Exiled prince Pahlavi says ready for interim rule

“Not a single official has yet to be held accountable for the lethal state force that killed hundreds if not over a thousand protesters,” the independent non-profit said on Wednesday.

The 2019 protests erupted in November in response to a sudden fuel price hike and were met with live ammunition, heavy weaponry, and widespread arrests.

Security forces enacted a shoot-to-kill policy on orders from the highest levels, including Iran’s Supreme Leader, who instructed officials to “do whatever it takes to end it” according to a report at the time by Reuters.

The crackdown resulted in the deaths of at least 1,500 people, according to the same report, and a nationwide internet blackout to prevent the full extent of the killings from being exposed.

CHRI warned that impunity for Iranian authorities has fueled further bloodshed, including the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in which security forces killed over 500 protestors.

“The Islamic Republic has learned it can commit mass murder with little cost, and so it does it again and again,” said CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.

The group has called on the UN to launch an inquiry into the events of November 2019, urging international action to address what it called persistent use of lethal force against civilians and systematic targeting of families seeking justice.

Member states are also encouraged to pursue Iranian officials implicated in these abuses under universal jurisdiction if they enter foreign territories.

Ongoing imprisonment and death sentences for protesters

The Iranian government has continued to prosecute and sentence 2019 protesters and has increasingly resorted to capital punishment as a means of silencing dissent, CHRI said in their report.

In September 2024, Iranian boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani was sentenced to death for his involvement in the protests, despite a previous Supreme Court ruling overturning his sentence. Another protester, Abbas Deris, also faces execution following a conviction reportedly based on coerced confessions.

Additionally in August this year, Matin Hassani, who lost an eye in the protests, was summoned to serve a 31-month prison sentence for supporting victims' families and seeking justice.

Families face persecution

CHRI highlighted that the families of those killed in 2019 have faced continuous harassment, arrests, and imprisonment for their efforts to pursue justice.

Earlier in October this year, Farzad Moazami Goudarzi, cousin of slain protester Reza Moazami Goudarzi, was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security.”

Meanwhile two mothers of slain protesters, Mahboubeh Ramezani and Rahimeh Yousefzadeh, received 18-month prison sentences in September on charges including “propaganda against the regime,” “membership in the Mothers of November 2019 Victims group” and “insulting the Supreme Leader.”

The family of Pouya Bakhtiari, a protester killed in 2019, has faced similar reprisals.

His father Manouchehr received an 18-year sentence earlier this year, while his mother, Nahid Shirpisheh, is currently serving a five-year term. Authorities have also detained Pouya’s uncle, Arian Shirpisheh, and assaulted another uncle, Mehrdad Bakhtiari, following their public appeals for justice.

Speaking on the lack of accountability, Soran Mansournia, a member of the Aban Families for Justice, and whose brother Borhan was killed during the protests, stressed the urgent need for a UN investigation to investigate: “Five years have passed, and we are still unsure about the most important issue—how many people were killed?"

It requires a collective will, a collective demand, to truly uncover the unseen aspects of November 2019," he added. "We are dealing with an impoverished social class that does not have the means to share their suffering—a group that does not have access to media or to the outside world.”

The mixed messages show the contending goals of beleaguered civilian leaders eager to ease heavy international sanctions and an ascendant armed establishment dedicated to confronting Israel and the United States.

Iran would “choose the timing and nature of our response to the Zionist regime, and when the moment arrives, we will act without hesitation," Army Commander-in-Chief Abdolrahim Mousavi said. "Our response will be decisive and uncompromising.”

Other senior officials intensified their warnings. Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Chief Hossein Salami said Iran was determined to respond.

“Our eyes are fixed upon you, and we will fight to the very end. Retribution will come; we will respond with painful blows—just wait and see,” Salami warned.

His deputy, Ali Fadavi, said the showdown would pit justice against falsehood, vowing the world would soon “witness the complete downfall of the Zionist regime.”

The warnings underscore the sky-high tension between regional arch-foes Iran and Israel, even as Iran's civilian leaders told the visiting head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it sought to negotiate over its disputed nuclear program.

In an escalating cycle of tit-for-tat attacks that began in April, Iran and Israel have increasingly targeted each other, with tensions reaching new heights.

Iran is now expected to retaliate following Israel’s latest move: a four-hour operation on October 26 that Israel reports significantly damaged Iran’s air defense systems.

Israel’s strike was itself a response to Iran’s October 1 missile barrage, which followed a series of high-profile assassinations attributed to Israel.

