UN says reinstated Iran sanctions target 43 individuals, 78 entities

"The Zionists (Israel) are seeking to try their luck against Iran once again," Major General Mohsen Rezaei told the state TV.

“However, events will soon happen inside Israel that will make this impossible,” he said. “It is not expedient to talk about them now.”

His remarks came hours after Ynet reported Israel is on heightened alert after the United Nations sanctions were reinstated on Iran under the so-called snapback mechanism, amid fears in the Jewish State that Tehran could accelerate its nuclear activities.

The sanctions were imposed despite several rounds of talks between Tehran and world powers aimed at clinching an agreement on Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.

Rezaei said Tehran will not accept further negotiations with Western powers that give Israel time to prepare or strengthen its position.

“Negotiations aimed at giving Israel time or strengthen it are unacceptable,” the veteran general-turned-politician told the state TV as he was once again seen wearing his military uniform.

“If that happens, the moment Israel starts a war, we will also enter a war with the United States,” said Rezaei who is a member of Iran’s Expediency Council.

“Negotiations must not be accepted in any form, at any price, or without conditions,” he said. “If we enter negotiations, military force must in no way be used against Iran. Otherwise, we will retaliate; not only against Israel, but also against American targets in the region.”

The warning followed fresh statements from Iran’s military leadership emphasizing the country’s readiness to respond to any attack.

Earlier on Sunday, Iran’s armed forces chief of staff Abdolrahim Mousavi said the military is fully prepared to respond to any threat or assault.

“Unity between the army and the Revolutionary Guards is the guarantor of preserving Iran’s territorial integrity,” Mousavi said during a meeting with the Guards’ commander.

“The armed forces are fully ready to confront any threat or possible aggression with strength,” he added.

The chief of staff of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said the country has never initiated a war but will respond forcefully to any attacks, praising President Masoud Pezeshkian’s speech at the UN for highlighting Iran’s position.

“We are a country that has never gone to war with any nation as the initiator, but we will never submit to coercion,” Mohammad Mohammadi-Golpayegani said.

“The president said in his speech that we are not people of war, but if anyone has the slightest malicious intent toward Iran, they will face our decisive blow. We will never submit to force,” he added.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in a letter to his foreign counterparts urged governments not to recognize or comply with the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran, calling the measures illegal.

Araghchi called on governments "to reject any claims related to the revival of terminated resolutions, avoid incorporating such illegal measures into their national policies and laws, and encourage other countries to uphold multilateralism and resist the misuse of international institutions,” according to the Iranian foreign ministry.

He said that Iran has “always demonstrated its readiness for diplomacy and constructive engagement,” adding that the Islamic Republic will “continue to firmly defend its sovereign rights and legitimate interests.”

The contrast revived one of the movement’s most searing slogans: “Death to the child-killing government.”

The stories of these children underscore the scale and cruelty of the crackdown, where even toddlers were killed and grieving families were threatened into silence.

The boy who became a symbol

Nine-year-old Kian Pourfalak from Izeh in southwest Iran became a national symbol. He was killed when security forces opened fire on his family’s car on 16 November 2022. His parents—wounded but survived—insist they were deliberately targeted.

A bright, imaginative child, Kian loved rainbows and robotics, constantly inventing projects and experiments. One of his proudest creations was a boat built from lollipop sticks that floated successfully on water.

After his death, images of his rainbow drawings and handmade boat spread widely, becoming symbols of innocence and promise destroyed by the crackdown.

Kian’s parents have faced repeated intimidation and summons by intelligence officials for speaking publicly about his killing

The Youngest Victim

The youngest victim recorded was just two years old. Known only by her family name, Mirshekar, she was reportedly shot dead while playing outside her home in Zahedan, in southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province, on 30 September 2022.

That day—remembered as “Zahedan’s Bloody Friday”—was among the deadliest of the uprising.

Security forces and snipers opened fire on protesting crowds after Friday prayers in the city’s Sunni-majority area, killing over 100 people and injuring many more with live ammunition, pellets, and tear gas.

More than a dozen children were among the dead.

The Child Laborer

Also killed on Bloody Friday was Mohammad-Eghbal Nayeb-Zehi, a 16-year-old Baluchi boy.

From a poor family without official identity papers, he had worked in construction since the age of nine to help support his parents and siblings.

That Friday, he walked many kilometers from his village to Zahedan to attend prayers. Carrying just enough money for a sandwich afterward, he was gunned down.

His modest dream was to one day buy a smartphone and open an Instagram account—a simple ambition that captured both his hopes and the fragility of his life.

Lost Before First Class

Hasti Narouei, a seven-year-old about to begin her first year of school, never made it.

On 30 September, her grandmother took her along to Friday prayers. There, she was reportedly struck on the head by a tear gas canister.

Hasti suffocated and died before she ever had the chance to sit in a classroom.

Gunned down on the way to school

In a village near Saravan, also in Sistan and Baluchestan, Mona Naghib was walking to class with her older sister Maryam when security forces opened fire while chasing two teenage protesters.

A bullet struck Mona. Maryam tried to carry her home, but she died before any medical help could arrive. The family has faced threats from intelligence officials who ordered them to remain silent, according to rights groups.

Killed for chanting

Helen Ahmadi, a seven-year-old girl from Bukan in West Azerbaijan Province, was shot on 12 October 2022 while walking home from school with other children, allegedly for chanting slogans.

Activists say security forces later pressured her family to claim her death was caused by a car accident, highlighting the ongoing intimidation faced by families of children killed in the crackdown.

Iran will enter a war with the United States if Israel launches a new attack on the Islamic Republic, the former chief commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard said on Sunday.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei also said Tehran will not accept negotiations with Western powers that give Israel time to prepare or strengthen its position.

“Negotiations aimed at giving Israel time or strengthen it are unacceptable,” Rezaei told the state TV as he was once again seen wearing his military uniform.

“If that happens, the moment Israel starts a war, we will also enter a war with the United States,” Rezaei, a member of Iran’s Expediency Council, added.

“Negotiations must not be accepted in any form, at any price, or without conditions,” he said.

“If we enter negotiations, military force must in no way be used against Iran. Otherwise, we will retaliate; not only against Israel, but also against American targets in the region.”