EU Agrees To Ramp Up Iran Sanctions After Attack On Israel

The statement came in response to heightened tensions with Israel and recent remarks by a Revolutionary Guards commander that suggested potential changes to Iran's nuclear policy under external threats.

"Nuclear weapons have no place in our nuclear doctrine," said ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani during a press briefing in Tehran. He once again claimed that Iran's nuclear program is “strictly for peaceful purposes,” a position consistently maintained by Tehran despite international scrutiny.

Ahmad Haghtalab, a Revolutionary Guards commander, last week indicated that Israeli threats could compel Iran to "review its nuclear doctrine and deviate from its previous considerations."

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, had previously issued a fatwa banning the development of nuclear weapons.

However, nuclear experts are almost unanimous in their assessment that enrichment to the levels and in the amounts that Iran has been doing since 2021 cannot be justified in the absence of a weapons program.

Despite Kanaani's reassurance of peaceful intentions, he addressed recent regional escalations, particularly the Iranian missile and drone attack on Israel earlier this month, which Tehran says was a retaliatory act for the attack on its consulate in Damascus.

He described a subsequent Friday attack on Isfahan, attributed to Israel, as a "provocative act" and warned, "We will respond decisively and more strongly to any aggressive action from any source."

The incident at Isfahan has further strained relations, with reports from The New York Times indicating significant damage to a defense radar near Natanz, Iran’s principal nuclear site, after the attack on 8th Shekari Air Base.

At least one armed drone was launched at the Ain al-Asad air base that hosts US troops in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, a US official said.

That followed five rockets fired from northern Iraq towards US forces at a base in Rumalyn in remote northeastern Syria, on Sunday, according to US and Iraqi officials.

There were no reports of casualties or significant damage from the drone attacks.

On Saturday, a massive explosion at a military base in Iraq killed a member of the pro-Iran Hashd al-Shaabi armed militia group. The force commander said it was an attack while the army said it was investigating and that there were no warplanes in the sky at the time. The US military denied involvement.

Near-daily rocket and drone strikes on US forces began in mid-October and were claimed by a group of Iran-backed Shiite Muslim armed groups known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, who cited US backing for Israel's war in Gaza.

The attacks stopped in late January under pressure from Iraqi authorities and Iran, following deadly US retaliatory airstrikes in Iraq, after three US soldiers were killed in a drone strike on a small base on the Iraqi-Jordanian border.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani returned at the weekend from a week-long visit to the United States where he met President Joe Biden in an effort to turn a new page in US-Iraqi relations despite soaring regional tensions.

The US invaded Iraq in 2003 and toppled strongman leader Saddam Hussein, withdrawing in 2011 before returning in 2014 at the head of an international military coalition at the Baghdad government's request to help fight Islamic State insurgents.

The US has some 2,500 troops in Iraq and 900 in eastern Syria on an advise-and-assist mission.

(Report by Reuters)

The latest directive instructs that instead of allowing individuals to file legal complaints directly, they are now told to go to the administrative offices or public relations departments of the relevant government organization.

While the Iranian judiciary lacks independence, individuals file legal complaints, akin to those in the West, before initiating lawsuits to assert their rights.

Prominent journalist and political analyst Abbas Abdi criticized the directive, saying the move is not lawful.

“This resolution is not legal because neither 'government officials and state leaders' have been defined, nor has any legal article been mentioned. These are futile patches sewn onto regulations to block the paths of protest," Abdi said.

In Iran, numerous high-ranking officials and military organizations – including members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) – possess legal immunity, shielding them from prosecution.

In one prominent case, when the IRGC shot down Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752, resulting in the deaths of all 176 people onboard – families were told by the Tehran Military Prosecutor’s Office that several government and military organizations and several high-ranking officials cannot be legally prosecuted.

Critics have long argued that it is one more indication of the regime’s culture of impunity – where corruption, abuse of power, and human rights violations by officials are not confronted with legal consequences.