These killings included the leader of Hezbollah in Lebanon and a senior Hamas political figure within an IRGC compound in Tehran, an incident widely seen as a stark breach of Iranian security.

Meanwhile, the Iranian government has signaled its readiness for diplomatic engagement on its nuclear program.

On Wednesday, Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrived in Tehran to address international concerns over Iran’s nuclear activities.

“Iran is prepared to cooperate with the IAEA to clarify any supposed ambiguities,” President Masoud Pezeshkian assured Grossi, insisting on the “the peaceful nature of our nation’s nuclear activities.”

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also highlighted Iran’s willingness to negotiate, saying, “We are ready to engage in talks based on our national interest and our inalienable rights, but we will not negotiate under pressure or intimidation.”

Following his meeting with Grossi, Araghchi reaffirmed Iran’s commitment to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), adding, “Differences can be resolved through cooperation and dialogue.”

According to Reuters, Iran plans to send a message to European powers through Grossi, underscoring its determination to resolve the nuclear standoff with Western nations.

Ali Larijani was meeting with the head of Syria's Supreme National Security Council when a nearby building was hit with three air strikes, according to an unconfirmed report by the Jamaran news website in Iran, which added that Larijani was unhurt.

Several people were killed and injured on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes targeting two residential buildings in the suburbs of Syria's capital, Damascus, according to the state news agency SANA.

Israel's military radio reported that the strikes targeted assets and the headquarters of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad.

While Israel has conducted airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, it has significantly intensified these operations following the October 7 attack last year by the Palestinian group Hamas, which ignited the Gaza war.

Larijani held talks with Hammouda Sabbagh, the Speaker of the Syrian People's Assembly on Thursday afternoon but Iran’s foreign ministry gave no detailed explanation of the itinerary and goals of his trip.

The special envoy, a senior advisor to Khamenei and a former parliament speaker, is no stranger to unofficial diplomacy. He previously played a central role in securing the 25-Year Iran-China Agreement, a controversial deal whose full terms were never publicly disclosed.

During that effort, he bypassed Iran’s formal governmental structures to deliver Khamenei’s message directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Now, operating outside Iran’s traditional diplomatic framework, his Syria visit may be a sign that Khamenei is again relying on direct emissaries to manage critical foreign policy matters.

Bashar al-Assad, whose government survived a rebellion beginning in 2011 largely due to Iranian military and financial backing, occupies a pivotal position in Tehran’s regional security calculus.

Syria’s geographic proximity to Israel and Lebanon makes it a key base for Iran's Lebanese ally Hezbollah in its conflict with Israel.

Over the past year, Israeli strikes have repeatedly targeted Iranian-linked forces and infrastructure in Syria, with high-ranking Iranian and Hezbollah commanders among those killed.

Although Assad has maintained close ties with Iran, he has occasionally distanced himself from Tehran’s broader regional conflicts. Notably, he has managed to mend relations with Saudi Arabia and rejoined the Arab League in 2023 after years of diplomatic isolation.

Assad’s restrained response to the recent escalation following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel suggests a cautious approach, even as Syria remains a key theater in Iran’s regional strategy.

The envoy’s meeting with Assad and other officials is being seen as part of Iran’s efforts to consolidate its position in Syria amid heightened regional tensions.

Iranian officials have repeatedly signaled plans for retaliation against Israel for its attack on Iran on October 26 but have refrained from detailing their timeline or approach.

In April and October 2024, Iran launched unprecedented missile attacks on Israel, with the October 1 assault involving around 200 ballistic missiles targeting military installations and urban centers, marking the largest direct attack by Iran on Israel.

These strikes were retaliatory responses to earlier Israeli operations, including airstrikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria.

In response, on October 26 Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iranian military assets, including missile facilities and Revolutionary Guard units, aiming to weaken Iran’s capabilities and deter further aggression.

This escalation marked a shift from proxy warfare to direct confrontation between the two nations.

Larijani's visit will mark his second meeting with Assad. The first occurred in February 2020, shortly after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by US forces in Iraq, a trip that underscored his role as Khamenei’s trusted emissary during critical periods.

As the region braces for further developments, the visit signals Iran’s intent to strengthen its coordination with Syria and reassert its influence in the face of mounting challenges.

Waltz has pulled no punches in accusing the Joe Biden administration of emboldening Tehran.

Despite sanctions, the Islamic Republic in the last four years has made record revenues from oil, approached military grade uranium enrichment, supported Russia’s war in Ukraine and backed allied armed groups in a region-wide fight against Israel.

