A hard-line cleric Ahmad Khatami leading Friday prayers in Iran’s capital demanded the death penalty for protesters detained in a nationwide crackdown
TEHRAN- A cleric leading Friday prayers in Iran’s capital has called for the death penalty for the protesters detained in the nationwide crackdown.
Cleric Ahmad Khatami’s sermon carried by Iranian state radio sparked chants from those gathered for prayers, including: “Armed hypocrites should be put to death!”
Khatami, appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a member of both the country’s Assembly of Experts and Guardian Council, described the protesters as the “butlers” of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald “Trump’s soldiers.” He insisted their plans “had imagined disintegrating the country”.
Khatami also provided the first overall statistics on damage from the protests, claiming 350 mosques, 126 prayer halls and 20 other holy places had sustained damage. Another 80 homes of Friday prayer leaders — an important position within Iran’s theocracy — also had been damaged, likely underlining the anger demonstrators felt toward symbols of the country’s government. He also said 400 hospitals, 106 ambulances, 71 fire department vehicles and another 50 emergency vehicles sustained damage.
The protest movement in Iran appears to have subsided after authorities staged a brutal crackdown that killed thousands under an internet blackout, the US-based Institute for the Study of War, which has monitored the protest activity, said.
The repression has “likely suppressed the protest movement for now”, it said, but added that “the regime’s widespread mobilisation of security forces is unsustainable, however, which makes it possible that protests could resume”.
According to Norway-based rights group Iran Human Rights (IHR) at least 3,428 protesters have been killed by security forces but warned that the number may be only a fraction of the actual toll.
Monitor Netblocks said that the “total internet blackout” in Iran has now lasted over 180 hours, longer than a similar measure that was imposed during 2019 protests.
New Zealand shuts embassy in Iran, flies out diplomats
New Zealand has temporarily closed its embassy in Tehran and flown out its diplomatic staff because of deteriorating security in Iran.
Diplomatic staff left Iran safely on commercial flights overnight, a spokesperson for the foreign ministry said. Embassy operations were moved to Ankara, Turkey.
FRANCE 24/ AFP
