Amnesty demands release of Baluchi teen in Iran held to pressure father

The non-binding measure passed on Thursday as members like Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Iraq voted against while Canada, the US, UK, France, Israel, Japan and Australia were among those in favor.

"There has been a record number of executions this year as serious as any time since 1980,” former Canadian UN ambassador Bob Rae told Iran International.

Amnesty International on October urged an immediate halt to executions, saying more than 1,000 had been recorded so far in 2025, many following unfair trials aimed at silencing dissent and persecuting minorities.

“Canada consults Iranian civil society and the UN Special Rapporteur during drafting.. But also diplomatic compromises dilute language to gain votes, with abstentions reflecting caution or fear of reprisals,” Rae said.

The initiative began in 2003 after Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi's death in custody.

While the UN General Assembly resolutions are not binding, Rae said the resolution's value in maintaining scrutiny. "It's about documenting abuses, warning that the world is watching, and refusing to normalize what is happening."

Canada shuttered its embassy and cut diplomatic ties with Iran in 2012 over what it called security concerns for its diplomats and Iran’s alleged support for terrorism and human-rights abuses.

Ottawa has levied a series of sanctions on Iran for human rights abuses since the Women, Life Freedom protest movement after the death of a young woman, Mahsa Amini, in morality police custody in 2022.

"Iran has never rejected negotiations and dialogue based on respect for the Iranian nation’s legal rights and legitimate interests, but considers talks based on one-sided imposition unacceptable," official media cited Araghchi as saying.

Araghchi criticized the "irresponsible" stance of the three European powers on Iran's nuclear program, saying that Tehran is open to talks respecting its legal rights and legitimate interests but rejects unilateral imposition.

Cooper underlined Britain's commitment to diplomacy on the nuclear dossier. No UK readout of the call has been issued.

The three European countries—France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—triggered the Iran nuclear deal snapback mechanism in August, leading to the reimposition of UN sanctions in September.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reached a technical understanding in Cairo in September, mediated by Egypt, aimed at gradually restoring inspectors’ access to nuclear sites.

Following the return of UN sanctions on Iran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the United States and three European powers had “killed” the Cairo nuclear agreement through what he called a sequence of hostile actions.

Araghchi said last month that Washington’s approach amounted to “dictation, not negotiation,” accusing the US of trying to achieve through diplomacy what it failed to gain by force.

“They want us to accept zero enrichment and limits on our defense capabilities,” he said. “This is not negotiation.”

Trump said Iran could avoid past and by reaching a nuclear deal, adding that any attempt to revive its program without an agreement would prompt further US action. He has repeatedly said Iran missed an earlier chance to avert the strikes by accepting a deal.

“We call on IAEA Director General Grossi, who is pushing to restore contacts with Tehran, to strictly adhere to the founding mission of the IAEA Secretariat,” Russia’s state news agency TASS cited Sergei Lavrov as saying in Cairo.

“This includes the neutral, unbiased, and professional nature of assessments and the broader activities of this organization,” Lavrov added.

Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reached a technical understanding in Cairo in September, when Egypt mediated a deal aimed at gradually restoring inspectors’ access to nuclear sites.

Following the return of UN sanctions on Iran, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the United States and three European powers had “killed” the Cairo nuclear agreement through what he called a sequence of hostile actions.

Lavrov said that Iran could not be expected to resume full cooperation with the agency while feeling exposed to attacks and political pressure.

“Moscow backs efforts to resume talks between Iran and the IAEA, but only on a fair basis that Tehran views as balanced and consistent with the agency’s mandate,” he added.

The IAEA Board of Governors adopted a Western-backed resolution last month, urging Iran to provide full access and information about its nuclear program. Diplomats said the measure passed with 19 votes in favor, 3 against, and 12 abstentions, with Russia, China, and Niger voting against it.

The resolution called on Iran to allow verification of its enriched uranium stockpile and inspections at sites damaged by US and Israeli airstrikes in June.

Araghchi said last month that Washington’s approach amounted to “dictation, not negotiation,” accusing the US of trying to achieve through diplomacy what it failed to gain by force.

“They want us to accept zero enrichment and limits on our defense capabilities,” he said. “This is not negotiation.”

Trump said Iran could avoid past and by reaching a nuclear deal, adding that any attempt to revive its program without an agreement would prompt further US action. He has repeatedly said Iran missed an earlier chance to avert the strikes by accepting a deal.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said dealing with Donald Trump is beneath the dignity of the Islamic Republic, while Iranian officials have rejected US demands to end uranium enrichment and curb missile capabilities.

