Kuwait condemns Iranian missile, drone attacks

Witnesses in Rasht say protesters were driven into narrow market passages, trapped as fire spread and fired upon by security forces during January’s unrest, according to accounts gathered by Iran International.

The accounts are part of an Iran International public documentation campaign seeking to establish how many people were killed in Rasht, how the market fire unfolded and what happened to victims’ bodies and families in the days that followed.

The campaign is collecting and verifying accounts, images and videos from witnesses and families of those killed in Rasht, one of several cities where the January protests were met with severe force.

Parts of Rasht’s old market, including the booksellers’ market, the arched bazaar and the coppersmiths’ market, caught fire during the protests.

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US Central Command said on Thursday that Iran fired a ballistic missile toward Kuwait in an “egregious ceasefire violation.”

CENTCOM said Kuwaiti forces intercepted the missile, which it said was launched at 10:17 p.m. ET on May 27.

It said the missile launch came hours after Iranian forces launched five one-way attack drones that posed a threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM said US forces intercepted all five drones and prevented a sixth launch from an Iranian ground control site in Bandar Abbas.

The command said US forces and regional partners remained vigilant while defending US forces and interests from what it called Iranian aggression.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy said on Thursday that 26 commercial ships and oil tankers crossed the Strait of Hormuz over the past 24 hours after receiving permits and coordinating with its forces.

The IRGC navy said several ships tried to enter the Persian Gulf overnight without authorization after tampering with or turning off navigation systems.

It said two of the vessels were stopped after repeated radio warnings, while the others were forced to turn back.

The Guards said permits and coordination were mandatory for passage through the Strait of Hormuz and that using other routes would be treated as disruption.

The IRGC also said the US military had violated the ceasefire by firing several missiles at empty areas of Bandar Abbas airport, causing no damage. It said the US base from which the attack originated was hit in response.

The Guards warned that any repeat by the US military would face a “harsh response.”

Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei urged lawmakers not to turn political differences into division, in a message to parliament as its speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, leads Tehran’s negotiating team in talks with the United States.

The message, issued to mark the anniversary of the opening of Iran’s parliament and the start of the third year of the current Majlis, came as parliament has only recently resumed open sessions after the war.

Khamenei thanked lawmakers and specifically praised Ghalibaf’s efforts, without directly referring to the negotiations with Washington.

The message also comes as questions persist over how closely Ghalibaf and the negotiating team are coordinated with Khamenei on the substance and direction of the talks.

Khamenei said preserving national unity was a religious and political duty.

“One example of piety is preserving the great blessing of national unity and the unparalleled cohesion granted to the awakened nation around the flag of Islamic Iran, which is among the most important factors of victory against the Great Satan.

He said lawmakers and other political and intellectual elites should avoid turning disputes into public fractures, arguing that enemies were seeking to exploit internal divisions after the war, economic pressure and political isolation.

“The enemy’s blind plan after the imposed war, economic pressure and propaganda and political siege is to create division and social fragmentation in order to compensate for its defeats on the battlefield and bring the nation to its knees,” he said, adding that those who care about Islam, the revolution or Iran’s independence should “not turn unwarranted and even warranted differences into conflict and division.”

Khamenei also referred lawmakers back to his late father’s annual meetings with parliament,advising them to study those speeches closely as they contained "practical and operational" lessons for the current moment.

He also called on parliament to focus on economic stability, inflation, production, reconstruction of war damage and planning for the post-war period.

Khamenei said lawmakers should pay attention to parliamentary diplomacy, take clear positions against what he called the demands of arrogant powers, and remain aware of what he described as Iran’s new position in the region and the world.

The rights group said more than 6,000 people had been arbitrarily arrested since the US-Israeli military attack on Iran began on February 28, including protesters, journalists, lawyers, rights defenders, dissidents and members of ethnic and religious minorities. It said authorities had carried out at least 39 political executions during the same period.

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  Iran executes man over accusations of spying for Israel

“Iranian authorities are exploiting the crisis to further erode the human rights of people in Iran,” said Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty’s senior director of research, policy, advocacy and campaigns.

Amnesty said Iran’s 88-day internet shutdown, which ended with restrictions on May 26, helped isolate more than 90 million people and obstruct documentation of abuses. It said authorities also criminalized efforts to bypass restrictions through VPNs or satellite internet, including Starlink, with warnings that some cases could fall under the Espionage Law, which carries the death penalty.

“To maintain their grip on power, the authorities have unleashed an all-out assault on people in Iran,” Guevara Rosas said.

The group said detainees had faced enforced disappearance, torture, forced confessions and denial of access to lawyers. It said documented abuses included mock executions, beatings, suspension from hands and feet, solitary confinement, and denial of food and medical care.

Amnesty called on Iranian authorities to release arbitrarily detained people, disclose the fate of those disappeared, lift remaining internet restrictions and halt executions.

“The international community must not allow the Iranian authorities to use the conflict as a smokescreen to deepen their machinery of repression,” Guevara Rosas said.