LONDON: The Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi has blamed military spending in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon for undermining the state budget and spreading poverty in the country.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper about the wave of anti-government protests, the human rights lawyer said Iran’s authorities continue to neglect the Iranian people despite the fact that they have declared their demands.
Ebadi said the majority of Iranians are demanding change because they are now aware that the current political structure, centerred around Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is incapable of reform.
Ebadi, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003 for her work in Iran but has lived in exile in London since 2009, urged Iranians to continue protesting.
She called on people to stop paying water, gas and electricity bills and taxes, and to withdraw their money from state-owned banks.
The protests started on December 28, driven by economic grievances and spread to cities across the country. Twenty-one people have been killed in the violent response from Iran’s security forces.
Ebadi said that people took to the streets peacefully but were confronted by the police and security forces.
“The government says up to 700 were arrested but I am certain that the number of detainees and casualties is much more than that,” she added.
Ebadi said Iran’s police and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps should drop their weapons and join protesters.
Nobel Peace Laureate Ebadi calls on Iranians to continue protests
Nobel Peace Laureate Ebadi calls on Iranians to continue protests
Red Cross transfers 8 Palestinians from Israeli detention to Gaza
- They were taken across the Karm Abu Salem border crossing to Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, where they were reunited with their families
LONDON: The International Committee of the Red Cross transferred eight Palestinians from Israeli detention to the Gaza Strip on Monday.
The organization took them across the Karm Abu Salem border crossing to Shuhada Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir Al-Balah and helped reunite them with their families.
The Red Cross has been unable to visit Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention centers since October 2023, as a result of which the fate and location of many detainees from Gaza were unknown, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
The Red Cross said that according to the principles of international humanitarian law, detainees must be treated humanely, held in proper conditions and allowed to have contact with their families.
Israel is holding about 9,245 Palestinian prisoners in jails, including 358 held without charge or trial under administrative detention, according to Jerusalem-based rights group HaMoked.
