi’s BJP in India want to forbid the wearing of the headscarf and appeal to an ignorant and self-serving version of secularism or Hindutva supremacy.

The truth is far simpler: no state, whether it is the Iranian or the Saudi, the French or the Indian, or any other, has the right to tell women what to wear.

At its heart, the struggle over the hijab shows just how eager male-dominated state machineries are to use their power to force women to do one thing or another. In some countries, power is signalled by forcing women to wear the hijab, in others to force them to take it off. In either case, the idea is that women can be ordered to do this or that.

This is why it is so heartening to see Iranian women leading these protests. Many have cut off their hair or burned their headscarves even as the Iranian authorities use deadly force to quell their convenings. Having borne the brunt of the Iranian state’s denegration and being treated as subhuman, dragged into vans and detained by an increasingly repressive morality police at the slightest “provocation”, they have had enough. So they have been marching, even though the danger to their lives and the overall cost is huge.

The state had recently announced that at least 41 protesters and police had been killed but the number is likely to be much higher as Iran has vowed to “deal decisively” with the protesters.

Here in Pakistan, women know a few things about repression and patriarchal control. One video from the streets of Tehran shows a middle-aged, bearded man on a motorbike almost pushing his face through the window of an adjacent car as he yells and screams at the women inside for their improper hijab. Raining abuses on them and trying to intimidate them, he does not stop until traffic around them forces him to move. Any Pakistani woman who can drive or who has spent any time on the streets would not be surprised at a similar move.

In the past decade, drivers, motorcyclists, grocery shop clerks, restaurant owners, really anyone at all in the public realm, have similarly become an expert in how Pakistani women should and should not be dressed. In these cases, it is always the women who have to be defensive because angry men have all the rights in Pakistan. “Mera jism meri marzi” is at the centre of the Pakistan’s women’s movement, and is being reflected in Iran.

This is just why Pakistani women have an important role to play as allies in Iranian women’s struggle against bodily control by the state.

Even though Western feminists in white-majority countries are eager to jump in, Iranian women are rightly rebuffing those offers, because they taint what is a local and grassroots struggle in a country where half the population is just fed up of the repressive status quo. When white and Western feminists get involved it is not about the struggle but the rescue, and how Iranian or Pakistani or Somalian women are being “saved” by the “real” feminists who are also the white feminists.

Even though the internet has been blocked in many parts of Iran, many tweets, pictures and slogans, are still emerging through those with VPN servers. Pakistani feminists must make it their business to amplify the voices of Iranian women who are fighting and protesting and showing the world what true feminist courage actually means.

Rafia Zakaria is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.

This article was first published on Dawn.

Mahsa Amini: An Iranian journalist broke the news of the death. Now she's in jail

Niloofar Hamedi's reporting of the police's apparent brutality sparked nationwide protests, but her voice has largely been forgotten after being arrested for her work

A picture of Niloofar Hamedi reporting at a football match (Twitter)

By Alex MacDonald
, MEE correspondent
Published date: 29 September 2022 

Niloofar Hamedi had long been interested and concerned over the influence of the "morality police" in Iranian society and the role they played in enforcing mandatory headscarf laws in the country.

On 16 September, the reporter, who works for the reformist daily newspaper Shargh, managed to gain access to Kasra hospital in Tehran where a 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was being treated following her detention by the morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab inappropriately

The young Kurdish woman had, according to police, suffered a sudden heart problem, but her parents disputed this. She would die later that day.

That same Friday Hamedi tweeted a photo of Amini's parents crying in the hospital:

Parents of Mahsa Amini in Kasra Hospital in Iranian capital Tehran 

(Niloofar Hamedi)

The picture quickly spread along with Hamedi's reporting on Amini's death, eventually spiralling into nationwide protests that have so far seen at least 76 people killed, according to rights groups, and renewed calls for the end of the mandatory headscarf and the so-called "morality police" who brutally enforce it.