As heavy rainfall hits parts of the country, flooding has replaced drought as the most visible sign of Iran’s environmental crisis.

But instead of easing water shortages, the rain is accelerating destruction, washing through cities, villages and farmlands without replenishing groundwater or restoring depleted aquifers.

Decades of destructive urban expansion, dam building, interbasin water transfers and unchecked groundwater extraction have compacted the land, Eskandari said, chalking it up to "bad governance"

Trained in hydraulic structures and environmental research, Eskandari studies how dams, urban expansion, soil degradation and groundwater extraction affect flood behavior and water scarcity, placing him at the intersection of engineering, environment and policy.

Land that once drank in the rainfall no longer can: "The soil has lost the ability to absorb the water," Eskandari said.

A familiar pattern has emerged across Iran: rain arrives after prolonged drought, but instead of recharging groundwater, it turns into runoff. Water remains on the surface, rushing downhill, collecting mud and debris and producing floods.

Climate change has altered rainfall patterns, Eskandari adds, increasing intensity and shortening precipitation periods, which he calls "not a root cause, but can be considered as an intensifier."

Flooding offers little relief because Iran lacks the systems needed to manage water when it arrives. Watershed management, land-use planning and early warning mechanisms that could turn floods into a resource are largely absent.

"These floods could be used to feed the aquifers," Eskandari said. Instead, without preparation, they are simply not used."

Environmental injustice

Damage consistently concentrates in areas with weak infrastructure and limited political influence. These include villages, informal settlements and poorer urban districts.

Wealthier neighborhoods are better protected by drainage networks, reinforced construction and faster access to emergency services, turning flooding into an issue of environmental injustice.

The flooding now unfolding is also taking place against a deeper structural crisis.

When Dr. Kaveh Madani spoke to Eye for Iran earlier this year, he warned that Iran is no longer facing a typical drought but what he calls water bankruptcy, a condition in which consumption exceeds supply and reserves built over generations have already been exhausted.

“We have never seen such a thing,” Madani said. “The people of Tehran, the city that is the richest, most populous and strongest politically, is running out of water, is facing day zero.”

Madani’s warning reinforces Eskandari’s assessment that short bursts of rain or even seasonal floods will not reverse the crisis without systemic reform.

For Eskandari, the shift from drought to flooding is not an anomaly but a warning.

“We are one step closer to territorial collapse,” he said. “These policies have taken Iran into, as I call it, a point of no return,” Eskandari said, “for the land and for the people, both at the same time.”

You can watch the full episode of Eye for Iran on YouTube or listen on any podcast platform of your choosing.

"In the case of some of these executions," Rubio told reporters at a State Department press conference when asked about reports by human rights organizations that Iran has had the highest number of executions in 2025.

"Some of them, by the way, were in the aftermath of the war with Israel, where they went through and have jailed people and accused people of being informants and spies."

"Our problem with the Iranian regime isn't simply – I mean, obviously, it's predominantly their desire to acquire nuclear weapons, their sponsorship of terrorism – but it's ultimately the treatment of their own people," Rubio said.

Iran denies seeking a nuclear weapon and a standoff between Tehran and Washington over the future of its uranium enrichment has precluded any renewed talks since a 12-day war launched by Israel and the United States in June.

Tehran rejects US demands to stop enrichment, curb its missile arsenal and end support armed allies in the Middle East like Hezbollah and Hamas.

Under Rubio, the state department has ramped up its criticism of Iran's human rights records in frequent social media posts, most recently branding as suspicious the sudden death of a human rights lawyer whom Tehran said died of a heart attack.

Earlier this month, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammedi was arrested at a memorial service for the man, Khosrow Alikordi, along with dozens of other activists in one of the more prominent anti-government protests against authorities since a June war.

Economic and ecological problems have also beset the country as US and international sanctions ramped up after the war.

"You've got a clerical, radical regime that has driven and taken the wealth of that country and used it not to enrich their – secure their people and their future, not to make sure they have enough water and electricity," Rubio added.

"They've used their money to sponsor terrorist organizations all over the world."

Tehran says it oversees a regional axis of Resistance opposed to Israel and the United States, but its sway is diminished after two years of regional combat in which Iran itself and its allies took heavy blows.