DUBAI: Iranian security forces stepped up their crackdown on Kurdish regions of the country overnight, deploying shock troops, as authorities pursued their deadly suppression of nationwide protests sparked by Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody.
Nearly four weeks after Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was detained in Tehran for “inappropriate attire,” the protests show no sign of abating in a bold challenge to Iran’s clerical rulers, even if the unrest does not seem close to toppling them.
The unrest has underlined pent-up frustrations over freedoms and rights in Iran, with many women joining in. The deaths of several teenaged girls reportedly killed while demonstrating have becoming a rally cry for more protests.
Iran deployed members of the Basij militia, troops which have been at the forefront of repressing popular unrest, in Kurdish areas where seven people were killed in protests overnight.
Videos on social media which Reuters could not verify showed what appeared to be Basij beating protesters in Kurdish areas.
Two sources in Sanandaj, capital of Kurdistan province, told Reuters that Basij members, along with riot police, were attacking demonstrators.
A witness told Reuters hundreds of riot police and Basij forces have been transferred from other provinces to Kurdistan to confront protesters.
“A few days ago some Basij members from Sanandaj and Baneh refused to follow orders and shoot the people,” said the witness.
“In Saqez the situation is the worst. Those Basiji forces just shoot at people, houses, even if there are no protesters.”
Basij volunteers, affiliated to the elite Revolutionary Guards, may number in the millions, with 1 million active members, analysts say.
Although the latest protests have persisted for weeks, the Iranian authorities have experience of quelling much longer bouts of unrest. In 2009, nationwide demonstrations that erupted over a disputed election lasted for about six months before finally being brought under control.
While many officials have struck an uncompromising tone, a top adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been cited as questioning whether police should be enforcing headscarf-wearing — rare criticism of state efforts to impose the hijab.
Human rights groups have reported more than 200 killed in the crackdown on the protests, which have been particularly intense in Kurdish regions where security forces have put down unrest by the Kurdish minority in the past.
A source in Sanandaj told Reuters riot police were searching houses and arresting dozens of young people, describing the situation as very tense with hundreds of police officers on the city’s streets.
“We have information from Baneh and Saqez as well. They have arrested dozens of young people since yesterday, including teenagers,” added the source, who declined to be identified because of fears for their safety.
Rights group Hengaw, which reports on Iran’s Kurdish regions, said protesters in 10 cities had confronted “security forces’ intense violence” on Wednesday night.
In the city of Kermanshah, direct fire from security forces killed two people, Hengaw said. It posted a picture of the body of an 18-year-old man it said was one of the dead.
A video posted on social media from Kermanshah late on Wednesday showed a fire burning in the road. “Kermanshah is hell, it’s war, it’s war,” a voice can be heard saying.
Three members of the security forces were also killed in Kermanshah and around 40 more injured, Hengaw said.
It said a fourth member of the security forces was killed in Mahabad, and firing by security forces killed another person in Sanandaj.
Officials have denied that security forces have fired on protesters and have previously reported around 20 members of the security forces killed during the nationwide unrest.
Reuters could not independently verify the videos and reports.
Iran’s Kurds are part of an ethnic minority spread between several regional states whose autonomy aspirations have also led to conflicts with authorities in Iraq, Syria and Turkey.
TOUGH SENTENCES
While officials have blamed violence on ethnic separatists — the Revolutionary Guards have attacked Kurdish Iranian dissident bases in neighboring Iraq — protesters’ chants have stressed unity against Islamist rule and called for Khamenei’s downfall.
During the protests, many women have been publicly removing, waving and burning the headscarves they are required to wear under Iran’s conservative dress codes that led to Amini’s arrest.
Khamenei adviser Ali Larijani, a former parliament speaker, said “if 50 percent of our country’s women do not practice wearing a full hijab, then the police should not be involved.”
“The question here is this: Should the government interfere in all matters such as this one?” he told the Ettela’at daily.
Security forces arrested three human rights lawyers who were protesting in front of the Bar Association in Tehran on Wednesday, lawyer Saeid Dehghan said.
While Iran has used force to crack down on the unrest, there has been no sign yet of the Revolutionary Guards — an elite force — being deployed.
Iran’s top judge said he had ordered tough sentences for the “main elements of riots,” a semi-official news agency reported.
“I have instructed our judges to avoid showing unnecessary sympathy ... and issue tough sentences for them while separating the less guilty people,” Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei was quoted as saying.