According to one of her colleagues at Shargh, speaking to Middle East Eye on condition of anonymity, the impact of her reporting was "massive".

"She has always been a brave journalist, and her bold reports have made society aware," said Sima*.

Another colleague at the newspaper, Ashraf*, said: "If it weren't for her courage, the tragic incident that happened to Mahsa Amini would not have been reported to the media so quickly."

'As I am talking to you right now, I am worried that these conversations will be overheard'

- Journalist, Shargh daily

On 22 September, Hamedi was arrested.

"This morning, security agents raided the house of my client Niloofar Hamedi, journalist of Shargh newspaper, arrested her, searched her house and confiscated her belongings," wrote her lawyer Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi on Twitter.

At the same time, her Twitter account, where she had originally posted the influential photo of Amini's parents, was suspended without explanation.

According to Kamfirouzi, Hamedi is being held in solitary confinement in Tehran’s Evin prison, where she has been interrogated. She has not been told of any other charges against her.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says that at least 19 other journalists have also been arrested as of Monday.

For Hamedi's colleagues, working at a reformist newspaper which has been a thorn in the side of the conservatives who are currently in power in Iran, life as a journalist has become a daily worry.

"Journalism in Iran is not a job. It is a potential crime from the point of view of security institutions," said Sima.

"As a result, as I am talking to you right now, I am worried that these conversations will be overheard."

Ashraf concurred. "When you see every day that one of your colleagues has been arrested, is it natural to worry and think that I might be next?" he said.

MEE asked Twitter for a comment on the suspension of Hamedi's account but received no reply at the time of publication.
Red lines

Iran has never been a haven for freedom of the press. Under the rule of the Shah, the media was heavily restricted along with other civil liberties, and while the 1979 revolution saw an initial flourishing of expression, this was soon repressed as the Islamic Republic went to war with neighbouring Iraq.

Compared to some of its neighbours in the Middle East and Central Asia, Iran does however have a diverse range of media perspectives.

Newspapers aligned with the country's reformist camp like Shargh, Etemaad and Aftab Yazd have regularly reported on corruption scandals, criticised political figures, and occasionally brought stories of injustice to the fore. Conservative rivals like Kayhan have also been willing to voice critiques of officials.

Nevertheless, according to CPJ senior researcher Yeganeh Rezaian, there is little approaching a free press in Iran.

Rezaian was herself jailed with her husband, Washington Post reporter Jason Rezaian, in Iran in 2014. Although she was released after 72 days, Jason would remain in prison until January 2016.

She told MEE that critical journalists regularly face arrest, and Iran is one of the most heavily censored countries in the world.

"Even reformist newspapers are still state-run media. Therefore, they cannot freely cover all political or human rights news," she said.

"Even if they are able to sometimes briefly cover a story, the paper's editor and the reporter pay a heavy price for their coverage of the story - like Niloofar Hamedi."

Mahsa Amini on the front cover of the reformist Arman Meli newspaper (screenshot)

Hamedi was no stranger to controversy and, like many journalists in the country, she pushed against a set of red lines that attempted to put limits on her reporting.

In June, a report she wrote on the shooting of a former member of Iran's national boxing team by the "morality police" sparked an earlier outcry over the organisation's use of violence to enforce the headscarf.

Reza Moradkhani and his wife were walking through Tehran's Pardisan Park when they were approached by the police over his wife's supposedly inappropriate hijab. An argument ensued which eventually saw the couple pepper sprayed and Moradkhani shot in the leg.

'Niloofar always had a strong spirit - I think she can overcome this difficult situation again'

- journalist, Shargh dail

"For people who can't afford to go to the gym and have private trainers because of time or financially, such big parks are considered the best place to exercise. In recent years, Pardisan has become the main hangout for athletes, especially in the mornings and evenings," wrote Hamedi.

"Now, with the occurrence of such events, it is not clear what the approach of the police force will be in future encounters."

Despite the hurdles that face Iran's journalists, particularly women, Hamedi had always had "a hopeful spirit and advised her friends to stay hopeful and do not be disappointed" when dealing with the daily stress of Iranian journalism.

