Origin of Kharg Island explosion still undetermined - IRGC outlet

The performance took place on Thursday during Eid al-Ghadir celebrations at Imam Hossein Square in central Tehran. The event, which received extensive coverage from official and semi-official media outlets, featured Binesh Bolour, known professionally as Gheysar, who has lived outside Iran for nearly four decades.

In recent years, the Islamic Republic has sought to transform Eid al-Ghadir into a broader national celebration through large-scale public events held in city streets and squares.

The festival included speeches by clerics, performances by government-approved pop singers and religious vocalists closely associated with hardline political groups. Gheysar took the stage as some members of the crowd chanted “Long Live Iran” and “Death to America.”

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Official and semi-official media outlets, including state broadcaster IRIB, widely circulated videos of his appearance. In a caption accompanying one of the videos, IRIB wrote that Gheysar had “shouted out his patriotism and returned to Iran” after the outbreak of the recent war involving Iran, the United States, and Israel.

The newspaper Haft-e Sobh described Gheysar’s participation in an official event as both “surprising” and “taboo-breaking,” noting that it was unprecedented since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The newspaper wrote: “Gheysar’s presence in Tehran and his performance should be regarded as an important development with dimensions beyond an artistic event. This form of participation in an official ceremony could symbolize the breaking of one of the cultural boundaries of the past four decades.”

Anti-western statements during the war

During the recent conflict involving Iran, the United States and Israel, Gheysar repeatedly criticized US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on social media. He also strongly attacked Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi and opposition groups that advocated foreign support for the overthrow of the Islamic Republic.

In one video, he said the Iranian nation had broken the “hegemony of the West” and that he was proud of being Iranian. Following the military confrontation, he published additional videos praising Iran’s military capabilities and said: “We shattered the West’s grandeur, and I am proud of that.”

Mixed reactions online

The singer’s appearance has generated sharply divided reactions on social media. Some users described the government’s decision to allow him to perform as hypocrisy, arguing that the authorities embrace nationalism only when they need public support.

One user, Mehrdad Raha, wrote: “Whenever you see a veteran Iranian singer abroad becoming softer in tone toward the Islamic Republic, know that the government has probably been in contact with them for some time, using intermediaries, with promises of money, sponsorship, travel opportunities to Iran, or other incentives to win them over.”

Gheysar rejected such accusations in a video circulated online. He said this was not his first visit to Iran and insisted that he had not returned for money or to obtain a permanent license to work in the country.

He said he had participated in the ceremony because, like many Shiites, he holds a deep respect for Imam Ali, whom Shiites believe was designated by the Prophet Muhammad as his successor at Ghadir.

The legacy of the “Los Angeles singer”

The controversy also revived discussion about the long-standing phenomenon of the so-called “Los Angeles singer.”

Following the 1979 revolution, many Iranian pop stars and actors left the country, particularly female performers whose singing careers were effectively prohibited under the new political order. Many settled in the United States, especially in Southern California.

For years, recordings by exiled singers circulated inside Iran through cassette tapes and videotapes that were copied and distributed despite official restrictions. Possession or distribution of such material could expose people to legal penalties.

The style of dance-oriented Persian pop music associated with Los Angeles was often portrayed in official discourse as morally corrupt, and the term “Los Angeles singer” frequently carried a derogatory connotation in state media.

Several Iranian outlets referred to Gheysar, who has also performed in Israel, a destination Iranian citizens are generally prohibited from visiting, in exactly those terms while reporting on his recent appearance.

Yet the two songs he performed in Tehran differed markedly from the repertoire that made him famous.

One song was dedicated to his hometown, Tehran. The second, titled “The Children of Minab,” was inspired by damage to a school in the southern city of Minab during the first day of the recent conflict. Iranian media reported that 120 schoolchildren and nearly 40 teachers, staff members and parents were killed in the attack.

Could other exile artists return?

Gheysar’s official appearance has renewed speculation about whether other prominent exile artists might be allowed to return.

