UN Renews Mandates For Fact-Finding Mission, Special Rapporteur On Iran

It is the clearest admission of Iran’s involvement in the atrocities which saw 1,200 mostly civilians murdered and over 250 taken hostage, since terror group Hamas invaded Israel on October 7.

Zahedi, along with his deputy and five other IRGC forces, were killed Monday in an Israeli airstrike against Iran's consulate building in the Syrian capital Damascus.

In a statement issued Wednesday, Coalition Council of Islamic Revolution Forces (also known by its Persian acronym SHANA) hailed Zahedi’s “strategic role in forming and strengthening the resistance front as well as in planning and executing the Al-Aqsa Storm.”

“Axis of resistance” or “resistance front” are the terms coined and employed by the Iranian authorities to refer to Tehran’s proxies in the region, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, Hashd al-Shaabi and Yemeni Houthis.

Iran has time and again denied its involvement in the incident, saying Hamas and other Tehran-backed armed groups in the region make their own decisions and act independently.

However, the Iranian regime swiftly praised the October 7 attack and orchestrated street celebrations, with large banners hung within hours. Some view this as a potential indication that Tehran had prior knowledge of the operation, a claim reported by the WSJ.

SHANA praised Zahedi’s “great honors” in his “silent efforts” against Israel. “The supporters of Tel Aviv should know that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s harsh and regrettable response to this bloody crime is on its way and will affect the future equations of the region, God willing,” added the statement.

SHANA is headed by former Parliament Speaker Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, a figure close to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The coalition’s secretary is Parviz Sorouri, the former IRGC commander.

In the aftermath of Israel's attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, billboards bearing the slogan "We Take Revenge" in both Hebrew and English have sprung up across the Iranian capital. The billboards, featuring images of Israeli military leaders, were placed in front of ten foreign embassies in Tehran, including those of Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, France, the UK, Germany, and Azerbaijan.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday vowed to "punish" Israel for the attack. The sentiment was echoed by other senior Iranian officials, including President Ebrahim Raisi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who all promised “severe” repercussions.

However, numerous commentators in Tehran urged a measured reaction to Israel's Monday strike, cautioning that it could be a ploy to draw Iran into direct conflict.

Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a prominent commentator and former head of the Iranian parliament's foreign policy committee, strongly indicated that the Israeli attack on the embassy was a deliberate plot to entangle Iran in a war. “We should not see the issues emotionally. I have said many times since October 7 that this is a trap for Iran. Since October 7, the trajectory of events has been a setup to drag Iran into war, and what happened was that the balance between diplomacy and the battlefield was disrupted. This imbalance gradually led Iran into a conflict that serves none of its national interests,” he pointed out.

The activists released a statement demanding the annulment of all verdicts and the immediate release of the imprisoned individuals.

"We, a group of women's rights activists and civil and political activists, demand the cancellation of all the sentences, the cessation of pressure on the activists, and their unconditional freedom," reads the statement.

According to the statement, the recent imposition of sentences on women's rights advocates in Gilan highlights the ongoing struggle against oppression faced by activists in the region.

Mustafa Nili, a lawyer of two of the women, revealed on March 27 that the third branch of the Revolutionary Court in Rasht sentenced 11 women activists to more than 60 years in prison on charges including "membership in an illegal group," and “propaganda against the system."

The signatories of the statement, comprising women's rights activists and civil and political advocates, emphatically called for the reversal of the sentences, an end to the pressure exerted on activists, and the unconditional liberation of those incarcerated.

The condemnation comes amidst a broader crackdown on dissent in Iran, with an increasing number of women, including activists, students, lawyers, and even insiders critical of the regime, facing arrest.

Rights groups such as Amnesty International have condemned the crackdowns as part of a broader effort to quash civil society in Iran.

“Amid domestic calls for the abolition of the death penalty, including from death row prisoners, the Iranian authorities have doubled down and persisted with their state-sanctioned killing spree which has turned prisons into killing fields,” read the investigative report titled “‘Don’t Let Them Kill Us’: Iran’s Relentless Execution Crisis Since The 2022 Uprising.”

Amnesty International announced that execution is used as a tool of political repression by the Iranian government which may continue its juggernaut to execute thousands more in the coming years if there is no robust response from the international community.

According to the report, 481 executions, more than half of the total recorded in 2023, were for drug-related offences as the regime beefs up its lethal anti-narcotics policy which can impact poor and marginalized communities in Iran.

Since the 2022 nationwide uprising triggered by the death in morality-police custody of Mahsa Amini, the Iranian government has intensified the use of the death penalty to sow terror among the people and consolidate its grip on power, Amnesty International said.

The number of executions in Iran in 2023 is the highest recorded since 2015, representing a 48% increase from 2022 and a 172% increase from 2021. The trend has continued in 2024, with at least 95 executions recorded until March 20.

“The execution crisis in Iran both stems from and exacerbates a wider crisis of systemic impunity for the arbitrary deprivation of life. Security forces, prosecutors and judges collaborate in a relentless assault on the right to life,” the report said.

At least six of the executed in 2023 were protesters arrested during the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement in 2022, and one other executed in connection to the nationwide uprising in November 2019. The Iranian government also executed at least two social media users on charges of “apostasy” and “insulting the Prophet of Islam” in their social media posts.