"Niloofar was a yoga enthusiast and always advised her friends to go to yoga. She always said that yoga relaxes her," said one colleague.

The death of Amini has prompted a number of reformist papers to broach one of Iran's taboo subjects and call for the abolition of the "morality police" who enforce the wearing of the headscarf and who have been blamed for Amini's death.

The world's 'biggest jailer of female reporters'

With the anger continuing to spread around the country, however, the government has moved to limit media and its impact.

Apart from the arrests, numerous social media and messaging apps have been blocked, along with major restrictions on internet access.

"Before this happened, it was not easy, and we had to keep silent about many issues. But now, especially in the current security environment, it has become much, much harder," explained Sima.

"Security organisations have even ordered us not to cover street protests, and this is really disappointing."

Rezaian said Iran was now the world's "biggest jailer of female reporters".

Mahsa Amini: Signal asks users to set up proxy servers and help Iranians avoid ban

Read More »

Communications and media have been integral to the spread of the protests in Iran. It is no surprise, therefore, that authorities have moved to limit them.

"The regime cutting people from the outside world itself sends a very clear message that they don't want anyone to know what is going on inside the country. They don't want the international community to know that they are brutally hitting and killing young protesters," Rezaian said.

Videos from inside the country have shown women burning their headscarves, fighting with police, chanting "death to the dictator" and destroying images belonging to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and late military commander Qassem Soleimani.

Outside Iran, the protesters have gained widespread support. Yet many Iranians have complained that activists, politicians and commentators outside Iran, rather than those leading and documenting events on the ground, have ended up dominating the narrative on the demonstrations.

But in prison, the journalist whose reporting sparked one of the most dramatic periods of Iran's modern history remains largely unheard.

Hamedi's lawyer tweeted on Monday that she had contacted him and her mother from prison. Although she still knows little about her case, she said she was "fine" and coping with solitary confinement by continuing to practise yoga every day.

If there's one thing you learn as a journalist in Iran, according to Sima, it's resilience.

"Niloofar always had a strong spirit - I think she can overcome this difficult situation again," she said.

*Names have been changed for security reasons

Iran's Gen Z is fed up. The protests aren't just about hijab, they're about regime change.

Neda Bolourchi
Sat, October 1, 2022 

“Women, Life, Freedom.”

Those are the words Iranian women have been chanting during protests against their government for the past several weeks. Used by Kurdish female soldiers in their fight against the Islamic State terrorist group, these words also define the very essence of the ongoing protests against the Islamic Republic of Iran that at minimum say women demand a life of freedom.

These protests are in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, from Iran’s Kurdistan region. In the capital city of Tehran to visit family, Amini was arrested on Sept. 13 by the morality police for “wearing inappropriate clothing.” This police group patrols public spaces looking for people – especially women – who violate the norms of “public decency” with their clothing, haircuts, behavior and “bad” hair coverings. Amini died in custody after spending three days in a coma.

A protest on Sept. 19, 2022, in Tehran, Iran, against the death of Mahsa Amini, who died after three days in the custody of the morality police.

Amini’s death comes from the intensification of repressive state policies under President Ebrahim Raisi's administration. It recently announced the intention to aggressively target women not in “modest dress” or in “bad makeup.” The police tend to monitor and more strictly enforce regulations in places with a higher percentage of poor, ethnic, or religious women.
An end to morality police

Iranian women and their allies have called for an end to the morality police and the very system that upholds it. In alleyways, up and down highways and everywhere in between, protesters can be heard also chanting “death to the dictator.” This new generation has gone as far as to cross another red line and repeatedly declare, “I don’t want an Islamic Republic!” Fearless, women stand atop cars burning their headscarves while others cut their hair in public.

There's no deadline on women's equality: Add the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

They have done so because the Islamic Republic has spent the past four decades controlling the female body as a misplaced metaphor for nationalist and cultural pride. Controlling women’s bodies has gone on long enough. Generation Z, which the Pew Research Center defines as born from 1997 through 2012, has decided to act.

