Iran urges serious action against 'racist' Israel's ongoing threat

“There should be an independent, impartial and transparent investigation into his death,” Tatyana Eatwell, an international human rights barrister at Doughty Street Chambers in London told Eye for Iran.

Eatwell has worked extensively on Iran-related cases including the detention of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman who was detained in Iran for six years on widely disputed charges while visiting family.

She later became one of the most high-profile cases of Iran’s detention of dual nationals, in a policy critics of Tehran have blasted as hostage diplomacy.

Alikordi’s body was discovered in his office in Mashhad on December 8, 2025.

Iranian authorities attributed his death to a cardiac arrest, citing alleged forensic evidence, even as unconfirmed reports emerged of head injuries, blood at the scene and the removal of security cameras.

Eatwell said the circumstances surrounding Alikordi’s death cannot be separated from the years of persecution he faced at the hands of Iranian authorities. He was a former political prisoner and had represented many dissidents throughout his career.

“Mr. Ali Kordi was imprisoned, he was disbarred from practice, subject to travel bans, simply for doing his job, for representing his clients without fear nor favor. This is part of our professional obligation," Eatwell told Eye for Iran.

“The first question one asks is whether in the light of allegations of state involvement, the state institutions themselves are sufficiently robust and independent to provide the family with the answers to the questions that they must have,” she said.

Alikordi was a prominent figure among Iran’s community of human rights defenders. He represented political dissidents, bereaved families and people arrested during the Women, Life, Freedom protests in 2002, including Fatemeh Sepehri, a well-known Iranian political activist and outspoken critic of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who has been repeatedly imprisoned for her opposition to the Islamic Republic.

A group of 81 lawyers inside Iran issued a public statement on December 9 demanding full transparency regarding the circumstances of Alikordi’s death and pledging support for his family in what they described as a necessary truth-seeking process, according to the Center for Human Rights in Iran.

Provincial officials in Razavi Khorasan in Northeastern Iran insist his death was natural, even as reports indicated a heavy security presence around the scene.

One of the lawyers who signed the statement told the Center for Human Rights in Iran that a key aim was to create a safe environment for Alikordi’s family.

A source familiar with the situation in the eastern, holy city of Mashhad said security agents warned civil and political activists arriving in the city not to give speeches at Alikordi’s funeral.

Following Alikordi’s burial, his brother, lawyer and academic Javad Alikordi said he had been summoned by the Mashhad Revolutionary Court.

Protests erupted on December 11 at Alikordi's memorial marking the seventh day since his death.

53-year-old 2023 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Narges Mohammadi and at least 39 other people, according to local authorities, were arrested and remain in custody.

Eatwell said Alikordi’s persistence in continuing to practice law despite sustained pressure stood out, saying that lawyers who defend dissidents and protesters operate in an increasingly hostile environment.

“The impact that it’s designed to have is to discourage other lawyers from practicing in this way, to discourage people from speaking out, to discourage people from asking questions,” she said.

Eatwell said Iran’s repeated failures to conduct credible investigations make it unlikely that Alikordi’s family will receive answers through domestic channels alone.

She said the international community must be prepared to act, pointing to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, established in 2022 to investigate serious human rights violations.

“The so-called Trump plan regarding the Caucasus is no different from the Zangezur Corridor, and the Islamic Republic is completely opposed to it,” Ali Akbar Velayati said during a meeting with Armenia's Ambassador to Tehran Grigor Hakobyan.

Velayati is foreign policy advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The corridor, he added, creates “conditions for NATO’s presence north of Iran" and "presents the security of northern Iran and southern Russia with a serious threat."

His remarks come as Armenia and Azerbaijan move ahead with a US-brokered peace deal signed at the White House in August, which includes plans for the new transit corridor.

The planned route — formally named the “Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity” — will run through Armenia’s Syunik region, linking Azerbaijan to its Nakhchivan exclave and on to Turkey and Europe.

By bypassing Iranian territory, it undercuts Tehran’s land link between Azerbaijan and Europe and gives Washington a new foothold in the South Caucasus.

Velayati warned that the plan for a new transit corridor in the Caucasus is, in Iran’s view, the same as the Zangezur Corridor—a project Iran has long opposed because it could change borders and increase foreign military influence near Iran.

Velayati said the plan is “practically the same project whose name has merely been changed and is now being pursued in the form of the entry of American companies into Armenia.”

Velayati accused Washington of using economic projects as a doorway to expand its military presence in the region.

“Experience has shown that the Americans first enter sensitive regions with seemingly economic projects, but gradually their presence expands to military and security dimensions," he said.

"The opening of America’s presence at Iran’s borders in any form has clear security consequences.”

The message emerged at a joint meeting between media and tourism officials hosted by the strategic council of Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts and the media affairs department of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, according to ISNA.

Participants said tourism increasingly depends on professional narrative-building to counter negative perceptions and present Iran’s security and cultural capacity to foreign audiences.

Officials argued that media should move beyond a passive role and become an active partner in promoting tourism and related industries.

• 

  Foreign tourist arrivals to Iran plummet 75% after 12-day war, minister says

• 

  No solo travel: Iran now requires tourists to book via tours, report says

Mohammadreza Norouzpour, deputy media affairs minister, said tourism cannot gain visibility without media engagement and that effective communication requires sustained, credible storytelling.

