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NATO chief Mark Rutte said on Monday said Iran and Russia "proved to be unreliable partners, abandoning Assad when he ceased to be of use to them."
He also said that Tehran and Moscow were "the main backers of the Assad regime, and they share the responsibility for the crimes committed against the Syrian people."
Rainfall across 29 Iranian provinces has dropped by nearly a third since October, according to the Iran Meteorological Organization, as the country continues to struggle with water scarcity.
The country has experienced an overall rainfall reduction of 31.9% during this period, with the southern provinces of Sistan-Baluchestan and Hormozgan seeing the most dramatic declines at nearly 90% and just over three-quarters, respectively.
Mansour Shishehforoush, the Director General of Crisis Management for Isfahan Province, highlighted the severity of the situation earlier this year.
"Isfahan has a dry and semi-dry climate, and over 80% of its area is experiencing drought conditions," he said in July, noting that water tankers were being used to supply over 300 villages. Isfahan has since recorded a 68% reduction in autumn rainfall.
Despite the alarming trends, some regions have bucked the pattern. South Khorasan and Mazandaran have reported slight increases in rainfall, rising by 1.1% and 14.3%, respectively. These exceptions provide little relief, as other provinces, including Golestan and Gilan in the north, have experienced reductions of 16.6% and 7.8%, exacerbating the broader drought.
Sadegh Ziaeian, head of the National Center for Weather Forecasting and Crisis Management, flagged an additional concern: reduced water inflow into the Caspian Sea from neighboring countries, contributing to a decline in the sea's water level.
The rainfall deficit follows a year of weather extremes, including heavy flooding earlier in central and southeastern regions. These floods caused extensive damage, destroying homes and severing transport routes, highlighting the volatility of Iran's climate and the challenges it poses for crisis management.
Hamas congratulated the Syrian people on achieving their "aspirations for freedom and justice" following the toppling of President Bashar al-Assad, the Iran-backed Palestinian group said in a statement on Monday. The remarks marked Hamas’ first public response since rebel forces captured Damascus.
"We stand strongly with the great people of Syria... and respect the will, the independence, and the political choices of the people of Syria," the statement said, adding that Hamas hoped that post-Assad Syria would continue "its historical and pivotal role in supporting the Palestinian people."
Iran’s judiciary chief Ejei warned that the country’s enemies are spreading false information to take advantage of the fallout from Bashar al-Assad’s ouster, saying their goal is to harm public trust and create fear among Iranian citizens.
"Adversaries are seeking to spread poisonous propaganda against the resistance through lies and aim to exploit the resulting environment to undermine the psychological security of our citizens," Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said on Monday.
Iran has carried out an unprecedented number of amputations for theft over the past three years, a punishment based on Islamic law that breaks international human rights laws.
"If theft is proven under the conditions set by Islam, the thief's fingers must be amputated," said Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the judiciary chief, during a speech at Tehran’s Islamic Azad University on Saturday.
"This is a ruling from God that has been implemented and continues to be implemented, despite the pressure we face from various organizations. The majority of hadd punishments [fixed punishments prescribed under Islamic law] for theft carried out in the past three years have been this ruling."
Hand amputation sentences became a formalized aspect of the Islamic Republic's judicial system following the 1979 revolution. Since then, Iran has long faced criticism for its enforcement of amputations and other corporal punishments which are banned under international law.
Reports suggest that authorities have tried to limit publicity around these punishments in recent years due to international pressure. Despite this, numerous cases have been documented.
On October 13, the state-affiliated Iran daily newspaper reported that eight theft suspects had been indicted and referred to Tehran's Criminal Court, facing potential amputation sentences.
Another case, reported on October 29, saw the amputation of four fingers from two brothers in Urmia prison after they were convicted of theft.
On November 9, Tehran based Etemad reported that two suspects accused of robbing safety deposit boxes at the National Bank were sentenced to hand amputations.
At least 237 individuals in Iran were sentenced to amputation between 1 January 2000 and 24 September 2020, with at least 129 of those sentences carried out, according to Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Office.
Shamdasani called on Iran to halt such punishments and comply with its international human rights obligations, urging an end to corporal punishment, including amputations, flogging, and stoning.
Amputation sentences contravene international human rights standards, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Iran has signed. This treaty explicitly prohibits inhumane or degrading punishments. Human rights advocates argue that these practices violate the principle of human dignity, a cornerstone of international law.
"Iran has carried out amputations for years, and the actual numbers are much higher than what is reported in media outlets like Etemad newspaper, as most cases are not officially announced," Mahmood Amiry Moghadam, director of the Oslo-based rights group, Iran Human Rights, told Iran International.
"This is an inhumane, cruel, and degrading punishment. It is not only in violation of ethical and human principles but also illegal under international laws. It constitutes a serious violation of the conventions that the Islamic Republic of Iran has signed and pledged to uphold. These practices are far from acceptable."
Iran remains one of the few countries in the world to enforce corporal punishments, including amputations for theft and other crimes. The country has not signed the UN Convention Against Torture, despite facing repeated calls from human rights organizations to abolish such practices.
Sentences like flogging, amputations, and even stoning continue to be carried out, underscoring the Islamic Republic's defiance of international human rights standards.
Since 2022, its rights abuses, including the killing of hundreds of protesters by state security forces and often violent crackdowns on women and girls to comply with Islamic dress codes, have seen further sanctions imposed on the country from nations including the US, UK and EU.