Pivotally, today’s Gen Z protesters are more radical and angrier than their “reform”-minded predecessors. The 2009 Green Movement was largely composed of middle-class Tehranis, often educated in Europe, who had much to lose. Also, their parents and even the Green Movement politicians told them to be patient.

The movement was about reform. One revolution was enough. Parents lectured their children on their errors, how much Iran lost (almost everything) because of 1979. They pointed to the country’s neighbors (in Iraq and Afghanistan) who were dying, saying Iranians shouldn’t join them. They then pointed out that the whole Middle East was on fire and burning (Arab Spring 2011-14) and that Iran should not burn, too. At least Iranians were safe, the adage went. The previous generation tried to make headway through advocating reforms, but many lost friends and family members.

More than a decade later, Gen Z thinks it has less to lose.

Iranian Americans rally on Sept. 28, 2022, in Washington, D.C. in support of the Iranian resistance movement and to denounce the death of Mahsa Amini.

Gen Z demands change

Pushed to the brink by a repressive system that either made promises it didn’t keep or used tools of violence too often, Generation Z is fed up. There are no appeals to the administration, parts of the government or the police who beat them. Iranians are responding to police brutality in kind. They are retaliating by damaging police vehicles, chasing state agents and holding their ground when confronted.

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And men have joined the women. They are seen protesting throughout the country (including conservative cities like Mashhad, Qom and Isfahan, not to mention the liberal north and the diverse west). The men come from all walks of life but especially from the poorer neighborhoods, like in southern Tehran.

Most of these men joined because of poverty, lack of prospects and denial of personal freedoms. Male allies speak about the oppression and discontent with what has become life in the Islamic Republic; they understand their privileged position vis-à-vis women, but this does not lessen their burdens or alleviate their poverty. Instead, they have an idea of the daily repression and subjugation women face. This protest and its slogan of “Women, Life, Freedom” thus connect women’s rights to broader social and economic policies about human rights and good governance.

Today’s protest is of a feminist and humanist nature. It has crossed the socioeconomic divide and ethnoreligious lines, and has garnered large male support. Iranians are fighting for basic rights: the right to freedom of speech; the right to expression of thought; the right for women to choose how they dress; the right against wrongful imprisonment; the right against torture and rape while in state custody. Taking to the streets with their hair in ponytails and fists up, Iranians are singing the song of freedom and resistance that defines revolutions.

Neda Bolourchi is associate director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Rutgers University, where she teaches courses on political violence, revolutions, Islamic law and human rights. Previously, she worked on matters of civil litigation, white collar criminal defense and human rights violations in the Middle East.

Africa: Cholera Surging Globally As Climate Change Intensifies


30 SEPTEMBER 2022
Voice of America (Washington, DC)

By Lisa Schlein

Geneva — Cholera is surging around the globe, the World Health Organization warns.

Flareups of the deadly disease have been reported in 26 countries in the first nine months of this year. In comparison, fewer than 20 countries reported cholera outbreaks per year between 2017 and 2021. In addition to greater frequency, the WHO reports the outbreaks themselves are larger and more deadly.

While poverty and conflict are major triggers of cholera, climate change is a growing threat.

Philippe Barboza, WHO team lead for Cholera and Epidemic Diarrheal Diseases, said climate change presents an additional layer of complexity and creates the conditions for cholera outbreaks to explode.

"This is what we have seen in southern Africa with the succession of cyclones that affected the eastern part of the African Coast," Barboza said. "The drought in East Africa is driving population movements, reducing access to water, which is already needed. So, of course, it is a key factor, which is fueling the outbreak. And the same in Sahel and other places."

Fifteen of the 26 cholera-infected countries are in Africa, according to the WHO.

Barboza said massive climate-induced floods in Southeast Asia also have resulted in large outbreaks of cholera in Pakistan and Bangladesh. Many countries that have made significant progress in controlling cholera are now back to square one, he added.

