Ex-Iranian FM Zarif draws parallels between California wildfires and Gaza

The Baha’i International Community has urged Iranian authorities to release Sabet unconditionally, warning of the serious risks to her life if she is sent back to prison.

Activists worldwide have rallied around her case, organizing a social media campaign under the hashtag #FreeMahvash.

Despite having recently had open heart surgery and worsening health condition, Iranian authorities have granted her only one month of medical leave and expect her to return to prison—a decision that has provoked global campaign.

PEN International voiced grave concern on Thursday over Sabet's return to prison, urging Iranian authorities to release her unconditionally.

Sabet, who suffers from severe heart and lung conditions, as well as osteoporosis and a lung tumor, has spent over 13 years of her life behind bars.

She was most recently arrested on July 31, 2022, and sentenced to 10 years in prison by a preliminary court on charges of leading an “illegal group with the intention of disrupting national security.”

This follows a previous decade-long sentence she served from 2008 to 2017 for her involvement in the governing body of the Baha’i community in Iran.

Sabet’s daughter, Negar who is based in Australia, shared a personal story on her X account, recounting her three-year-old child’s question: "Mommy, is prison even farther away than Iran?"

She reflected on the painful reality of her mother being separated from the family, particularly her granddaughter, who has never met her.

In 2017, Sabet was named an International Writer of Courage by PEN International, recognizing her literary contributions and courage in the face of persecution. She has also received a prestigious literary award in Norway and is an honorary member of PEN branches in Austria, Denmark and the UK.

At around 300,000 people, Baha'is constitute Iran's largest non-Muslim religious minority. Rights groups say that Bahai's have faced systematic persecution and discrimination since the 1979 revolution.

The Islamic Repubic's current constitution only recognizes four religions: Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism.

"Jimmy Carter did not lose Iran, the Shah did," Stuart Eizenstat, Carter’s chief domestic policy adviser, told luminaries gathered at Washington DC's national cathedral.

"The hostage crisis was a major factor in denying him a second term, despite his support for the Shah, because he placed the safe return of the hostages above his own political fortunes."

President Joe Biden, President-elect Donald Trump and all other living former US presidents were in attendance.

Carter and Shah met twice during Carter's presidency, in Washington DC and Tehran, in November and December of 1977. In Tehran, Carter famously toasted the Shah, praising Iran as "an island of stability" in a turbulent region.

Two years later the Shah was forced to leave Iran as revolutionaries led by Ruhollah Khomeini gained control, storming the US embassy in Tehran and holding more than 50 Americans hostage.

The 444-day hostage crisis was an excruciating political liability for Carter, who was painted as weak by his Republican successor Ronald Reagan. A US military raid to free the captives failed, deepening Carter's humiliation.

It crystallized US domestic debates on how forceful US policy abroad should be and put Iran and Washington on track for nearly half century of mutual enmity.

"(Carter) took full responsibility for the failure of the hostage rescue mission and worked tirelessly even after his bitter re-election defeat to Ronald Reagan, securing their release on the last day of his presidency," Eizenstat added.

The US role in the 1979 events remains hotly contested by Iranian critics of the country's Islamic rulers, some of whom say Mohammed Reza Pahlavi was let down by Washington and long for a renewed monarchy under his US-based son, Reza.

Other Iranian dissidents say the late Shah's authoritarianism and mismanagement of the country deprived key ally Washington of an effective partner.

The campaign on the back of municipal buses features Khamenei alongside North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin under the slogan "Don’t forget to sort your waste".

Far-right Mayor Robert Ménard of the southern French city of Béziers had spearheaded the initiative but announced the removal of the adverts on Thursday.

Describing the move as a precautionary measure, Ménard told AFP: "We take this very seriously. I don't want there to be the slightest problem, for example, for our bus drivers."

"We've run lots of campaigns, but they never achieve anything. Nobody even notices them. This one, at least, everyone noticed," he added.

Majid Nili, an aide to Iran’s Foreign Minister, announced Thursday that the Iranian Embassy in Paris has lodged an official complaint against the campaign, which he described as an insult to the Islamic Republic, hate speech and disrespect for Iran's cultural values.

Nili further said that the embassy had demanded what he called an appropriate response from the French government, calling for measures to prevent provocations in the future.

The campaign was launched on January 4, 2025, as part of an initiative to encourage residents to participate in waste sorting.

Since then, images of the municipal buses have been shared widely on social media platforms, including the city’s official Facebook page with the caption: "To start the year off right, think about sorting your rubbish."

French media earlier quoted Ménard saying, "These are scoundrels, non-recyclable waste. One wages an unjust war on his neighbors and sends his army to die, another imprisons his population and the last treats women worse than doormats while eliminating his opponents."

In his New Year’s statement, he also expressed solidarity with the women of Iran, saying: "I am also thinking of those women who, in Iran and elsewhere, refuse to be confined behind a veil, a prison of fabric."

Intimidation, physical assaults, and property damage has been reported by local witnesses, according to the rights group.

Haalvsh has identified 20 detainees by name. The charges against them and their current whereabouts remain unknown.

Hossein Taeb, an advisor to the IRGC Commander-in-Chief, made the comments on Wednesday during a speech discussing Iran's so-called operation True Promise 3, an attack promised by Iranian officials on Israel.

"The operations of True Promise (1), 2, and 3 should be executed when they are strategically effective," Taeb said in comments carried by state media, referring to earlier Iranian attacks against its regional arch-enemy.

Operation True Promise 1 was Iran's first ever direct military strike against Israel, conducted on April 13, 2024.

In retaliation for an Israeli air strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus two weeks earlier, which resulted in the deaths of two Iranian generals, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched a coordinated assault involving over 300 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones targeting Israeli military installations.

Operation True Promise 2, conducted on October 1, 2024 saw the IRGC launched approximately 200 ballistic missiles targeting Israeli military facilities in response to the assassinations of high-ranking Iran-aligned militant leaders.

"Speeding up a war does not mean achieving success," Taeb added. "Strategic weapons must be used at the right time and in a timely manner."

The unprecedented attacks marked a significant escalation in Iran-Israel tensions, transitioning from proxy engagements to direct confrontation. But Israel's advanced air defense systems, with support from US and allied forces, intercepted the majority of the incoming projectiles, minimizing casualties and damage.

Taeb’s remarks follow months of speculation about why Iran has delayed another retaliation to Israel after it battered Tehran-backed armed groups in the region.

Two senior IRGC generals said earlier that Iran's loss of its ally in Syria and lack of sufficient funding meant the time was not right to hit Israel anew.