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Reza Rasaei, a 34-year-old Iranian who was arrested during the 2022 anti-government protests in western Iranian province of Kermanshah, was executed on Tuesday morning.
Rasaei, who comes from the marginalized Kurdish and Yarsan minorities in Iran, was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court on trumped-up charges related to the killing of an IRGC agent on November 18, 2022, and his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court in December 2023.
In late 2022, while the Islamic Republic’s security forces were in the throes of their violent crackdown on unprecedented protests, news spread that a senior IRGC intelligence official had reportedly been stabbed to death. In response to Nader Bayrami's killing in Kermanshah Province, authorities arbitrarily detained dozens of protesters in retaliation.
Bayrami was reportedly killed during a gathering to honor Seyed Khalil Alinejad — an influential Kurdish and Yarsan figure believed to have been killed by security agents. Originating in 14th-century Iran, Yarsan is one of the Middle East's oldest faiths, with over one million followers in the country. The Islamic Republic refuses to recognize Yarsan as a legitimate faith, labeling it a "false cult" and regularly persecuting its followers.
Rasaei had received a call from state security agents before the gathering to get a commitment that he would not engage in protests. He attended the ceremony anyway, holding up a photo of his cousin Khairullah Haqjoyan, who was in custody at the time.
One of Rasaei's friends, who was also in attendance, reported that the crowd suddenly began chanting anti-regime slogans like "Death to the child-killing government" and "Woman, Life, Freedom." Authorities quickly began beating people with batons. After a gunshot was heard, security forces released tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Bayrami was giving a warning to a woman refusing to wear the hijab, when a group of people confronted him and eventually began beating him.
Days later, authorities in Kermanshah singled out Rasaei, blaming him for the alleged crime.
Exclusive interviews with eyewitnesses to the killing of the IRGC official and sources close to Rasaei’s family cast complete doubt on the regime’s narrative.
According to sources, Rasaei was not involved in the altercation that led to the death of the IRGC official and was ultimately forced to confess to Bayrami's murder under extreme torture.
Amnesty International announced in February 2024 that his death sentence was issued after an “unfair trial” based on “forced confessions.”
Amnesty International noted that during interrogations Rasaei was subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including electric shocks and severe beatings to compel him to self-incriminating “confessions”.
The Dadban legal group, which monitors the legal proceedings of imprisoned protesters and political prisoners in Iran, also declared on social media that the death sentence against Rasaei is unlawful.
They noted that the court selectively accepted testimony from certain defendants while disregarding evidence that could have exonerated Rasaei. Despite the prosecutor's report highlighting flaws in the case, the judges persisted in issuing a guilty verdict.
Furthermore, the group of legal experts said, the court ignored the opinions of forensic experts regarding the cause of death and the weapon involved.
Dadban emphasized the influence of powerful institutions in Rasaei's case, suggesting that the verdict was predetermined despite numerous contradictions and flaws.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the Biden administration is preparing for a possible Iranian attack on Israel following the assassination of a senior Hamas leader in Tehran.
US officials have observed Iran mobilizing missile launchers and conducting drills, indicating potential retaliation.
Officials from the Biden administration are also worried that an Iranian attack could be accompanied by strikes from Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia, along with other Iranian proxies. This coordinated effort could be aimed at overwhelming Israeli defenses.
The Australian Iranian Community Alliance (AICA) condemns the Iranian ambassador's comments advocating for violence against Jewish people and the destruction of the Jewish state.
“The ambassador’s call for the destruction of the Jewish state and incitement to violence against Jewish people is not only abhorrent but also reflective of the violent ideology propagated by the current regime in Iran," reads AICA’s Tuesday statement. “Such rhetoric not only fuels regional instability but also poses a significant threat to global peace and security,” it added.
Iran’s ambassador to Australia, Ahmad Sadeghi, faced diplomatic consequences after making controversial comments about Israel on social media. He called for a “wiping out” of Israelis in Palestine by 2027 and described them as a “Zionist plague.” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese strongly condemned the remarks, stating, “There’s no place for the sort of comments that were made... by the Iranian ambassador. They’re abhorrent, they are hateful, they are antisemitic and they have no place.” Foreign Minister Penny Wong also criticized the comments as "inflammatory" and "repugnant."
Thirty-seven female political prisoners in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison have been denied visitation rights.
According to information obtained by Iran International, it came in response to their participation in an overnight sit-in on July 24 to protest the death sentence of fellow inmate Pakhshan Azizi.
Among the protesters were Nobel Peace Laureate Narges Mohammadi and Iranian writer and human rights advocate Golrokh Iraee.