He said developing a participatory model between media and tourism actors was essential to reposition the sector domestically and internationally.

Speaking at the meeting, Mohsen Haji Saeid, head of the tourism working group and chairman of the national association of tour guides, said restoring Iran’s image abroad – especially following the recent conflict – was now the core issue facing the tourism industry.

He criticized traditional promotional approaches and called for a comprehensive information bank to present data on safety and tourism potential.

Other speakers emphasized the role of private-sector participation, health tourism, visual content, and the use of tour guides as cultural ambassadors.

Officials also discussed leveraging major international events, such as the World Cup, to amplify Iran’s narrative.

The meeting concluded with agreement to continue the tourism working group’s activities on a permanent, issue-driven basis, aimed at strengthening media-tourism coordination and improving perceptions of Iran among domestic and international audiences.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Oren Marmorstein dismissed Iran’s statement, saying: “The world record in deception belongs to Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman."

"Iran has carried out deadly terrorist attacks against Israelis and Jews in the past and constantly seeks to murder Israelis and Jews around the world.”

No public evidence links Iran or any foreign element to the attack.

Israel’s response came after Iran’s foreign ministry issued a formal denunciation of the shooting at a Hanukkah gathering at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, where at least 11 people were killed and 29 wounded, according to Australian police.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei had said in a post on X on Sunday that "terror violence and mass killing shall be condemned, wherever they're committed, as unlawful and criminal."

• 

  Iran condemns deadly attack on Jewish holiday event in Sydney

• 

  From false-flag claims to celebration: Iran's state media spin Sydney attack

• 

  Australia probing possible Iran link to Sydney attack - Times of Israel

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar earlier spoke with his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, after the attack, which Canberra has designated a terrorist incident. Wong told Sa’ar that Australia was determined to apprehend all those involved.

Sa’ar urged Australia to take stronger measures against antisemitism, telling Wong that since October 7 there had been a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents in the country, including violent incitement online and in public spaces.

Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said Israeli officials were closely watching the investigation.

“The writing was on the wall,” he told Ynet, citing a rise in antisemitic incidents and prior intelligence warnings of a high likelihood of an attack.

He said Australian authorities were examining whether an external actor may have been involved, amid a growing assessment in Israel pointing to Iran.

“From the video footage I received, it appears the terrorists studied the area. They fired from a distance and used long-barreled weapons,” Maimon said, adding that Australian investigators were still processing information.

Australian police said one suspected attacker was killed, another was in critical condition and a third may have been involved. Several suspected explosive devices were found and neutralized near the scene.

Iran has not commented on Israel’s response. Australian authorities have said their investigation is ongoing and have not publicly named any foreign state as responsible.

"The one thing that could perhaps stop or delay the resurgence of Iranian proxies and further disruption of the peace process would be the restarting of negotiations between Iran and the United States, said Khurma, former director of the Middle East Program at the Wilson Center.

She added that Israel felt increasingly unrestrained in confronting adversaries but that the kaleidoscope of Iran-backed groups in the region was determined to fight back.

“Israel is going to preempt every threat they see as existential,” said Khurma, a longtime watcher of regional events and founder of Washington-based consulting firm AMENA Strategies.

The strikes have weakened Tehran’s network of allies, she said, but the calm is temporary. “Hamas was able to recruit and reboot. Similarly with Hezbollah. They have a recruiting strategy and resources,” Khurma said.

She said sanctions are putting pressure on Iran and have prompted outreach to US President Donald Trump.

“President Trump earlier said the Iranians asked whether US sanctions could be lifted. Also, Tehran appears willing to talk but insists Washington stop supporting Israel - a condition the United States is not prepared to meet."

Disarmament demands

Meanwhile a truce in Gaza clinched by US President Donald Trump in October appears to have stalled as Iran-backed Hamas militants have yet to disarm and Israeli attacks have killed hundreds despite a ceasefire.

“A US 20-point plan for Palestinian statehood could help curb militancy, but it requires steady pressure on Israel,” Khurma said. “Hamas should not be part of any future governance in Gaza.”

She addressed serious social challenged in the region as youth frustration and unemployment fuel discontent. She said joblessness has hit 45% in Jordan and 30% in Tunisia, while Moroccans are protesting poor governance.

“Democracy did not get me a job,” the analyst cited a young Tunisian as saying. US aid cuts, shed added, including an 83% reduction in USAID funding, have hampered Washington's ability to address the region's root problems.

“Yet online activism is growing. Afghan women teach despite Taliban bans and regional women’s groups are sustaining themselves, often inspired by Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom movement,” Khurma said.

She called for a comprehensive US regional strategy that includes phased sanctions relief for Iran in exchange for concessions, investment to counter Iran-backed Iraqi militias and the safeguarding of Palestinian gains via leverage over Israel.

“Without such engagement, never-ending cycles of violence will radicalize youth. Saudi and Egyptian leaders support efforts to weaken extremists, and as Trump doubles down on America First, the region is watching for signs of dialogue over the stalemate,” Khurma said.