“Our shocking findings on the Iranian authorities’ ongoing assault on the right to life underscore the urgent need for the international community to press the Iranian authorities for an immediate moratorium on all executions,” said Diana Eltahawy, Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, further calling for the renewal of the mandates of the UN Fact Finding Mission on Iran and the UN Special Rapporteur on Iran.

The United Nations Human Rights Council launched the Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) in November 2022 in the midst of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement. Following 18 months of investigations, the FFM released its first report on March 8, concluding that the Iranian government carried out widespread and sustained human rights violations, which broke international laws and disproportionately targeted women and girls as well as children and members of ethnic and religious minorities during 2022 protests.

The latest report even exceeds the numbers released in January by the UN which said at least 834 people had been executed in 2023.

“It is vital to signal to the Iranian authorities that their abysmal human rights record will remain under international scrutiny and to ensure that an international independent investigative and accountability mechanism remains in place to collect and analyze evidence of crimes under international law,” Eltahawy stressed.

Describing the Israeli strike as tantamount to "declaring war on Iran," Hassan al-Abadi emphasized Iran's right to retaliate against Israel.

The Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS) militia, an Iranian-backed Iraqi Shiite group established in May 2013, operates both in Iraq and Syria. In Iraq, it is aligned with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and fights alongside the Iraqi government and other Shiite paramilitaries against threats such as the Islamic State. Meanwhile, in Syria, KSS is allied with the Assad regime, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Lebanese Hezbollah, and other pro-Assad, predominantly Shiite factions battling against jihadists and anti-government forces.

The airstrike, reportedly carried out by an Israeli F-35, targeted a building within the diplomatic compound on Monday. The attack resulted in the deaths of two senior IRGC generals and five other officers. The incident is widely regarded as the most significant setback to the clerical regime and its regional aspirations since the elimination of Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC's Quds Force, in a similar US strike in Baghdad in January 2020.

In response to the attack, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei vowed revenge on Tuesday.

With expectations high for retaliation, the Iranian regime finds itself in a delicate position. While it must respond to maintain its credibility, any direct military action risks escalating tensions into open warfare with Israel—an outcome many in Tehran want to avoid.

Conflicting reports from sources on the two sides make it almost impossible to draw an accurate picture of what happened late on Wednesday local time, and the apparent continuation of clashes on Thursday. But It is clear that Iranian forces were caught off-guard and the ensuing exchange of fire lasted for several hours, likely in more than one location.

Jaish al-Adl, the militant group taking responsibility for the attacks, has a long history of targeting Iranian armed forces, especially the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), in areas bordering Pakistan. It has been on the US foreign terrorist organization list since 2010, and has on occasion killed civilians in bombings. 

Thursday morning, Iranian official sources claimed that as many as 16 militants were killed. News websites affiliated with the Revolutionary Guard announced that government casualties has increased to 11 dead, including 7 IRGC personnel. Also, there were reports that clashes still continued in some locations at daybreak.

This recent attack holds more significance than previous ones for two main reasons: firstly, it occurred shortly after Israel's airstrike in Syria, which killed seven IRGC members, including two senior commanders; and secondly, Jaish al-Adl's previous major attack in January led to a political crisis between Iran and Pakistan. This crisis ensued after Iran targeted what it claimed were militant hideouts inside Pakistan, prompting Pakistan to retaliate by hitting what it alleged were separatist Baluch positions within Iran.

It’s unclear if the regime in Tehran would react in the same manner to the attacks Thursday. Only hours before the Jaish al-Adl ambush, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei threatened Israel with a ‘slap’ for its killing of IRGC commanders in Syria. A similar threat, whether or not it’s followed through, could further complicate the questions facing Khamenei and his soldiers.

The last thing the Islamic Republic needs at the moment is a spat with Pakistan –or worst case scenario, a new front in its ongoing proxy wars. But turning a blind eye to this attack may not be an option either, especially since Jaish al-Adl has killed Iranian military personnel and will almost certainly do so again whenever it can. Moreover, the attack came on the eve of the annual Quds Day, much touted by Tehran. This year, officials were emphasizing the importance of the occasion to support Palestinians across the world.

On Thursday, the Sunni militants claimed they had attacked and exchanged heavy fire with Iranian forces at six IRGC and police locations. They even posted a video on the group’s Telegram channel that they said showed their fighters inside an IRGC base capturing weapons and preparing to fight.

Sources in Iran –state and IRGC affiliated– denied this, claiming to have neutralized the "attempt by terrorists”, and downplaying the significance of the attack. They first announced 5 casualties on each side, but later changed it to 3 Iranians and 12 militants.

The ‘chain operations’ targeted police and IRGC posts in the southeast cities of Chabahar and Rask, according to Jaish al-Adl. Iran's Deputy Minister of Interior Majid Mirahmadi admitted that the militants had set up ambushes along nearby roads to prevent Iranian forces from chasing them.

Shortly after, he was quoted by IRGC-affiliated sources, claiming that the militants had failed to breach the IRGC base and that the hostage in a residential building had been freed. "The terrorists experienced a total defeat," he said, while some local sources claimed some fighting was still going on.

The government in Iran considers Jaish al-Adl a terrorist organization. Officials often allege that the group has ties with US, Saudi, and Israeli intelligence agencies, and is tasked by them to whip up instability and insecurity in southeast Iran.