The prisoners further protested Azizi’s death sentence through a one-day hunger strike on July 30, part of the ongoing “No to Execution” campaign held every Tuesday.
Azizi, sentenced to death for "armed rebellion," is one of at least four women at risk of execution on similar charges.
Azizi was the second woman in July this year to be sentenced to death on charges of "armed rebellion."
Already this year, rights groups claim Iran has carried out 300 executions. Last year, over 850 were reported as an execution wave sweeps the country in a bid to quash dissent.
The threat of Iran-Israel war is different now than when Tehran launched its first direct attack on Israel in April, an Israeli insider who previously served as Commander of Israel Air Defense Forces from 2015 to 2018, told Iran International.
Iran's proxies, Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen were not players in the April 13 scenario where Iran launched explosive drones and fired missiles at Israel, ending years of a shadow war between the two nations.
That attack took place less than two weeks after a suspected Israeli strike in Syria that killed two commanders from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) at an Iranian consular building.
The potential for a looming war has surfaced less than a week after Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh was killed in Iran's capital. He was in Tehran for the inauguration of Iran's newly elected president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed retaliation against Israel on Wednesday. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said there would be “blood vengeance” for Haniyeh's killing.
Brigadier General Zvika Haimovich believes Hezbollah will have a crucial role in Iran's retaliation this time around. The Israeli insider said he cannot foresee any situation other than Iran retaliating to last week's killing, which Tehran blamed on Israel.
Israel hasn’t confirmed or denied any involvement.
Haimovich told Iran International there are still a lot questions that will determine whether there will be a full scale war.
The first question, he said, is will Iran strike central Israel like Tel Aviv or if it would be contained to the Northern part near the city of Haifa. The second question, he posed is will Tehran use accurate and precise missiles or will it resort to simple statistic weapons? And the third, according to the former Commander, will Iran use massive salvos, which is the release all at once of rockets.
"Everybody is under pressure, mainly the civilian, the military forces that are on high alert and full readiness around the border. The Army, the Navy, the Air Force, as well. We are waiting. Waiting for, what? This is the million dollar question," said Haimovich, who during his tenure the Iron Dome system became operational.
As people in the region await, there's uncertainty around when Iran would act, and just how far it might go. Haimovich said the 'imminent' attack could happen in less than 48 hours or in the coming days.
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with the national security team in the White House Situation Room Monday afternoon.
The United States has not observed any specific movements in Iran so far that would indicate potential attacks on Israel in the coming hours, Sky News Arabia reported citing a Pentagon spokesperson.
The US has vowed to respond after several American personnel were hurt in a rocket attack that hit Ain al-Assad airbase in Iraq. The IRGC-affiliated Sabereen News earlier said Iran-backed militants were behind the attack, although no group officially claimed to responsibility.
According to Bloomberg, which cited sources close to the issue, G7 members have reached out to Iran to minimize its retaliation to prevent an even more destructive regional conflict.
Just how will Israel respond if Iran retaliates is all dependent on how Tehran conducts its strike and the nature of it, said the former top Israeli Commander.
In an exclusive interview with Iran International, former CIA director and US CENTCOM Commander David Petraeus said Iran and Israel would try to avoid a full-blown war for fear of the destruction it could bring on both sides.
“I think [the Iranians] have to respond,” Petraeus told Iran International's Marzia Hussaini, “this is an enormous blow to Iran's honor… It's a huge intelligence failure and… a security failure. So, they have to respond. But I don't think that Iran wants to get into a real direct back and forth war with Israel… And frankly, I don't think Israel wants to get in a real full-on war with Hezbollah or with Iran," he said.
Haimovich said Israel's retaliatory attack in April carried a strong message to the Iranian government, but he said it may not have been 'enough.' The strike against Iran’s sophisticated radar system in Isfahan just a few days after Tehran launched more than 300 drone and missile attacks on Israel, showed that Iran's defense capabilities could not match Israel’s military might, he said.
"After the Israeli response in April, the Iranian regime, they understood exactly what the Israeli capabilities is," he said.
As the world watches to see what unfolds, the former IDF commander Brigadier General Zvika Haimovich said Israel's strategic goals involve bringing the hostages home first and the war against Hamas, so any greater regional war would have to factor the state's short and long term game plan.
"It's a very complicated. I think that in the short term, we need to finish the multi-front war that we are dealing with. It's more than seven different fronts" said the Brigadier General, referring to a multi-front war with Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, Iraq, Yemen, and Iran.
Engaging in war with Iran, could potentially shift focus away towards a wider regional conflict .
"In the long term, I think we need to focus on the Iranian nuclear, wielding vision and capabilities, and build a strong and stable coalition lead by the United States of America and also the Arab Sunni states against Iran," he said.