Cholera is an acute diarrheal disease caused by contaminated food or water. It can kill within hours if left untreated. Cholera outbreaks can be prevented by ensuring access to clean water, basic sanitation, and hygiene, as well as stepping up surveillance and access to health care, Barboza said.

"This is what we need countries to do, but that is easier said than done. Although many of the cholera-affected countries are actively engaged in these efforts, they are facing multiple crises, including conflict and poverty, and this is why international action is so important," he said.

Cholera is a preventable and treatable disease, Barboza said, so with the right foresight and action, the current global crisis can be reversed.

Cholera outbreaks surging worldwide, fatality rates rising - WHO

September 30, 2022 

A lab technician works on samples to test for cholera, at a hospital

 in Syria's northern city of Aleppo on September 11, 2022

[AFP via Getty Images]

September 30, 2022 

Cholera cases have surged this year, especially in places of poverty and conflict, with outbreaks reported in 26 countries and fatality rates rising sharply, a World Health Organisation official said on Friday, Reuters reports.

In a typical year, fewer than 20 countries report outbreaks of the disease, which is spread by the ingestion of contaminated food or water and can cause acute diarrhoea.

"After years of declining numbers, we are seeing a very worrying upsurge of cholera outbreaks around the globe over the past year," Philippe Barboza, WHO Team Lead for Cholera, told a press briefing in Geneva.

The average fatality rate, so far this year, has almost tripled compared with the five-year average and is currently around 3 per cent in Africa, he added.

While most of those affected will have mild or no symptoms, cholera can kill within hours, if untreated.

READ: UN takes measures to fight cholera outbreak in Syria refugee camps

A cholera outbreak in Syria has already killed at least 33 people, posing a danger across the frontlines of the country's 11-year-long war and stirring fears in crowded camps for the displaced.

Barboza also expressed concern about outbreaks in the Horn of Africa and parts of Asia, including Pakistan, where some regions are flooded.

He said only a few million doses of vaccines were available for use before the end of this year, citing a shortage of manufacturers among the problems.

WHO maintains an emergency stockpile of cholera vaccines.

"So it's very clear that we do not have enough vaccine to respond to both acute outbreaks and even less to be able to implement preventive vaccination campaigns that could be a way to reduce the risk for many countries," he said.

There was no overall estimate of the number of cholera cases across the world because of differences in countries' surveillance systems, he said.

How a Chinese fossil discovery rewrites the history of life on Earth

Troy Farah - SALON

Life reconstruction of Fanjingshania renovata 

FU Boyuan and FU Baozhong

Paleontologists are having a field day over a recently discovered trove of fish fossils that could reset our understanding of human evolution. The finds not only include the world's oldest teeth, but also strengthen the evidence for the emergence of jaws and limbs. Essentially, these discoveries could push back our understanding of humans' early animal ancestors by about 10 million years.

The international team responsible for these remarkable finds was led by Zhu Min of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology (IVPP) in Beijing, China and was detailed in a quartet of papers published Wednesday in Nature.

The fossils date between 436 and 439 million years ago, during a known as the Silurian Period, in which Earth experienced some dramatic events (such as developing an ozone layer) that had big impacts on the evolution of life. By the end of the Silurian, jawed fishes began to appear; the advantage of jaws is that it makes for better hunters, which allowed such fish to better pass down their genes. Indeed, having a jaw is quite an evolutionary advantage.

Related
"Beyond our wildest dreams": Scientists find fossil from dinosaur that died the day the asteroid hit

Many of the creatures in the oceans were quite squishy, meaning that they are less apt to survive in the fossil record. In general, scientists have relied on scraps and stray fossils of such creatures to formulate theories on how life arose on Earth during this era, but these new discoveries reveal in greater detail what creatures were like almost half a billion years ago.

Discovered near Lianghe village in Hunan Province, T. vividus resembled an ice cream cone with a massive bony shield around its head.

