Netanyahu Talks Of A New Middle East Without Islamic Republic

The incident happened Thursday in Rahmatabad, a village in Qazvin Province when security forces raided the family home of Javad Heydari, 36. 

Heydari who was shot dead during a protest in Qazvin on September 22, last year is buried in the village cemetery with “Women, Life, Freedom” inscribed on his grave. 

“Can anyone hear my voice? They just attacked our home with bullets and tear gas … So many of them. They beat up the children, they beat up everyone … I don’t know what is happening to my family,” Fatemeh Heydari, Javad’s sister, who was not present at the time of the attack but apparently in contact through the phone, is heard saying between sobs and calling for help. 

Security forces attacking the family home of Javad Heydari

“Can anyone in the world hear me? … Do you know what it means to kill your child and then attack your home with bullets on his anniversary? Do you see what they are doing to three, four-year-old children and remain silent?” she goes on to say. 

A video of the incident in Heydari’s home village shows riot police outside the gates of the house firing tear gas and attacking people. Shotgun fire and children’s cries are also heard in the video. Another videos shows a teenage girl coughing and having violent convulsions from the tear gas inside the house. 

According to Heydari’s sister, security forces arrested several members of the family and relatives including her brother Ruhollah and shut down the internet in the village.

Security forces stopping the family and friends of the 22-year-old Reza Shahparnia in Kermanshah from reaching the cemetery where he is buried. 

The Heydari family has been under pressure in various ways since Javad’s death. Fatemeh was fired from her job at Iran’s Mapping Organization in March, and several family members including the parents were arrested in May.

Serious harassment and intimidation have also been reported on social media by several other families in various cities including the family of the 16-year-old Nika Shakarami who was allegedly thrown to her death from a rooftop in Tehran by security agents on September 20 last year. 

Social media reports indicate that security forces blocked all roads leading to Nika’s grave at a cemetery in Visian, a village in Lorestan province, to prevent people from reaching the cemetery and holding an anniversary ceremony. 

Nika’s mother, Nasrin Shakarami, has announced the cancellation of the ceremony to “prevent harm to participants” and her aunt, Atash Shakarami, was reportedly hospitalized Wednesday with a partial brain stroke caused by the mental pressures and threats she has been enduring. 

The brother of 18-year-old Mohammad-Hossein Morovati has said in a video message posted on social media that the family were called in and told by the intelligence ministry that they were not allowed to hold a memorial service and that security agents have removed all banners and posters hung by the family on the walls of their home. 

The young man was shot in the heart during last year’s crackdown on protesters in Qarchak in the south of the capital Tehran on September 21. 

“The Iranian authorities’ arbitrary arrests, intimidation and harassment of relatives of youngsters, unlawfully gunned down or beaten to death by security forces in connection with protests, exposes their inconceivable cruelty and sinister attempt to cover up their crimes, said Amnesty International today,” Amnesty International said in December. 

Iran paraded its military hardware on Friday to mark what the Islamic Republic calls Sacred Defense Week, commemorating the start of the 1980-88 Iraq-Iran war. Forces from the Iranian Army, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), Police, Border Guards, and paramilitary Basij participated in the parades, showcasing ballistic and "hypersonic" missiles.

During his speech at the event, Raisi discussed several regional conflicts in which Iran has a stake, including the Kurdish groups in Iraqi Kurdistan, the Nagorno-Karabakh crisis, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He praised Iraq's recent announcement that it has moved armed Kurdish groups away from the border with Iran as a “positive step” and renewed threats against them. He said Iran needs to send experts to Iraq to ensure that the groups have been disarmed according to a March agreement between Iran and Iraq on their relocation.

Regarding recent developments in the Karabakh region, Raisi reiterated that "Karabakh belongs to Azerbaijan, but we emphasize the necessity of respecting the rights of Armenians and preserving their security and rights." He added, “Our armed forces prevented any changes in geopolitics and border alterations,” without elaborating on this so-called accomplishment.

Raisi also denounced efforts by several regional countries to normalize ties with Israel, claiming that it would not bring peace and stability to the region. He underscored that Palestinian militia groups – what Iran calls resistance forces – “will not forgive normalization with Israel,” asserting that “All nations today detest the Zionist regime.”

He added that no Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts by the world will ever work except for the one proposed by Iran. “The Islamic Republic has repeatedly stated that the solution to the Palestinian issue is not the normalization of relations or agreements like Camp David Accords, Oslo Accords, and Sharm El Sheikh Memorandum,” he said. He claimed that “the solution is the one by the Supreme Leader,” who – according to Raisi -- proposed an election to form a government.

However, Iranian leaders have repeatedly called for the destruction of Israel and the rhetoric of their Palestinian allies is to expel the Jews from Israel.

The president also claimed that “the presence of Iranian forces in the region and the Persian Gulf ensures security, unlike armed forces of foreign countries (the United States) whose presence creates problems and crises.” He stated, “Today, as Iran unveils Mohajer drones and Fattah missiles, the Islamic Republic continues to join international treaties,” perhaps referring to Tehran’s recent accession to the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the BRICS group of nations.

According to state media, the country's military unveiled several drones and missiles during the parade, including models of Mohajer, Fattah, Shahed, and Arash. Last month, the Islamic Republic claimed that it had built an advanced drone named Mohajer-10 with an enhanced flight range and duration, as well as a larger payload. It has an operational range of 2,000 km (1,240 miles) and can fly for up to 24 hours, Iranian media reported, adding that its payload could reach 300 kg (661 pounds), double the capacity of the Mohajer-6 drone.

