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The ministry of intelligence has pressured them to retract their signatures from the letter.

The Green Movement emerged after the disputed 2009 presidential election, demanding the annulment of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election. Its leaders, including Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard, and Mehdi Karroubi, have been under house arrest since 2011 due to their perceived challenge to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's regime.

On Saturday, over 570 political, social, cultural, and civil activists issued a statement expressing concerns about the continued house arrest of these leaders. The Kalemeh website, close to Mousavi, reported that intelligence agents have contacted the signatories, pressuring them to retract their signatures and prepare for possible summons.

Zahra Shojaei, a prominent signatory and former official under President Mohammad Khatami's tenure, affirmed her commitment to the letter despite attempts to coerce her into withdrawing her signature, saying "I have signed this open letter, and I stand by it."

Fazlollah Arab-Sorkhi, another signatory, revealed similar attempts on social media to persuade or compel individuals to retract their signatures.

Although Iranian authorities previously acknowledged the house arrest was ordered by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, the case remains under the jurisdiction of the Supreme National Security Council.

The continued pressure on activists highlights the Iranian regime's determination to silence dissent and suppress criticism of its treatment of Green Movement leaders.

For years the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA, has been demanding from Riyadh to accept complete safeguards protocols and the accompanying monitoring of its nuclear activities.

Saudi Arabia has a nascent nuclear program that it wants to expand to eventually include activities like proliferation-sensitive uranium enrichment. It is unclear where its ambitions end, since Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said for years, it will develop nuclear weapons if regional rival Iran does.

He repeated the same policy in an interview with Fox news last week. When asked about Iran’s escalating nuclear program, MBS said, "If they get one, we have to get one, for security reasons and the balance of power in the Middle East. But we don't want to see that.”

For years, Saudi Arabia and its regional allies have been concerned about Iran’s uranium enrichment and were not happy when the United States signed the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) with Iran in 2015, which allowed continued enrichment. However, Tehran also accepted close IAEA inspections.

Saudi worries about Iran have not dissipated despite an agreement to restore diplomatic ties in March after seven years of strained and tense posturing. The complicated conflict in Yemen, where Iran supports the anti-Saudi Houthi forces has yet to be resolved.

Riyadh has yet to fire up its first nuclear reactor, allowing its program to still be monitored under the Small Quantities Protocol (SQP), an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency that exempts less advanced states from many reporting obligations and inspections.

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has been calling on the dozens of states that still have SQPs to amend or rescind them, calling them a "weakness" in the global non-proliferation regime. The IAEA has been in talks with Riyadh for years on making the switch to a so-called Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) for years.

"The kingdom has recently taken the decision to rescind its Small Quantities Protocol and to move to the implementation of a full-scope Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement," Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman told the IAEA's annual General Conference, speaking through an interpreter.

If Saudi Arabia were to introduce nuclear material into its first nuclear reactor, a low-power research reactor in Riyadh that is near completion, it would void the SQP and its exemptions from regular safeguards.

Despite that, its SQP is a sensitive issue given the fears of an arms race in the Middle East. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons, but it is enriching uranium to such high purity that Western powers say there is no credible civil explanation.

Saudi Arabia is also seeking US agreement and support for its nuclear program, a fact that becomes entangled in talks to normalize relations with Israel, expanding the Abraham Accords.

Prince Abdulaziz did not say whether on top of a regular CSA Saudi Arabia planned to sign up to the IAEA's Additional Protocol, which allows for more wide-ranging and intrusive checks such as snap inspections.

Iran applied the Additional Protocol under its 2015 nuclear deal with major powers but stopped after then-President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the accord in 2018.

(With reporting by Reuters)

The Iranian Oil Ministry's Shana news agency said the incident occurred late on September 22 during emergency repairs, adding that five maintenance workers were hurt, with one worker succumbing to his injuries later.

"During the emergency repair operation in one of the process units of this refinery, five people were injured, and one of the injured died on Monday," an official from Bandar Abbas refinery told state media.

The Bandar Abbas oil refinery project was launched in 1992 and became operational in 1997. It is currently operating under the name of Bandar Abbas Oil Refining Company.

The nominal capacity of the facility is 350,000 barrels of crude oil and gas condensates per day, which accounts for 18% of Iran's petroleum products.

A similar incident happened in July in an oil facility in Bandar Abbas. Three petroleum product reservoirs belonging to the Aftab Oil Refining company caught fire with unspecified degree of damage.

Numerous unexplained explosions and fires have occurred at various Iranian military, nuclear, and industrial facilities, including pipelines and refineries, since mid-2020.

On January 28, a huge fire erupted at an Iranian military industry factory following a suspected drone strike in Esfahan.

Although authorities have not provided full explanations for the incidents, they have attributed a series of high-profile sabotage attacks on facilities to Israel. It's worth noting that Israel has not claimed responsibility for any of these events.

In institutions such as Amirkabir and Tehran Universities, female students are no longer allowed to wear patterned clothing, high-heeled shoes, or artificial nails, or expose tattoos.

Additionally, male students are subject to regulations prohibiting long hair, beards, or mustaches, as well as the wearing of jewelry and piercings.

Recent reports received by Iran International indicate that security forces, Basij militia members, and plainclothes personnel are actively involved in monitoring the entry and exit of students.

The hacktivist group Uprising till Overthrow, which is affiliated to the Albania-based opposition Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK) organization, announced on Saturday that they infiltrated 500 servers, computers, and websites affiliated with the Ministry of Science, gaining access to a cache of over 20,000 documents.

One of these documents disclosed plans for the installation of 740 active cameras in the Science and Industry University in Tehran, along with the implementation of an initial phase of facial recognition software.

Both students and professors who oppose such measures have consistently emphasized that the university should not be treated as a military institution. They assert that the disciplinary actions, expulsions, and suspensions carried out by the Islamic Republic cannot stifle their voices.

In a joint statement issued on Saturday, the student unions from 12 universities across the country declared that, one year after the people's uprising, the student movement has entered a new phase of activism that will undermine the suppressive efforts of the government.

Amid media reports suggesting negligence as the cause of Faramarz Javidzad's death, the Tehran Province Prison Administration issued a statement denying the allegations. Some media reports suggest that he was a Jewish-Iranian.

Javidzad’s health had been deteriorating for several days before he was transferred to the prison clinic on Friday night. However, following an initial medical examination, he was returned to his cell, purportedly at the discretion of prison authorities who prevented his hospitalization, as reported by IranWire.

Responding to the concerns raised, the Tehran Prisons Administration said, "The inmate was transferred to the infirmary immediately on Saturday, and CPR procedures were performed in the presence of a physician, nurse, and emergency personnel. Unfortunately, despite all efforts made, the inmate passed away."

The prison authorities maintain Javidzad underwent a surgical procedure during his custody and was subsequently discharged from the hospital with his personal consent.

“The individual in question was sent to external medical facilities on five occasions during his time in prison due to a pre-existing gastrointestinal condition,” they added.

Javidzad, 60, had resided in the United States for two decades before returning to Iran a few years ago.

The Iranian regime also announced that Javidzad faced charges related to "the transfer of illicit funds, involvement in the formation of a counterfeit and fraudulent network."

The development comes in the wake of the Biden administration decision to approve the release of $6 billion to Iran's regime as part of a five-for-five prisoner exchange. Concerns have been raised by families, including Javidzad's, regarding the omission of their loved ones from the agreement.