Narges Mohammadi foundation backs Iran protests, says silence is enough
The Paris-based Narges Foundation, run by the family of jailed Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, issued a statement on her official X account on Thursday backing protesters in Iran.
“As streets in Iran once again see live fire, tear gas, beatings and mass arrests, with unarmed protesters killed in recent days, silence is not an option,” the message said.
The group said standing with the people of Iran is not a political choice but a human and moral duty, so that 'victims of oppression' can achieve their legitimate demands and no grievance is met with prison, bullets or intimidation.
“We stand with families who have lost loved ones, detainees held incommunicado in prisons and security detention centers, and the wounded who are denied safe medical treatment, as well as all those demanding security, freedom, justice and a better future.”
“The way out of the cycle of violence and repression is a transition to democracy and guarantees for citizens’ rights, toward a free and equal future for everyone,” it added.
The foundation said it was speaking out in the absence of Mohammadi herself, on the 21st day of her latest detention and confinement.
Spectators chanted the slogan “Reza Shah, may your soul rest in peace” after the end of the Sepahan–Esteghlal football match on Thursday evening in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, according to videos received by Iran International.
Iran erected banners across Tehran on Thursday threatening further attacks against Israel and a US base in Qatar, with state media publishing images of the banners showing maps and locations of strikes carried out during a 12‑day war in June.
The phrase “It Will Happen Again” appears above images of sites targeted during the June war, including Israel’s Nevatim airbase and the Haifa refinery and power plant, as well as Qatar’s Al‑Udeid airbase, which hosts American troops and was targeted in June.
Iranian officials framed those strikes as only a fraction of the country’s missile capabilities and warned that future retaliation could be more extensive.
The new banners come after recent remarks by US President Donald Trump on his support for possible Israeli attacks on missile or nuclear sites in Iran, prompting senior state and military officials in Tehran to issue a series of defiant and threatening messages.
Trump said on Monday he would support possible Israeli strikes on Iran if the Islamic Republic further develops its ballistic missile or nuclear programs, warning Tehran against rebuilding military capabilities destroyed in Israeli and American airstrikes in June.
“Israel should remember the blows it received in the recent war and take a lesson from the previous attack before thinking of entering a new one,” IRGC spokesman Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Naeini said on Wednesday.
“Iran’s power is increasing by the day, and Israelis only talk about a weak Iran in the media while they themselves know very well how strong our missile capabilities are,” Naeini added.
The United States held five rounds of negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program earlier this year, for which Trump set a 60‑day deadline. When no agreement was reached by the 61st day on June 13, Israel launched a surprise military offensive, followed by US strikes on June 22 targeting key nuclear facilities in Isfahan, Natanz and Fordow.
The attacks killed several nuclear scientists along with hundreds of military personnel and civilians, while Iranian counterattacks killed 32 Israeli civilians and an off‑duty soldier, according to official tallies from both sides.
On June 23, Iran launched around 14 short‑ and medium‑range ballistic missiles at Al‑Udeid base as part of its retaliation for US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities the previous day.
US officials said air defenses in Qatar intercepted 13 of the missiles and that one fell short of the base, but satellite imagery later indicated a missile had struck and damaged a large US radar dome used for secure communications, while Washington reported no American casualties.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, while Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said dealing with Trump is beneath the dignity of the Islamic Republic and officials have rejected US demands to end uranium enrichment and curb missile capabilities.
The United States has long insisted that Iran must completely halt its uranium enrichment program, stop supporting its armed allies in the Middle East and accept restrictions on its ballistic missile program. Tehran has rejected the demands.
A group of Baluch prisoners issued a statement calling on the people of Sistan and Baluchestan province not to let the current “wave of freedom” pass without their powerful presence, urging them to support protesters in Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz and all cities across Iran.
Sistan and Baluchestan was one of the main hotspots of unrest during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom protests, with repeated Friday demonstrations met by deadly crackdowns.
The prisoners appealed to residents to reclaim streets that “have always belonged to the people, not dictators.”
The prisoners also urged demonstrators to make their slogans echo “like thunder across Iran,” including “Death to the dictator,” “Freedom, justice, Iranian republic” and “Baluchestan is awake and despises dictatorship.”
Shayan Asadollahi, a 28-year-old barber, was killed after being shot by security forces during popular protests in the city of Azna in Lorestan province on Thursday night, a relative confirmed to Iran International, raising the confirmed death toll to three.
The source said several military Hilux vehicles of the Revolutionary Guard attacked Shayan and a group of other protesters who were returning from a demonstration, and that security forces targeted him with military-grade weapons.
Evidence received by Iran International indicates that a live round struck Shayan in the abdomen.
At least two other protesters were also killed during the crackdown, the source said.
The IRGC-affiliated Fars News had earlier reported the killings of three protesters in Azna.
Hessam Khodayarifard, a 22-year-old protester, was fatally shot by security forces on Wednesday night during the crackdown on protests in the city of Kuhdasht in Lorestan province, two family sources confirmed to Iran International.
A close relative of the deceased told Iran International that his body has not yet been handed over to the family and that the family has been pressured to present him as a member of the Revolutionary Guard's Basij militia.