The United States has accused Iran of providing Mohajer-6 drones, among other unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), to Russia for its war against Ukraine. On Tuesday, Washington expanded Iran-related sanctions, citing Tehran's "continued, deliberate proliferation of UAVs," enabling Russia, its proxies in the Middle East, and other destabilizing actors.

Justin Welby, who holds the ceremonial position as the head of the worldwide Anglican Communion (the third-largest Christian church after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches), welcomed Mohammad Ali Shomali, a former representative of Khamenei in the UK, at an interfaith gathering at Lambeth Palace last week.

Shomali had previously served as Khamenei's representative in the UK during his tenure as the head of the Islamic Centre of England (ICE), a London mosque currently under scrutiny by the UK Charity Commission for its role in promoting extremism.

According to the Jewish Chronicle, the guest list also included Mohammed Kozbar, a leader of the Muslim Council of Britain who praised the founder of the Hamas terror group as a “holy warrior”.

Welby has faced criticism for this meeting, which he described as "a privilege to welcome friends" with differing perspectives.

British Member of Parliament Lord Carlile KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said the Church should have exercised greater caution when selecting partners for interfaith events. He considered it a "serious error of judgment" to engage in discussions with individuals seen as "apologists" for "extremism."

Stephen Crabb MP, the Commons Parliamentary Chairman of Conservative Friends of Israel, said, “These reports represent another painful reminder of the Iranian regime’s increasingly emboldened interference in the UK.”

On January 5, 2020, the Islamic Centre of England (ICE) had organized an event celebrating Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, responsible for supporting terrorist groups like Hezbollah. Soleimani had been killed in a US airstrike 48 hours earlier. The center referred to him as a "great martyr."

Several other events at the center featured regime representatives delivering lectures, including Seyyed Hashem Mousavi, a charity trustee described as Ali Khamenei's UK representative.

Media affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards said Thursday that he took part in “a joint Iran-Syria drill and visited several regions in line with efforts to help Syria deal with military and security challenges.”

The reports did not provide any details about the nature or location of the drill, but photos released from his trip showed the IRGC commander among a small group of military men in miscellaneous khaki uniforms, a typical feature of Iran-backed militias across the region.

According to reports, he also held talks with senior officials and military commanders in the Syrian capital Damascus. Qaani (Ghaani) was quoted as reiterating the Islamic Republic’s propaganda line that “the US is the main root of chaos, terrorism and fighting in Syria, the region and the world.

“Syria and Iran are brother countries, and they enjoy significant, all-out and deep strategic relations. The Islamic Republic of Iran will be by the side of the Syrian people and leadership in dealing with challenges,” he said.

The visit came against the backdrop of tensions between Iran-backed proxy militias and Lebanese Hezbollah with Israel.

Last month, a former counter-terrorism advisor to two Israeli prime ministers talked of the possibility of Iranian proxies attacking Israel in September or October.

Yigal Carmon, the founder of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and one of Israel’s leading counter-terrorism experts, wrote an August 31st article titled “Signs Of Possible War In September-October,“ in which he argued a “confrontation could result from an uncontrolled deterioration on the ground or from the use of new and unusually deadly weapons by these movements [Hamas and Hezbollah].”

A State Department official sent a statement to Iran International that they "have seen reports of threats, and assault on, an Iran International journalist by a member of the Iranian delegation. The behavior seen in the video footage is unacceptable," the official reiterated.

The Office of the Special Envoy for Iran also posted Thursday a more cautious statement on X, saying that “We condemn the apparent harassment and intimidation of several journalists on U.S. soil. Such behavior is unacceptable.” 

Many Iranian Americans and some Iran observers criticized the brief statement by the Special Envoy, especially the use of the word “apparent harassment” when video footage is widely available showing the attack on the Iran International reporter. Unlike the state department’s official, critics noted that the special envoy didn’t even mention that the attacker was a member of the Iranian delegation. More than 230 people posted comments under the statement of the Special Envoy, mostly critical.

The US statements were referring to several incidents when members of President Ebrahim Raisi’s entourage in New York City harassed and in one case physically attacked an Iran International reporter. Journalists working for the Voice of America Persian Service were also harassed.

On Wednesday, an official from Raisi's delegation attacked Iran International correspondent Kian Amani outside the Millenium Hilton New York One UN Plaza Hotel.

The official tried to grab Amini’s cellphone as he was capturing footage of them exiting the hotel. The hotel's security team finally intervened and halted the aggressor.

In another encounter, an official identified as Reza Naghipour – who ironically accompanied Raisi as a protocol coordinator -- was asked by Amani questions about the protesters who were killed during the regime crackdown on dissent last year. But instead of replying or even refraining from answering, Naghipour started to threaten the reporter, telling him that he “should be trembling with fear until the end of his life” because he works for dissident media.

The State Department official said that the Iranian government "repeatedly curtailed press freedom through threats, intimidation, and the use of violence against journalists in Iran." The official added that "the Iranian government has used detentions or forced confessions as tools to suppress their media." 

The First amendment protects free expression in the United States, the official said, and "the US government will not tolerate the violent suppression of media freedom in the United States." But what counts for the public is the official statement by the Special Envoy, which has left many annoyed. Former National Security Council official Richard Goldberg tweeted, “You gave them the visas to enable it. Oh and $50 billion. Assassination plots. Drone transfers to Russia. Does anyone say this stuff out loud in your office to recognize the insanity?”

The encounters by Raisi’s delegation have drawn countless reactions by other journalists, human rights activists and even media inside Iran. Earlier this year, Iran International's offices in London were forced to relocate to Washington after repeated threats from the IRGC forced the UK's highest security services to admit they were no longer able to safeguard the lives of the reporting team.