Haft-e Sobh asked: “Now we must wait and see whether Gheysar’s return is an exception or whether this path will be opened for other artists as well. Will this remain limited to one person, or could it become a model for the future?”

In recent months, several well-known Los Angeles-based Iranian singers have publicly expressed a desire to spend their final years in Iran.

Among those expressing a desire to return is veteran singer Shahram Shabpareh, who has said he would like to spend the final years of his life and career in Iran.

The possibility of a return by singer Moein has also been the subject of recurring speculation, although reports about potential concerts in Iran have repeatedly been denied by him or those close to him.

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For supporters, Gheysar’s appearance may signal a gradual easing of long-standing cultural restrictions surrounding exiled performers.

Skeptics, however, point to the experience of singer Habib, who returned to Iran in 2009 but was repeatedly denied permits to perform, arguing that official approval can be fleeting and does not necessarily translate into lasting artistic freedom.

Recent US intelligence reports raised concerns that Israeli spy agencies were allegedly eavesdropping on American officials involved in negotiations with Iran, The New York Times reported, citing US officials familiar with the assessments.

The report said Israel had allegedly intensified efforts to gather information on US positions in the talks, including by targeting senior officials such as President Donald Trump's top negotiator Steve Witkoff, the Pentagon's top policy official Elbridge Colby, and deputy assistant secretary Michael DiMino.

The report said a Defense Intelligence Agency assessment increased the counterintelligence threat level posed by Israel from "high" to "critical" in recent weeks, citing concerns over alleged efforts to spy on US military personnel and government officials. The report said American defense personnel in Israel had detected software installed on their phones that could intercept communications.

A White House official disputed the account and said it was false, while a spokesperson for the Israeli embassy in Washington denied that Israel spies on American officials or entities, the newspaper said.

Reza Mohammadhosseini, a monarchist political prisoner held in Ghezel Hesar Prison in Iran’s Alborz province, thanked exiled Iranian princess Noor Pahlavi for her human rights advocacy and for carrying Iranians’ voices to the world.

“From behind the cold, high walls of Ghezel Hesar Prison — where for years I have watched the sky through the bars — the words of Princess Noor Pahlavi reached me from thousands of kilometers away; yet they were so bound to the pain, the suffering, and the aspirations of the people of Iran that it was as if they had risen from these very cells,” Mohammadhosseini wrote, according to the statement by exiled Prince Reza Pahlavi’s office.

Mohammadhosseini cited Noor Pahlavi’s speech in Oslo as a reminder that “the voice of the people of Iran is still being heard” and said the struggle for freedom, justice and human rights had no borders.

He called for the release of political prisoners and said many people in Iran were held “solely for the crime of thinking, writing, protesting, and demanding their human rights.”

"Today, more than ever, Iran needs global solidarity in defense of human dignity,” he wrote.

Witnesses described security forces shooting at protesters, blocking aid to the wounded, demanding money from families before returning bodies, and pressuring relatives to hold secret burials and avoid public ceremonies.

The new accounts add to an Iran International public documentation campaign that has gathered testimony saying protesters in Rasht were driven into narrow market passages, trapped as fire spread and fired upon by security forces during January’s unrest.

The morning of Jan 9: a city in smoke, blood and fire

One eyewitness told Iran International that around 5 a.m. on January 9, heavy smoke and fire were still rising in the municipality area of Rasht.

The witness said streets leading to the municipality, including Namjoo Street, Imam Street, Shahrdari Street and the route from the bazaar toward Saqlan Square, were badly damaged and parts of the city had burned.

“On the morning of January 9, the city smelled of smoke. Traces of blood were clearly visible on Shahrdari and Saadi streets. The bloody handprints of protesters were on the city walls. Basijis in Sabzeh Meydan Square were busy erasing slogans with spray paint, and large parts of the bazaar had completely burned,” the witness said.

