Iran launches airstrike against Kurdish group in northern Iraq

Iran has launched a deadly cross-border airstrike into bluish Iraq to punish Kurds for their relation successful supporting demonstrations implicit the decease of a 22-year-old Kurdish pistillate successful Iranian constabulary custody that are inactive rattling the Tehran regime.

The onslaught occurred arsenic the Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, addressed the federation to explicit his regret implicit the decease of Mahsa Amini a fortnight ago, but besides to impeach the protesters of being agents of overseas powers.

Activists speaking to the Guardian connected information of anonymity said: “Our assurance is growing. We are not backing down contempt the arrests. It is precise beautiful. There is simply a content that thing is going to alteration this time.”

Lawyers acting for Amini’s household have, successful defiance of authorities pressure, filed a ceremonial ailment against those liable for her arrest. They person demanded a elaborate autarkic probe into her death, including the mode of apprehension and transportation to hospital, arsenic good arsenic photographs and videos of the arrest, and immoderate encephalon scans.

Amini, present a awesome of absorption to the regime, died successful constabulary custody aft she was picked up by the morality constabulary successful Tehran for not wearing a hijab properly.

As galore arsenic 10 radical were killed and 32 injured successful the Iranian drone strikes connected subject bases successful bluish Iraq that beryllium to the Kurdish Democratic enactment of Iran (KDPI).

“The forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran attacked the bases and office of the Kurdistan Democratic enactment of Iran with missiles and drones,” a connection said. The US condemned the attacks arsenic brazen portion Iran said it was attacking violent bases.

The KPDI urged its supporters wrong Iran to spell backmost into the streets, with its London spokesperson saying: “Support for these demonstrations is building. This started astir 1 Kurdish pistillate and the wearing of the hijab, but it is present thing wider successful implicit 100 cities. The chant successful the streets is ‘Death to the regime. Death to the dictator.’”

Reports connected the fig of deaths amid the protests differ, but the Oslo-based quality rights radical Iran Human Rights said the fig was astatine slightest 76. Iran’s semi-official Fars quality bureau has enactment the protestation toll astatine “around 60”, inclusive of respective members of the Iranian information forces.

The authorities volition beryllium hopeless to guarantee the protests bash not widen to much working-class districts, and ais apt to represent the protesters arsenic anti-patriotic liberals astatine likelihood with the values of the regime.

Iran’s constabulary warned connected Wednesday they would face “with each their might”. Yet astatine the aforesaid clip the country’s curate for women’s affairs, Ensieh Khazali, said she had been to sojourn arrested women successful jail, and was seeking to person those not blameworthy of large offences released.

The threats came lone hours aft the UN said its caput general, António Guterres, called connected Raisi not to usage “disproportionate force” against protesters.

“We are progressively acrophobic astir reports of rising fatalities, including women and children, related to the protests,” the UN chief’s spokeperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said.

Iran has imposed a strict net shutdown to forestall the protesters utilizing societal media to pass the extracurricular satellite of the standard of the repression. As galore arsenic 20 reporters person been arrested, and newspapers are progressively toeing the authorities enactment that the protests are being manipulated by Saudi Arabian oregon occidental media. Some papers are staging debates connected whether the compulsory hijab is required by sharia law.

The authorities has continued to assertion the westbound effect followed what it saw arsenic the occurrence of Raisi’s show astatine the UN wide assembly successful New York.

But the authorities is being battered by the persistence of the demonstrations and the willingness of salient Iranians ranging from musicians, actors, sports stars and assemblage lecturers to request the dependable of young Iranians is respected.

Fatemeh Motamed-Arya, an award-winning histrion appeared without hijab to talk astatine the ceremonial ceremonial of chap histrion Amin Tariokh. The Iranian shot manager and erstwhile subordinate Ali Karimi has besides backed the demonstrations, arsenic did the composer Hossein Alizadeh.

In Britain, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British Iranian dual-national who spent 5 years successful an Iranian jail, besides chopped her hairsbreadth for BBC Persian cameras successful a motion of solidarity with the protests successful Iran.

Companies besides warned that the continued shutdown of the net were damaging their business.

On Tuesday, authorities successful Iran arrested the girl of the erstwhile president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for “inciting rioters”, the Tasnim quality bureau reported. They person besides been threatening celebrities and shot stars that person supported the protestors.