"The new fossils change everything. Now we know how big they are, what they look like, how they evolved over time," Zhu told Reuters. In terms of size, most of these fossils were quite small — but they have big implications.

One paper analyzed more than 1000 specimens of an extinct spiny shark-like fish called Fanjingshania renovata, so named because it was found near Mount Fanjingshan. It may be the oldest jawed ancestor of humans, pushing back the previous record by about 20 million years.

Another paper describes Tujiaaspis vividus, an extinct jawless fish whose name refers to the Tujia people, a minority ethnic group in China. Discovered near Lianghe village in Hunan Province, T. vividus resembled an ice cream cone with a massive bony shield around its head, making it what's called a galeaspid. What's amazing about this find is how intact the specimen is compared to previous finds.

"The anatomy of galeaspids has been something of a mystery since they were first discovered more than half a century ago," Gai Zhikun, the study's lead author and a professor at IVPP, said in a statement. "Tens of thousands of fossils are known from China and Vietnam, but almost all of them are just heads — nothing has been known about the rest of their bodies — until now."

These fossils lend weight to the "fin-fold theory," which describes how fish developed fins that separated and eventually evolved into legs. In other words, this is some of the earliest and strongest evidence for a leading theory on how humans eventually got our limbs.

Then there's a paper describing two new species. The first is Xiushanosteus mirabilis, a tiny placoderm, a type of jawed fish that was covered in armor. The other is Shenacanthus vermiformis, an early shark relative. However, unlike sharks (which have tiny scales) S. vermiformis is armored with plates that cover its body.

"Only 20 years ago it was still believed that sharks [were] primitive and other jawed fish evolved from a shark-like archetype. Now with the discovery of Shenacanthus, we can finally make certain that the opposite is true," the study's lead author Zhu You'an, associate research professor at IVPP, said in a statement. Both discoveries may change the timeline for when jawed vertebrates first emerged.

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The last paper describes the least complete fossil specimen out of the four, with just 23 teeth — still, enough information to identify the earliest direct evidence for jawed vertebrates like ourselves. The fish is called Qianodus duplicis, which was found in Guizhou province and had the oldest teeth of any animal previously known. Its mouth was filled with paired rows of tooth whorls, and like many first drafts, the teeth don't really resemble the pearly whites we typically think of. It's more of a spiky blob, like the back of a blue shell from "Mario Kart."

Nonetheless, this toothy discovery pushes back the date for the evolution of teeth by about 14 million years. It means a lot more activity was happening in the Silurian period (around 439 million years ago) than we thought.

It may seem weird to think about, but there really was a point in the evolutionary timeline when teeth didn't exist. Same for eyes, brains and even anuses. Each of these anatomical features arose through natural selection over millions of years. While there are many gaps in the fossil record, they are being filled in all the time and this recent dump of published results gives fascinating insight into where we acquired our teeth, our jaws, our limbs and essentially our human bodies.

Read more about this topic
Ancient plankton have climate data hidden in their shells
Meet Mary Anning, a fossil hunter who changed the way we think about the history of life on Earth
Digitizing the vast "dark data" in museum fossil collections

PATRIARCHY IS MISOGYNY & FEMICIDE

Hazara women in Afghanistan protest for better security one day after suicide bombing killed dozens

Demonstration quickly broken up by Taliban police

The Associated Press · Posted: Oct 01, 2022

A 19-year old Hazara girl on Saturday sits on the bench she was sitting on during Friday's suicide bomber attack in Kabul. Afghanistan's Hazaras, who are predominantly Shia Muslims, have been the target of a brutal campaign of violence for the past several years. 

(Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press)


A group of Afghan women on Saturday protested a suicide bombing that killed or wounded dozens of students in a Shia education centre in Kabul a day earlier, demanding better security from the Taliban-run government.

The demonstration was quickly broken up by Taliban police.

The bomber struck an education centre Friday packed with hundreds of students in a Shia neighborhood, killing 19 people and wounding 27. Among the casualties were teenagers taking practice university entrance exams, a Taliban spokesman said.

