New Zealand says it is appalled by escalating violence in Iran
New Zealand said on Thursday it was appalled by what it described as an escalation of violence and repression in Iran.
“New Zealand is appalled by the escalation of violence and repression in Iran,” Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a post on X.
He said the government condemned what it called a brutal crackdown by Iranian security forces, including the killing of protesters, and said Iranians had the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression.
Peters said New Zealand had raised its concerns directly with the Iranian embassy in Wellington and would continue to do so.
Iran’s judiciary said on Thursday that Erfan Soltani, a protester detained earlier this month, has not been sentenced to death, rejecting earlier claims by his family that such a ruling had been issued.
The judiciary said Soltani is being held at the central penitentiary in the city of Karaj and has been formally charged with “collusion against internal security” and “propaganda activities against the system,” according to state media.
It added that no death sentence has been issued and that capital punishment does not apply to those charges under Iranian law.
Iran’s judiciary said on Thursday that Erfan Soltani, a protester detained earlier this month, has not been sentenced to death, rejecting earlier claims by his family that such a ruling had been issued.
The judiciary said Soltani is being held at the central penitentiary in the city of Karaj and has been formally charged with “collusion against internal security” and “propaganda activities against the system,” according to state media.
It added that no death sentence has been issued and that capital punishment does not apply to those charges under Iranian law.
The judiciary said that if the charges are upheld by prosecutors and a court issues a legal ruling, the punishment by law would be imprisonment.
Soltani’s family had previously said that he had been sentenced to death, raising concerns among activists amid a broader crackdown on protesters following unrest across the country.
Iran has in past protest-related cases brought more serious charges such as moharebeh – commonly translated as “waging war against God” – which under the Islamic Republic’s penal code can carry the death penalty.
During earlier waves of unrest, rights groups and analysts said Iranian authorities used capital cases and charges including moharebeh and “corruption on earth” against some detainees, drawing international criticism over due process.
Any US military action against Iran risks falling short if it mirrors past “one-off” strikes without sustained political and economic pressure, analysts warned during an Iran International Insight town hall on Wednesday amid mounting fears of a US attack.
US President Donald Trump signaled on Tuesday that he was leaning toward a military strike on Iran when he said Iranian protesters should keep up the demonstrations and that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.”
At least 12,000 people have been killed in Iran in the largest killing in the country's contemporary history, much of it carried out on January 8-9 during an ongoing internet shutdown, senior government and security sources told Iran International.
Joel Rayburn, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, and Robert Satloff, the Executive Director of the Washington Institute, believe that limited military action by the United States may briefly punish Tehran's abuses but is unlikely to stop violence unless it is followed by a broader campaign.
“In April 2017, the president responded to Bashar al Assad's use of chemical weapons by doing airstrikes. We did not follow that up with a maximum pressure campaign or a political campaign,” Rayburn said. “One year later, he used them again.”
Rayburn argued that the lesson from Syria was clear: “We can’t do this just by one-off military strikes. They have the impact, but we have to have a campaign and we have to use all the tools at our disposal.”
“We can’t just do something and move on,” he said. “If the objective is to stop the killing, then the tools have to stay in place until that objective is met.”
Satloff said he does not like the notion of a strike. "A strike sounds like something that you do and then you’re done and that you can then turn to whatever next international problem is on your agenda.”
He said the current moment presents a more direct test for the Trump administration. “Will the president’s actions bring an end to the carnage? That’s the key right now.”
Trump said on Wednesday he had been informed that the killing in Iran has stopped and Tehran would not execute any of the protesters.
Satloff cautioned against reading too much into claims that violence inside Iran may have eased.
“If indeed the killing has stopped… terrific,” Satloff said during the town hall moderated by Behnam Ben Taleblu, the senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD).
“But if the killing continues tomorrow, the day after, then that tweet will mean nothing and the president will know it.”
He said the 2017 strikes on Syria imposed a cost but did not fundamentally change the regime’s behavior until they were paired later with broader sanctions and diplomatic isolation.
“It was only after the second time that the US government and our allies finally said… we have to have a campaign,” Rayburn said.
Joel Rayburn, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute
Satloff argued that Iran presents a different but related challenge, because Trump has explicitly framed his objective as stopping the killing of civilians.
