Iranian Activist Nargess Mohammadi Summoned For Fifth Time In 6 Months

He was convicted of "corruption on earth" which includes offences related to religious morality and carries the death penalty.

According to his lawyer Rosa Etemad Ansari, Salehi was acquitted of insulting the Supreme Leader and cooperating with hostile governments and had been moved out of solitary confinement into the general section.

In the aftermath of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody in September, Salehi was among the mostly young Iranians who flooded the streets.

As a result of the security forces' crackdown on the protest movement, over 520 people died and nearly 20,000 were unlawfully detained, activists have said. Following sham trials, the judiciary imposed harsh sentences on protesters, including the death penalty.

Earlier, a number of Iranian lawyers and activists expressed concern over the secret trial of Toomaj Salehi.

On June 22, representatives of the German, Austrian, New Zealand, and Italian parliaments, who have become Salehi's political sponsors, announced that the court proceedings concerning the singer's charges were held 230 days after his arrest without media coverage or official notification.

Three parliament members of Germany, Italy and Austria also demanded access to his file.

Inside Iran, public protests were held against the imprisonment of the dissident singer with people chanting slogans or putting up posters of Salehi in various cities.

The Iranian diaspora also organized several rallies across Europe and America in recent months to support Salehi and other political prisoners.

The 33-year-old rapper had criticized the Iranian regime in songs and music videos that were widely shared online.

In an interview with semi-official Mehr news agency on Monday, Issa Zarepour claimed the objective is to open up connections to remote areas.

“Although over 4,000 villages have been connected to high-speed internet since the start of the Raisi administration, we still have about 3,500 villages that are not connected to high-speed internet, so satellite internet service providers can operate in these regions,” he said.

However, he admitted there will be strict compliance rules for any company the regime agrees to work with, meaning technical cooperation for censorship of Internet content.

Iran has made the same demand from Western social media platforms for not blocking their access.

Starlink, part of the US-owned SpaceX, is already providing internet to almost 60 countries, but for its connection to work everywhere in a large country, ground stations are needed.

The regime has for years been severely restricting internet access as well as access to popular social media platforms, such as Instagram, in particular that play a key role in supporting anti-regime sentiment and protester communications.

It has meant devastation for the millions who rely on social media to promote their businesses and hugely damaged e-commerce.

Recently, an Iranian official stated around 800 Starlink satellite internet receivers have been imported to Iran, but did not specify how, given the current sanctions imposed on the country.

On Saturday, a group of Iranian war veterans once again staged a rally in Tehran to protest hardship amid a minimum 70-percent food price inflation and their inadequate pensions.

Videos published on social media show that the security forces and law enforcement agents fired tear gas with some veterans in critical condition due to the inhalation of the gas.

In another video, some of the participants called the officials of the Martyrs’ foundation and the Islamic Republic authorities "liars" and "criminals".

This is not the first time the war veterans protest against their poor living conditions.

In the past years, they gathered many times in front of the parliament urging lawmakers to resolve their issues.

In August, Iran's Council of Retirees reported that one of the veterans wounded in the Iran-Iraq war, named Khosro Yavari, set himself on fire and died in Songhor city of Kermanshah province due to financial hardship.

Earlier, Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf admitted in a televised speech in March that the Islamic Republic has failed to resolve economic problems and control inflation. He said the regime has not been able to help people in covering their daily life expenses.

These remarks come at a time when inflation has increased sharply this year and MPs have warned against another wave of inflation in the coming months.

Peyman Galvani, 24, a resident of Mahabad was admitted to Khomeini Hospital after falling into a coma, according to Hengaw Human Rights.

His family was informed that Galwani had "fallen from a height" leading to his comatose state.

He was violently arrested by the security forces at his family home in Mahabad on June 25.

In the hospital, two security officers kept watch over him and prohibited family visits other than one exception made for his sister who observed extensive bruises on his body, head, and face.

His family says his death was the result of torture inflicted by the security forces, since the otherwise healthy young man did not have any preexisting medical conditions.

He is the second political prisoner who succumbed to his injuries in less than 24 hours as the regime continues its brutal suppression of opponents.

Kurdish human rights organizations reported Sunday that Mousa Esmaili, a political prisoner from Piranshahr in Iran’s West Azarbaijan province was also tortured to death.

According to Hengaw and Kurdistan Human Rights Network, intelligence organizations refused to hand over the body to his family to hold a funeral ceremony.

Esmaili, 35, from the village of Pasavi, was arrested on May 7 while intelligence agents confiscated his car.

Iranian intelligence and security agencies often bring unsubstantiated charges against dissidents, who are then tried behind closed doors without a lawyer. Several have died in unclear circumstances and torture.

He also repeated earlier calls on Iran to validate its claim to the field by demarcating its own maritime borders first.

Iran has previously said it has a stake in the field and called a Saudi-Kuwaiti agreement signed last year to develop it "illegal".

"Until this moment, this is an exclusive right of Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the Durra field, and whoever has a claim must start demarcating the borders. And if it has a right, it will take it according to the rules of international law," Al Barrak said in an interview with Saudi state-run Al Ekhbariya television.

"The other side has claims that are not based on a clear demarcation of the maritime borders," he added, referring to Iran.

Iran claims any development without its consent breaks international laws, and insists that 40 percent of the field is located in its territorial waters.

Al Barrak's comments echo those of Saudi Arabia, which said last week that the kingdom and Kuwait exclusively own natural wealth in the Gulf's maritime "Divided Area".

Saudi Arabia also renewed its call to Iran to start negotiations with Riyadh and Kuwait on the demarcation of the eastern border of the area, Saudi state news agency SPA said.

Called Arash in Iran and Durra or Dorra by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait -- the offshore field was discovered in 1967 and is estimated to have a total proven reserves of around 310 million barrels of oil and 20 trillion cubic feet of gas.

With reporting by Reuters