Iran parliament panel says under-18s detained in protests, seeks police reply

Iran is reviewing possible steps in response to a European Union move to label the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist group, the semi-official Mehr News Agency reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

The source said four measures were being discussed and drafted for possible government action.

One proposal would shift protection of European diplomatic missions in Iran from the national police to the Revolutionary Guards, the source said.

Another would involve special inspections of commercial ships heading to European destinations by the Guards’ naval force, according to the report.

The source said authorities were also reviewing the collective expulsion of European military attachés from Tehran.

A fourth proposal would remove special airport protocols for European diplomats and subject them to inspections “like ordinary people,” the source said.

A senior official at Iran’s Medical Council confirmed on Friday that some doctors were arrested during recent protests, though no official figures were available.

“During the recent protests, regardless of the reasons or the number, there are some doctors who have been detained,” Mohammad Mirkhani, the council’s social and parliamentary deputy, was quoted as saying.

He said reliable and official data on detained doctors was difficult to obtain. “Most of this information comes from conversations with other colleagues who say a certain doctor has been arrested, and we are required to verify these reports,” he said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi arrived in Istanbul on Friday and said Tehran was holding close consultations with Turkey as regional tensions rise.

“There are serious challenges in the region, and the goals stated by the United States and others require closer consultations,” Araghchi said on arrival, according to state media.

He said he would meet his Turkish counterpart and President Tayyip Erdogan during the visit.

Araghchi also criticized Europe, saying its approach toward Iran was weakening. “Europe is in decline, and its action against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was a strategic mistake,” he said.

“They will soon realize that they made a mistake,” he added.

Britain is unlikely to take part in a US attack on Iran but could help protect allies in the Persian Gulf if Tehran retaliates, British sources told the Guardian, pointing to a recent deployment of RAF Typhoon jets to Qatar.

The Typhoon squadron was deployed at Qatar’s request to help defend the country against possible drone or missile attacks, the sources said. Qatar hosts the largest US air base in the region.

A first strike on Iran would be unlikely to align with Britain’s view of international law, but British forces could become involved if allies such as Qatar faced attacks in self-defense, the sources said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday the priority was preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and working with allies toward that goal, declining to speculate on possible US military action.

Iranian-American Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs Mora Namdar said on Thursday that Washington stood with the Iranian people and supported blocking Iranian regime members and their immediate relatives from benefiting from the US immigration system.

“The United States stands with the brave Iranian people,” Namdar said in a social media post. “We will not allow Iranian regime members and their immediate relatives to take advantage of America’s immigration and visa systems while brutally repressing their own people’s quest for basic rights.”

The US State Department said earlier on Thursday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had taken action this week to revoke the privilege of Iranian senior officials and their family members to be in the United States, adding that those who profit from what it called the Iranian regime’s brutal oppression were not welcome to benefit from the US immigration system.