The morning explosion at the centre took place in Kabul's Dashti Barchi neighborhood, an area populated mostly by ethnic Hazaras, who belong to Afghanistan's minority Shia community. The Islamic State group has carried out repeated, horrific attacks on schools, hospitals and mosques in Dashti Barchi and other Shiite areas in recent years.

About 20 protesters Saturday gathered in the Dashti Barchi area for about 45 minutes before their rally was broken up by Taliban security. They carried banners in English and Dari reading "Stop Hazar Genocide."

19 dead after blast in Kabul hits education centre

"We are asking the Taliban government, when they claim that they have brought security, how they cannot stop an attacker from entering an educational centre to target female students. In this incident, one family has lost four members, why is it still happening," said demonstrator Fatima Mohammadi.

Staff at the Kaaj education centre spent Saturday cleaning up the wreckage caused by the attack, while victims' family members searched through items covered with blood belonging to their loved ones.
No responsibility claimed for attack yet

Hussain, who goes by one name, witnessed the attack. He said he believed the death toll was significantly higher, based on the large number of bodies he saw.

"First the attacker just over there, where a huge crowd of students was standing, opened fire. At least 40 people were killed there," he said.

Zahra, a student who survived the attack, was unharmed because she went out just minutes before to buy a pen. She said she lost her friends in the attack and also her hope for a better future.

"I am not even sure if there is a future for us anymore or not," she said.

Afghans try to divine Taliban plan as girls' schools open, then close, in eastern province

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamic State group — the chief rival of the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 — has in the past targeted the Hazara community, including in Dashti Barchi, in a brutal campaign of violence.

Militants have carried out several deadly attacks in Dashti Barchi, including a horrific 2020 attack on a maternity hospital claimed by the Islamic State group that killed 24 people, including newborn babies and mothers.

The family of one of the victims of a suicide bombing mourns in Kabul on Friday.

 (Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press)

Kabul attack: Death toll rises to 35 mostly ‘girls, young women’

Dozens of women have protested to call for more protection for the ethnic Hazara community in the wake of the attack.

A suicide bombing has killed at least 35 people at a learning centre in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of Kabul [AFP]

Published On 1 Oct 2022

The death toll from a suicide bombing at an education centre in the Afghan capital has risen to 35, according to the United Nations mission to the country, as women reportedly took to the streets to protest against the targeting of the Hazara ethnic minority.

At least 82 others were wounded in Friday’s attack at the Kaj education centre in Dasht-e-Barchi, home to a large Hazara community located in western Kabul, according to the UN mission.

The toll is higher than the casualty numbers Kabul authorities have so far released.

“Majority of casualties are girls and young women,” the mission tweeted on Saturday. “All names need documenting and remembering and justice must be done.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred in a women’s section of the centre where young people had gathered to take a mock university exam.

Afghan women display placards and chant slogans during a protest following a suicide bombing at an education centre in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood in Kabul [AFP]

However, the local ISIL (ISIS) affiliate, a rival to the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for similar attacks on education centres in recent years, including a suicide attack on an education centre in the same neighbourhood that killed 24 in 2020.

At least 85 people were also killed in another unclaimed attack near a school in Dasht-e-Barchi in May 2021.

The Taliban, which swept to power amid a foreign troop withdrawal in August 2021, has promised to bring stability to the country after 20 years of war, but a spate of recent violence has undermined that narrative.

The family of a 19-year-old woman who was a victim of a suicide bomber at an education centre in Kabul is seen mourning

 [Ebrahim Noroozi/The Associated Press]

On Friday, the AFP news agency reported that more than 50 women defied a Taliban ban on rallies to call for an end to violence against the Hazara people, who have alleged years of persecution by the ruling Taliban while being repeatedly targeted by ISIL attacks.

The group chanted “stop Hazara genocide, it’s not a crime to be a Shia”, as they marched past a hospital in Dasht-e-Barchi where several victims of the attack were being treated, according to an AFP correspondent.