Most recently, Iran has attempted to assassinate President-elect Donald Trump according to US authorities, an alleged plot which Waltz has not been shy to blame on Biden.

“While the Iranians have been trying to assassinate not only dissidents like journalists, like Salman Rushdie who was stabbed in the neck on stage, but they’re trying to kill right now as we speak, president-elect Trump,” he said on Fox News last week.

“President Biden should be standing on the podium right now sending a very clear message to the Ayatollah: if any of this happens, here will be the consequences," he added. "We will rain holy hell down on Tehran if you interfere with our democracy and if you kill a President-elect of the United States. But yet they think they can get away with it because they don’t think there will be any consequences.”

Waltz, who hails from Florida, is a defense veteran who has also worked in the Pentagon as a policy adviser under former defense chiefs Donald Rumsfeld and Robert Gates.

After 24 years of service, he was the first Green Beret elected to the US House and has been chairman of the House Armed Services subcommittee on readiness and a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.

In 2020, Waltz was quick to praise the Trump-ordered assassination of Iranian Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani: “I'm glad President Trump finally stood up to Iran to show them we will not allow the death of more Americans.”

The killing of Soleimani, who had been responsible for the deaths of many US soldiers, made Trump and his aides the targets of alleged assassination plots from Tehran.

Waltz, in addition to supporting Ukraine against Iran-baked Russian aggression and Israel against Iran’s regional militias, will be likely be central to an effort by the incoming administration to further isolate Tehran.

In 2020, he said more must be done to strangle Tehran economically.

“We must continue to enforce sanctions and the economic pressure campaign because it's working — but we can't do it alone. Our European allies need to step up against terrorism to pressure the regime back to the negotiating table. For our country, our military and the world, it's important we don't back down,” he said.

In spite of countries such as Canada joining the US in designating Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organization, the European Union has so far demurred, though it has levied multiple rounds of sanctions against Tehran for its nuclear program, human rights record and arms shipments to Russia.

On X last week, Waltz continued his criticism of Biden: “Why has Iran been trying to kill President Trump? Because they think they can get away with it. The Biden administration’s weakness over the last 4 years has emboldened our adversaries THAT MUCH.”

He has long been a vocal supporter of Iran's archenemy, Israel, calling the Jewish state “the greatest ally we’ve ever known” at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual conference in September.

In a recent Economist article, Waltz chastised the Biden administration for hindering Israel in its war in Gaza against Iran-backed Hamas. Biden had threatened to cut off arms if more aid was not given to the Palestinians in the enclave amid a humanitarian crisis as pressure mounted from Democrats.

"The next administration should, as Mr. Trump argued, 'let Israel finish the job' and 'get it over with fast' against Hamas," Waltz wrote. "They should put a credible military option on the table to make clear to the Iranians that America would stop them building nuclear weapons and reinstate a diplomatic and economic pressure campaign to stop them and to constrain their support for terror proxies."

The 11-year-old case was won by families of the bombing which killed 241 US personnel at a barracks in Beirut but the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan threw it out in a 3-0 decision citing issues around state law.

The panel also rejected a claim that a 2019 federal law designed to make it easier to seize Iranian assets held outside the United States waived the central bank's (Bank Markazi) sovereign immunity.

That law "neither abrogates Bank Markazi's jurisdictional immunity nor provides an independent grant of subject matter jurisdiction," Circuit Judge Robert Sack wrote.

It has now been referred back to US District Judge Loretta Preska in Manhattan to address state law questions, including whether the case can proceed at all in Bank Markazi's absence.

The case, Peterson et al v. Bank Markazi et al, accused Iran of giving material support for the Hezbollah attack by seizing bond proceeds held by Luxembourg-based Clearstream Banking in a blocked account on Bank Markazi's behalf.

However, Bank Markazi claimed immunity under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which generally shields foreign governments from liability in US courts.

The case has been a years-long battle for families seeking justice. Plaintiffs successfully sued Bank Markazi in 2013 to partially satisfy a $2.65 billion default judgment they had won against Iran in 2007. Another judge dismissed the case in 2015, but the 2nd Circuit revived it in 2017.

Then in 2020, the US Supreme Court ordered a fresh review in light of the 2019 law, which then-President Donald Trump signed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.

The plaintiffs have said they hold more than $4 billion of judgments against Iran and have been unable to collect for decades.

(Reporting by Reuters)