The 15 women, who reside in Baharestan, in the central province of Isfahan, were specifically accused by the Prosecutor’s Office for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic system" and "participation in promotional and educational activities contrary to the sacred Sharia of Islam."

According to US-based NGO, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Iranian security agents searched the homes of some of the women.

The women were summoned for their first court appearance on May 1.

The regime in Iran has long persecuted the Baha'i community in Iran, denying them the freedom to worship.

Some of the women were reportedly targeted by the judiciary in 2021, when they were arrested and subsequently released on bail.

The event, HRANA said, illustrates the constant and systematic violation of Bahai religious freedoms by comparison with norms maintained by international human rights.

There are over 300,000 Baha'is living in Iran, making them the largest non-Muslim religious minority, systematically targeted since the 1979 revolution.

The current constitution only recognizes four religions: Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism.

Even when he is silent, his political rivals want to make him say something, hoping that he might shoot himself in the foot by making an odd or controversial comment that would put an end to his turbulent political career.

Conservative journalist Afifeh Abedi in an April 17 tweet quoted Ahmadinejad as having said on social media that "Any country which illegally attacks another should be responded to. That is a right for the country whose territory has been violated." This was clearly a reference to Iran’s April 13 massive missile and drone attack on Israel in response to an airstrike earlier in the month that destroyed a building within the compound of Tehran’s embassy in Damascus.

Abedi charged that "Ahmadinejad's remark reflected his ambitions in Iran's domestic politics rather than being aimed at foreign audiences." Nonetheless, Abdi criticized Ahmadinejad for acknowledging that Israel is a state.

This is one of those controversial comments that everyone in Iran can interpret to serve their political interests. Some, like Ms. Abedi, might believe Ahmadinejad was referring to Iran's unlawful attack on Israel, while others might take it as support for Iran after Israel attacked the Iranian Consulate in Damascus on April 1, and Iran's attack was a retaliation for that.

Even Ahmadinejad's former aide Abdolreza Davari was not quite clear about what Ahmadinejad meant. He asked in a tweet: "Did he condemn Iran or Israel?" On the other hand, conservative journalist Amir Seyediin said in a tweet that "No President anywhere in the world has served Israel’s interests the way Ahmadinejad has done."

Some hardliner social media users lashed out at the former President for failing to condemn Israel for attacking Iran's Consulate in Damascus in the first place and charged that Ahmadinejad had created big problems for Iranians for denying the holocaust during his presidency.

However, some foreign-based media quoted Ahmadinejad as having said in his Telegram channel that "attacking Israel was a right for Iran," possibly to avoid Khamenei’s wrath.

In a tweet on April 16 reformist cleric Rahmatollah Bigdeli called for Ahmadinejad's dismissal from the Expediency Council, a sort of higher parliamentary chamber with members appointed by the Supreme Leader, who intervene in Iran's domestic political and economic issues where the parliament and the government cannot reach a final agreement on an issue.

Bigdeli wrote: "It is essential to remove Ahmadinejad from the Expediency Council as there is an open case against him at the court about oil swap with other countries," that allegedly happened during his presidency. Bigdeli further questioned the way he was elected President in 2005 and 2009 and charged that his slogan about wiping Israel off the map created too many problems for Iran.

Bigdeli further charged that Ahmadinejad has not condemned the Israeli attack on the Iranian Consulate that killed seven top IRGC officers, and has refused to support Iran's attack on Israel. "How can such a creature be a member of the Expediency Council?" Bigdeli asked. He also called on Judiciary Chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei to start Ahmadinejad's trial as he has repeatedly promised in the past.

Many other Iranian politicians have been calling for Ahmadinejad’s trial and his removal from the Expediency Council after he openly criticized Khamenei in 2018. Nonetheless, he somehow managed to keep his seat at the influential council.

However, Twitter users posted a photo that showed Ahmadinejad at the Expediency Council meeting on April 17.