Iranian President Repeats Calls For Rapid End To Israel

Photos and videos published on social media showed the majority of girls at a small graduation ceremony on Kish Island's international campus of Sharif University of Technology wearing graduation hats with their hair flowing over their shoulders instead of covered with headscarves.

In a publicly released letter to the university's board of trustees on Saturday, Ali Selk-Ghaffari, the university's chancellor, offered his resignation. He referred to the girls' action as "outside [accepted] norms" and expressed regret that some alumnae had not complied with "academic regulations and dignity."

Kish Island, off the southern coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf with a population of around 40,000, is a free trade zone and a very popular destination of tourists. The international campus of Sharif University of Technology, one of Iran's most prestigious universities, has around 900 students.

The girls' bold defiance of compulsory hijab has angered pro-establishment media and social media users, leading to criticism of authorities for perceived lapses in enforcing hijab rules.

In a statement on Saturday, the public relations department of Sharif University of Technology reported that the chancellor and educational deputy of the university refused to stay in the ceremony until the end and left the venue due to observed violations of hijab rules during the awards ceremony.

In its statement, the university apologized to the “esteemed families of martyrs, veterans and all who are devoted to the Islamic Republic” and vowed to take serious and immediate action against those who defied the rules as well as others whose carelessness caused the incident.

Graduation ceremony without hijab is disdaining the existence of the Islamic Republic! From the south to the north of the country, from the east to the west, progressive students have taken sleep from the eyes of the [regime] criminals, oppressors and bullies!,”Daneshjooyan-e Pishro (Progressive Students), a loose network of dissident students which has been active in various universities since 2019, tweeted about the incident.

Other student groups have also welcomed Sharif University’s defiance of hijab at their graduation ceremony. A student newsletter run by dissident students at Tehran’s Amirkabir University of Technology called their move “civil disobedience”.

Since Mahsa Amini’s death in custody after being arrested for what morality police considered as “unfitting hijab” in September last year which sparked several months of protests across the country, particularly in universities, defiance of hijab has hugely grown in the Islamic Republic.

In recent months authorities have adopted a strict initiative to enforce the hijab rules at any cost including measures such as impounding cars if passengers defy the hijab rules, shutting down businesses such as cafes, restaurants, and shopping malls, and banned hijab-defiant celebrities from acting in films.

In October authorities revoked the medical license of a female surgeon in Amol in northern Iran after she appeared at a public awards ceremony on Doctors Day without wearing the hijab. Dr Fatemeh Rajayi-Rad was forced to appear in full hijab on state media and apologize for causing offense.

In another instance, the CEO of a prominent pharmaceutical company, Haleh Hamedifard, who had a headscarf on, was denied entry to the health ministry to attend a meeting with the officials because hijab enforcers stationed at the ministry said the tunic she had worn over trousers was too short.

"Some Islamic governments have condemned Israeli crimes in assemblies while some have not. This is unacceptable," he said Sunday, though it was unclear which nations he was referring to as nations across the Arab world all have stood by Gaza in the wake of the war declared by Hamas on October 7. Israel's relentless retaliation has seen several Muslim countries expel Israeli ambassadors, including Turkey and Jordan.

Iran, a financial and military supporter of Hamas, has lauded the attacks on October 7 which saw 1,200 mostly civilians killed in Israel and 240 more taken hostage, as a "success", while denying direct involvement.

His calls for severing ties come on the heels of Khamenei's recent call for an Islamic embargo on oil and food to Israel during a summit between the Organization for Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League on November 11, where Muslim states did not reach a consensus on imposing extensive sanctions on Israel, as suggested by Iran's President Ebrahim Raisi.

Khamenei delivered his latest remarks at an exhibition showcasing the "latest achievements" of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Aerospace Force, introducing the Fattah 2, an upgraded version of Iran's purported first hypersonic missile.

He criticized Israel for falling short of its goal to destroy Hamas despite extensive bombings in Gaza. Israel however, has destroyed large swathes of Hamas infrastructure across Gaza from command centers to parts of its extensive tunnel network, in addition to killing at least 5,000 terrorists, including numerous high level commanders, in its mission to eradicate Gaza of Hamas.

This weekend, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Bahrain became the first Arab leader to unequivocally condemn the Hamas attacks which saw women, children and the elderly savagely murdered in the single most deadly day for Jews since the Holocaust, calling the attack "horrific". The country, which normalized ties with Israel in 2020 under the Abraham Accords, has stood firm in condemning Israel's retaliation but the rare branding of Hamas's attacks as "barbaric" rang loud across the Arab world which has as yet, largely avoided direct criticism of the proscribed terror group.

The charges against her include "publishing false information with the intent to disturb public opinion." The prison sentence has been suspended for three years, as conveyed by the lawyer.

Speaking in an interview with the semi-official news agency ISNA on Sunday, her legal advisor, Maryam Kian Ersi, detailed that Tavassoli is also obligated to pay a fine of 150 million rials (approximately 300 USD).

Tavassoli, who was apprehended at her residence in September, has since been released on bail. The arrest was linked to content shared on her social media accounts, particularly a tribute to Mahsa Amini, who tragically lost her life in morality police custody. The incident coincided with national protests commemorating the one-year anniversary of Amini's death.

Several weeks preceding her arrest, Tavassoli took to Instagram to express her views, indicating a perceived decline in religious authority and clerical influence in Iran. She emphasized the necessity for Iranian cinema to align itself with the "intelligent, rebellious, and courageous youth and society of today."

