Defense Council secretary says Iran will respond firmly to any action

A group of Iranians living in Hamburg set up a tent outside the Islamic Republic’s consulate to display images of those killed in January protests, aiming to keep their memory alive and draw attention to Iran’s human rights record.

Organizers said the exhibition seeks to remind the public of the victims and highlight ongoing concerns about rights violations in Iran.

A group of Iranian-Australian citizens has submitted a petition to Australia’s parliament calling for the government to withdraw recognition of the Islamic Republic as the legitimate representative of the Iranian people.

The petition argues that a large majority of Iranians reject the Islamic Republic as their lawful representative and instead support the leadership of exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi for a transition to a secular democracy that preserves Iran’s territorial integrity and upholds the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Around 13,000 people had signed the petition at the time of publication.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s name has been removed from the updated list of speakers at the UN Human Rights Council session on February 23.

The removal followed an online campaign that urged the UN to withdraw his invitation and called on other delegations to walk out if Araghchi or any other Iranian representative took the floor.

Iranian director Jafar Panahi, who has spoken out about deadly crackdowns during nationwide protests in Iran, said on Thursday that he will return to the country once the Oscar campaign for his film "It Was Just an Accident" concludes, despite ongoing threats.

“I have been outside Iran for some time because of the Oscar campaign for this film, but as I have said before, as soon as the campaign ends, I will return to Iran,” Panahi said in an interview with The Atlantic.

Panahi referenced the government’s response to past protests, including internet shutdowns that he said signaled impending violence.

“When the protests broke out, I was in Paris. When they shut down the internet, my friends and I issued a statement saying that when they shut down the internet, it means they are going to commit a big massacre,” he said.

He described the scale of casualties during the unrest as deeply traumatic for the public.

“Now you cannot think about individuals. The numbers are so high and the pain is so strong that people feel they are each other’s family members. So when one person dies, everyone feels the pain, and everyone is in mourning,” he added.

The night air on Jan. 8 in northeastern Tehran filled with chants rising in defiance. Among them stood Pooya Faragerdi, a violinist whose life was measured in music and a heart that beat for Iran. Then came the gunfire.

Faragerdi, 44, was shot by security forces near a police station in Pasdaran that night.

Videos verified by Iran International from Pasdaran on Jan. 8 showed wounded protesters lying bloodied on the street as others tried to help, with gunfire audible in the background.

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