Iranian state media has reported indictments have been filed against some people detained during the protests, but has not said how many. Rights groups estimated thousands have been arrested.
Iran intensifies crackdown on Kurdish areas as protests rage
https://arab.news/25nr7
Iran intensifies crackdown on Kurdish areas as protests rage
- Nearly four weeks after Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, was detained in Tehran for “inappropriate attire”
- The unrest has underlined pent-up frustrations over freedoms and rights in Iran, with many women joining in
Lebanon signs gas exploration deal with French-Qatari-Italian consortium
- France’s TotalEnergies, Qatar Energy and Italy’s Eni signed for Block 8, planning a 1,200 sq. km 3D seismic survey to assess potential
- Previous searches in Block 4 and 9 did not yield any discoveries
BEIRUT: Lebanon on Friday signed a gas exploration deal for Block 8 with a consortium comprising France’s TotalEnergies, Qatar Energy and Italy’s Eni, in a ceremony held at the Prime Minister’s Office and attended by Prime Minister Nawaf Salam.
According to Gaby Daaboul, board member at the Lebanese Petroleum Administration, the agreement stipulates that the consortium will carry out a 3D seismic survey in Block 8, which spans 1,200 sq. km, in preparation for exploratory drilling based on analysis of the survey data.
In 2023, Lebanon marked the resumption of oil and gas exploration in its territorial waters, as a consortium that included Qatar Energy drilled an exploratory well in Block 9.
However, all activities were halted, ostensibly due to the lack of oil or gas. The companies’ cessation of operations coincided with the outbreak of hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah.
Earlier hopes were dashed when gas was not found in Block 4, leaving many Lebanese disappointed.
Lebanese Minister of Energy and Water Joe Saddi, who signed the agreement on behalf of the state, described the move as “a confirmation of the consortium’s commitment to continue exploration activities in Lebanon despite all challenges, and a reflection of continued confidence in the petroleum potential of Lebanese territorial waters.
“We look forward to the consortium coordinating and promptly implementing the 3D seismic survey campaign. This will enhance geological and technical understanding of Block 8 and allow for a more accurate assessment of the opportunities available,” the minister said.
He announced the preparation of a file for launching the fourth licensing round, aiming at attracting international companies to invest in open offshore blocks and boost exploration and production activity in Lebanon.
Asked whether there are guarantees that the consortium operating in Block 8 will provide Lebanon with an official technical report, Saddi explained that “for Block 9, an official report was submitted to the Ministry and the Petroleum Sector Administration.”
He noted that oil companies do not spend tens of millions of dollars without expecting results.
“No oil was found in the Block 9 drilling area, but a full report is available. This highlights the importance of the seismic survey in Block 8 to understand the block’s detailed geology, which will guide future exploration,” he said.
Saddi stressed that regional and domestic stability will be key to accelerating the exploration process.
The agreement was signed by Romain de La Martiniere, managing director of Total Lebanon, on behalf of Total Energies; Ali Abdulla Al-Mana, head of exploration at Qatar Energy; and Andrea Cozzi, managing director for Eni’s Lebanon division.
“Lebanon looks forward to continuing its exploration efforts by promoting non-obligatory blocks, with the aim of intensifying exploration activities and achieving a commercial discovery that will boost the national economy and support sustainable development,” Daaboul said.
Lebanon’s offshore oil and gas exploration centers on 10 blocks in its exclusive economic zone, with Blocks 4, 8, 9, and 10 most relevant near the maritime border with Israel.
A 2022 US-brokered maritime border agreement resolved a long dispute, granting Israel full control of the Karish field while assigning Qana Prospect (Block 9) to Lebanon. However, Israel is poised to receive royalties from any future production there.
Lebanon is racing against time to resume exploration after Total’s 2023 drilling in Block 4 yielded negative results, prompting the company to return the block to the Lebanese state. Meanwhile, Israel began commercial production in the area roughly four months later.
Although the company was expected to resume drilling in Block 4 from a different location, it chose to return the block to the Lebanese state, where it will later be included among the blocks offered for exploration.
In 2018, Lebanon signed its first exploration contracts with three companies — Total, Eni, and Russia’s Novatek — to search for oil and gas in two blocks within its territorial waters, Blocks 4 and 9. Of the 10 blocks Lebanon has designated for oil and gas exploration, three are located in its exclusive economic zone.
Lebanese citizens are pinning their hopes on the exploration, anticipating the discovery of oil wells to help revive the struggling economy.