Tavassoli joins a growing list of celebrities, athletes, and public figures who have faced arrests and penalties for expressing anti-regime sentiments online. Consequences have included job losses, travel bans, and frozen bank accounts.

Since the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, anti-regime demonstrations have witnessed a widespread rejection of the mandatory Islamic head covering, known as hijab. The symbolic protest serves as a collective expression against the enduring power consolidation of the clerical establishment in Iran since the 1979 revolution.

In a social media post, the military said that the vessel, which it did not name, was not Israeli-owned and had no Israelis among its crew. Arabic-language media outlets say there are 52 crew members aboard the vessel. Israeli PM's office says onboard the vessel are 25 crew members of various nationalities including Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Filipino and Mexican.

It is not yet clear how the Houthis mounted the ship, but Journalist Ben Caspit says there was unverified report that they landed on it by helicopter. 

The hijacked ship is Galaxy Leader, registered under a British company, which is partially owned by Israeli tycoon Abraham Ungar who goes by Rami. He is the founder of Ray Shipping Ltd., and is known as one of the richest men in Israel. The vessel was leased out to a Japanese company at the time of the hijacking.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office issued a statement after the hijacking of the ship, calling it "an act of Iranian terrorism that expresses a leap in their aggression", asserting that "no Israelis were present on the ship and the ship is owned by a British company operated by a Japanese company."

"This is another Iranian act of terrorism that represents an escalation in Iran's belligerence against the citizens of the free world, with concomitant international ramifications vis-a-vis the security of global shipping routes."

In 2021, the Revolutionary Guards attacked the MV Helios Ray in the Gulf of Oman. There was no retaliation after the attack on the vessel, which was also owned by Tel-Aviv based company called Ray Shipping. 

Earlier on Sunday, the spokesman for Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi military, Yahya Sarea, said the group will target all ships owned or operated by Israeli companies or carrying the Israeli flag, according to the group's Telegram channel. The spokesman called on all countries to withdraw their citizens working on the crews of any such ships.

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said that “resistance groups allied to Iran are cleverly adjusting pressure" on Israel and its supporters. The ‘resistance' front or axis is the term coined by the Islamic Republic to describe its logistic, financial and intelligence support for the Syrian regime, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, and dozens of militia groups in the region, several of which were created by Iran. 

"Resistance groups still have inactivated capacity (for pressure on Israel)," he added.

Last Wednesday, Amir-Abdollahian denied responsibility for a drone attack that was intercepted by the US Navy in the Red Sea. According to the Pentagon, a US Navy warship shot down a drone early Wednesday morning that “originated from Yemen and was heading in the direction of the ship.” Although the Pentagon did not specify who was behind the attack on November 15, the incident occurred after Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen vowed to target Israeli ships in the Red Sea.

Iran-backed Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise terror attack on Israel on October 7, killing at least 1,200 civilians and taking at least 240 hostages, after which Israel started a massive retaliation against Gaza. It has seen since Iran-backed proxies around the region instigating attacks from Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

The alleged Houthi attack comes after calls by Iran’s leader Ali Khamenei to ban shipment of oil and food to Israel. His call was repeated by his ultra-hardliner loyalists such as Hossein Shariatmadari, who runs the Kayhan Daily newspaper in Tehran. The firebrand Hossein Shariatmadari called for blocking "maritime traffic in the Persian Gulf, Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, the Oman Sea, the Red Sea and the Suez Canal,” in a Kayhan Daily editorial, which is funded by the Supreme Leader.

Prior to this, an Iranian ultraconservative lawmaker also claimed last week that Houthis had targeted Israeli ships after Ali Khamenei had made public statements against Israel.

In a rare moment in which a regime representative speaks of Israel in its internationally accepted name, rather than 'the Zionist entity' as is standard, he said: "The only solution is to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth and from the world map."

He also said anyone supporting such a solution to the Middle East's most intangible conflict, was committing "treason and complicity in Israel's crime".

The provocative stance from Kayhan comes in the wake of Iran's recent acceptance of the two-state solution, a move that appears to have irked the ultraconservative elements in the country.

Last week, an ultraconservative lawmaker initiated impeachment proceedings against Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, accusing him of "weakness in playing a central and effective role" in addressing the Gaza conflict. The war has become the most bitter conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hamas since the designated terror group took control of the strip in 2007 following a Hamas invasion on October 7 in which 1,200 mostly civilians were murdered and around 240 more were kidnapped to Gaza. 

Mahmoud Abbaszadeh-Meshkini, a member of the Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, questioned the shift in discourse, stating, "How is it that until recently, the goal was to eliminate the Zionist regime, but now the discourse has shifted."

The two-state solution proposes an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, aiming to address the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, disputes over borders persist, particularly regarding Israel's withdrawal from territories occupied in 1967, a demand rejected by Israel.

Iran has traditionally maintained a public position advocating for the annihilation of Israel as a state, rejecting any two-state agreement. Despite this, on October 27, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution calling for a "humanitarian truce" in Gaza, which Iran voted in favor of.

While hardliners within the Iranian regime continue to call for the destruction of Israel and express eagerness to engage in the Gaza conflict, the top leadership has been cautious, avoiding direct involvement in spite of its funding Hamas over $100 million a year and supporting it with military aid.