Bodies moved in pickup trucks and garbage trucks

An eyewitness told Iran International that on the morning of January 9, several municipal pickup trucks left Shahrdari Street, and the bodies of some of those killed were in the back of one vehicle, covered with cloth.

Iran International has also received multiple reports indicating that the bodies of some of those killed in Rasht were collected with garbage trucks and secretly transferred.

Witnesses said some wounded people were also among the bodies transferred to Bagh-e Rezvan cemetery in Rasht.

A source said one wounded person who had been transferred to Bagh-e Rezvan along with the bodies managed to escape and hid for a while in a nearby forest.

Transfer of bodies to an unmarked warehouse

New information received by Iran International shows that on January 8 and 9, the bodies of some of those killed in Rasht were transferred to a warehouse on Tehran Road, between Bagh-e Rezvan and Saravan.

The warehouse was painted red, white and green and had no specific sign or official marking.

The bodies were kept there temporarily before burial or transfer to other locations.

Witnesses describe DShK machine gun fire on protesters

Witnesses told Iran International that security forces used heavy weapons including DShK machine guns against people who had entered parts of the city’s military areas.

According to the accounts, the area around the Rasht governor’s office was one of the main sites where protesters were killed on January 8 and 9.

One eyewitness said Basij and Revolutionary Guards forces directed the crowd toward the governor’s office, placing protesters on a route where their ability to leave or retreat was limited.

The witnesses said armed forces shot at people after the gates of the governor’s office were opened.

The accounts indicated that the crackdown in Rasht was not limited to streets around the municipality, the bazaar, Namjoo Street and Sajjad Clinic, and that the area around the governor’s office was also a key site of shootings and killings.

Families told to pay for slain protesters’ bodies

Sources told Iran International that slain protesters' families faced severe security pressure.

Some families were asked to pay money to receive the bodies of their children, with the amount depending on the family’s financial situation, according to the accounts.

Some families were asked for several billion rials, equivalent to several thousand dollars, and in some cases more than 10 billion rials, or over $5,700 at the open-market rate, the sources said.

An eyewitness said one family was told to bring a box of sweets along with the payment before they could receive their loved one’s body.

The witness said the request was part of a humiliating process of dealing with the survivors.

Families forced into secret night burials

Witnesses told Iran International that the families of some slain protesters were not allowed to wash their loved ones’ bodies, a standard Islamic burial rite performed before burial.

One eyewitness said security agents told a family the victims were “ritually impure” and had to be buried as they were, bloodied and still in their clothes.

According to witness accounts, burials were often carried out late at night or near dawn, with a limited number of family members present and under pressure from security forces.

The burial place of many of the victims is in the far sections of Bagh-e Rezvan in Rasht.

Families said they were repeatedly humiliated and threatened while receiving and burying the bodies.

Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld death sentences against five political prisoners held in Sheiban Prison in Ahvaz, in southwest Iran, the Karun Human Rights Organization said.

The rights group said the five prisoners were at imminent risk of execution after trials it said were marked by denial of access to independent lawyers, violations of defendants’ rights and reliance on “forced confessions.”

The group named the prisoners as Masoud Jamei, Alireza Mordasi, also known as Hamidavi, Farshad Etemadi-Far, Hassan Mosallavi (Torfi), and Reza Abdali, also known as Daghaghleh.

It said Jamei, Mordasi and Etemadi-Far were tried last year on charges including “corruption on earth,” “membership in rebel groups opposed to the Islamic Republic,” “propaganda against the system” and “assembly and collusion.”

Mosallavi, a 38-year-old Arab civil and cultural activist detained since 2022, was sentenced to death in absentia on charges of “waging war against God” and “membership in Arab groups opposed to the Islamic Republic,” the organization said.

Abdali, a 35-year-old political prisoner, was given a death sentence and a 15-year prison term on a charge of “contact with organizations outside the country,” the group said.

The Karun Human Rights Organization called for urgent international action to stop the executions.