“This is somewhat different than partial punishment and partial deterrence,” he said, adding that Iran now represents “a much more visible, tangible test.”
Beyond strikes: cyber, communications
Both speakers stressed that military force is only one option, and not necessarily the first one Washington should use.
Satloff argued the US should focus on “leveling the playing field” between protesters and the Iranian security apparatus.
“Let’s find some way to shut down their communications so that they can’t talk to themselves and orchestrate this nationwide crackdown,” he said. “We have ways of shutting down the communication system employed by the regime.”
Rayburn said the administration could immediately escalate non-military pressure by fully restoring what he described as the president’s early-term directive to reimpose maximum pressure on Iran.
“There is no reason not to be fully implementing the maximum pressure campaign,” he said. “That hasn’t been fully implemented yet. It can be.”
Rayburn added that Iran is now “in an even more brittle state” than during Trump’s first term.
“They are not resilient to that kind of pressure,” he said. “I think the Iranian regime wouldn’t survive that.”
'Narrow targets, civilian risks, and credibility'
While emphasizing non-kinetic options, Satloff outlined what he would recommend if military action became unavoidable.
If violence continued, he said, US action should be tightly focused on security forces responsible for repression.
“I would target very specifically the barracks and the facilities of the IRGC and the Basij,” Satloff said, while warning that civilian casualties could quickly undermine US credibility.
Robert Satloff, the Executive Director of the Washington Institute
“I think we have to be very careful to avoid civilians,” he said, noting that past strikes in the region showed how quickly public perception can turn when non-combatants are killed.
The United States launched airstrikes against three Iranian nuclear facilities in June in the middle of a 12-day war between Iran and Israel.
The Israeli strikes began after Tehran ignored a 60-day deadline set by President Trump to reach a deal over its disputed nuclear program.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday Washington is tracking what he described as a surge of capital flight by Iran’s ruling elite, as fears grow over the possible collapse of the Islamic Republic amid unrest and threats of a US strike.
"As Treasury who carries out the sanctions we can see is we are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship because we can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country, snuck out of the country by the Iranian leadership," Bessent said in an interview with Newsmax.
"So they are abandoning ship, and we are seeing it come into banks and financial institutions all over the world," the Treasury Secretary added.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday Washington is tracking what he described as a surge of capital flight by Iran’s ruling elite, as fears grow over the possible collapse of the Islamic Republic amid unrest and threats of a US strike.
"As Treasury who carries out the sanctions we can see is we are now seeing the rats fleeing the ship because we can see millions, tens of millions of dollars being wired out of the country, snuck out of the country by the Iranian leadership," Bessent said in an interview with Newsmax.
"So they are abandoning ship, and we are seeing it come into banks and financial institutions all over the world," the Treasury Secretary added.
Iran’s nationwide protests began in late December 2025 over economic grievances but quickly evolved into an openly regime-change movement, with demonstrators calling for the end of the Islamic Republic itself.
Security forces responded by using live fire against protesters, killing as many as 12,000 people, according to Iran International’s findings.
Still, threats by US President Donald Trump to launch strikes against Iran have left the fate of the country’s leaders in limbo.
'US will trace Iran leaders' assets abroad'
In his Wednesday interview, the US Treasury Secretary vowed to trace the huge sums of money wired out of Iran by the country's leaders.
"What we do at Treasury is we follow the money, whether it is through the banking system or through digital assets. We are going to trace these assets and they will not be able to keep them."
Separately, Israel's Channel 14 reported on Wednesday that Iran's leaders have transferred $1.5 billion to escrow accounts in Dubai over the past two days.
"1.5 billion dollars have been transferred out of Iran in the last hours, not through banks but via cryptocurrency with one clear destination: Dubai," the report said citing a source familiar with the Revolutionary Guard's economic activities.
The report alleged that the Supreme Leader's son and one of his potential successors Mojtaba Khamenei is one of the people involved in these transfers.
"He transferred about $328 million to that same destination," Channel 14 said citing the unnamed source.
Iran has increasingly leaned on cryptocurrency rails to move money abroad as sanctions and banking restrictions complicate traditional transfers.
US Treasury actions in 2025 described “shadow” networks using overseas fronts and crypto transactions tied to Iranian oil revenue, portraying digital assets as one way to bypass chokepoints in the regulated financial system.