Protesters later gathered in front of the hospital and chanted slogans as dozens of heavily armed Taliban, some carrying rocket-propelled grenade launchers, kept watch, according to the news agency.

Al Jazeera however, could not independently verify the reports of protests.

Women’s protests have become increasingly risky since the Taliban came to power, with numerous demonstrators detained in past rallies or broken up by Taliban forces firing shots in the air.

Rights groups have called on the Taliban to better protect the country’s residents.

Amnesty International described Friday’s attack as a “shamefaced reminder of the inaptitude and utter failure of the Taliban, as de-facto authorities, to protect the people of Afghanistan”.

Meanwhile, the organisation’s South Asia campaigner, Samira Hamidi, said the Taliban has done little to protect ethnic minorities since taking power.

“Their actions of omission and commission have only further aggravated the risk to the lives of the people of Afghanistan especially those belonging to ethnic and minority communities,” she said in a statement on Friday.

The Norwegian Refugee Council also condemned the attack, calling on the authorities to take steps to ensure that educational facilities are protected.

“An education centre filled with youth preparing for exams should be a venue for joy, focus and excitement – never awash with blood and horror,” Neil Turner, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s country director in Afghanistan, said in a statement.

UN expert decries ‘systematic’ attacks on Afghan Shia groups

‘Cold-blooded’: Taliban accused of executing Hazara people

Why the Hazara people fear genocide in Afghanistan

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Afghans protest after dozens killed in Kabul college attack

A suicide bomber attack on an education centre in western Kabul has left at least 100 people killed and injured, most of them young women.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast at the education centre (AFP)

Dozens of women from Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara community protested in the capital after at least 100 people were killed and injured in a suicide bombing.

The attack happened on Friday at 0300GMT (7:30 am local time) at the Kaj educational institution in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood of western Kabul, a predominantly Shia Muslim area home to the ethnic Hazara community - the target of some of Afghanistan's most deadly attacks.

READ MORE: Deadly blast hits educational centre in Kabul's Shia neighbourhood

Police said at least 20 people were killed but the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has put the number at 35, with an additional 82 wounded.

The death toll is expected to rise, UNAMA said.

On Saturday about 50 women chanted, "Stop Hazara genocide, it's not a crime to be a Shia", as they marched past a hospital in Dasht-e-Barchi where several victims of the attack were being treated.

Dressed in black hijabs and headscarves, grieving protesters carried banners that read: "Stop killing Hazaras", an AFP correspondent reported.

They later gathered in front of the hospital and chanted slogans as dozens of heavily armed Taliban fighters kept watch.

Since the Taliban returned to power last August, women's protests have become risky, with numerous demonstrators detained and rallies broken up by Taliban forces firing shots in the air.

'Serious measures'

The bomber shot dead two security guards before entering the gender-segregated classroom, student Ali Irfani, who escaped the carnage, said.

"Not many boys were hit because they were at the rear end of the classroom. The bomber entered from the front door where girls were sitting," he said.

The Taliban's official twitter account put out a statement condemning the attack, expressing sympathy for the families of the victims, saying "Serious measures will be taken to find and punish the perpetrators".

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast at the education centre, however, Daesh has claimed previous attacks in the area targeting girls, schools and mosques.

'Onslaught on education'

The United Nations' special rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, condemned the attack and demanded justice.

"Onslaught on education for Hazaras & Shias must end. Stop attacks on Afghanistan's future, stop international crimes," he said on Twitter.

READ MORE: US admits to killing 12 civilians last year, all in Afghanistan

Afghanistan's Shia Hazaras have faced persecution for decades, targeted by the Taliban during their insurgency against the former US-backed government and by Daesh - both of which consider Shias heretics.

In April, two deadly bomb blasts on the same day at separate education centres in Dasht-e-Barchi killed six people and wounded at least 20 others.

Daesh has emerged as a key security challenge for the Taliban, but officials claim their forces have defeated the armed group.