The Australian Senate on Thursday passed a motion condemning Iran’s crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests that began in late December, citing killings, mass arrests and internet blackouts imposed on civilians.
The motion said senators noted “with grave concern” reports of indiscriminate killings of civilians, the targeting of women and children, mass arrests and internet and communications blackouts. It also acknowledged the distress felt by Iranian-Australians unable to contact relatives in Iran.
It called on the Albanese government to keep working with international partners, including the United Nations, to support independent investigations into human rights violations in Iran, press for accountability, expand targeted sanctions and push for an end to violence, executions and communications restrictions.
Labor Senator Raff Ciccone, one of the co-sponsors, said in a post on X that the Senate had condemned “the Iranian regime’s brutal repression of peaceful protesters” and reaffirmed Australia’s solidarity with the Iranian people and the Iranian-Australian community.
His comments followed earlier action this week, when Australia imposed new sanctions on 20 individuals and three entities linked to Iran’s security apparatus over the protest crackdown.
Speaking in the Senate earlier this week, Ciccone said he supported the government’s steps and voiced solidarity with Iranians protesting inside the country.
“Since 28 December last year, the Iranian regime has responded to peaceful protests with extraordinary and horrifying violence against its own people,” he told parliament.
He said authorities had tried to hide the scale of the crackdown. “The regime has attempted to conceal the scale of its brutality through nationwide internet and telecommunication blackouts,” he said.
Referring to the new sanctions, Ciccone said they targeted those responsible for repression, including figures linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. “These sanctions are not symbolic; they are targeted, deliberate and designed to impose real consequences on those responsible for repression and violence,” he said.
Ciccone also highlighted the impact on Iranians living in Australia. “Members of the Australian Iranian community have watched these events unfold with profound anguish,” he said, adding that many had relatives at risk.
“Australia’s message is clear: the use of violence against civilians, the silencing of dissent and the systemic denial of human rights will not be met with indifference,” he said.
Gholamreza Derikvand, Iran’s chargé d’affaires in Vienna, had broken with Tehran and is now in Switzerland. There was no immediate comment from Iran’s foreign ministry.
Sources told Iran International that officials at the ministry had avoided discussing the case, with some staff citing security concerns.
Derikvand previously served as charge d’affaires at Iran’s embassy in the Czech Republic from 2011 to 2014 and was viewed by colleagues as a career diplomat who could have risen to ambassador.
The move follows a similar case last month in which Alireza Jeyrani Hokmabad, a senior Iranian diplomat based at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva, left his post and sought asylum in Switzerland with his family.
Diplomatic sources said fears linked to Iran’s political unrest and concerns over the stability of the governing system had prompted the decision.
Iran’s space agency chief Hassan Salarieh said the newly unveiled Hatef-3 is a full-scale test model for the planned 24-satellite “Martyr Soleimani” constellation and would be launched once final checks are completed.
Salarieh said Hatef-3 satellite is still considered an “experimental sample because the system must be placed into orbit and its performance be assessed in space.”
Iran is carrying out integration and compatibility tests between the Hatef-3 satellite and the Simorgh launch vehicle, he added, describing a launch by year-end as likely but subject to technical reviews.
According to Salarieh, a space base was also unveiled in Salmas in northwestern Iran and another in Chenaran in the northeast.
Also on Tuesday, Iran’s defense minister said the country must accelerate its space program to close what he described as lingering gaps, warning that falling behind could undermine national governance and independence.
Aziz Nasirzadeh said Iran should prioritize developing an air-launched rocket system and securing a presence in geostationary orbit, calling space a new arena for strategic competition.
