Iran

U.N. atomic agency separately reported that Tehran continues to stonewall its investigation into Iranian nuclear activities

TEHRAN–Iran said Thursday it has built a hypersonic missile capable of penetrating any air-defense system, as the United Nations atomic agency reported that Tehran continues to stonewall its investigation into Iranian nuclear activities.

As senior officials lashed out at Tehran’s neighbors and other foreign foes they accuse of fomenting protests sweeping across the country, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh said the new missile could maneuver both inside and outside the atmosphere, according to state media. He provided no evidence to support the claims.

In videos circulating on social media, male and female students students on Iranian university campuses are seen eating together, often outside the gender-segregated dining halls that were closed after students tore down the walls dividing men and women.

Eating together in front of the closed cafeterias is considered act of resistance. The videos are an act of protest and solidarity with anti-government demonstrations that have been going on for months in Iran.

In many videos, protesters holding placards also draw attention to fellow students who have been arrested. According to media reports, about 300 students have been detained by authorities.

It’s not exactly standard teenage hijinks. They’re not toilet-papering the Muslim cleric’s house or leaving a flaming bag of dog poop on his porch. But there’s a new game being played by Iranian teenagers that is sweeping social media and being imitated in every corner of the country.

The kitchen is the same, as is the chef. The ingredients are also the same. But when the witches’ brew is served in the restaurant, Chez Ayatollah, would-be clients reject it in disgust. This is the image that comes to mind as the Islamic Republic of Iran struggles to crush the latest popular revolt.

Since its inception 43 years ago, the Khomeinist regime has used the same recipe with the same ingredients to save its skin: kill a few hundred, arrest a few thousand, bribe the military and security forces, browbeat celebrities, ban foreign journalists, unleash militia hounds, blame “Zionist and CIA agents”, and invent “secessionist” armed gangs and ISIS attackers coming to dismember Iran and kill innocent Shiites.

At least 277 Iranians have been documented killed in the protests that have wracked Iran since September 16 over the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died after being arrested by the morality police. Security forces have repressed the protests by force.

While the single highest death toll – more than 66 people killed in the city of Zahedan on September 30 – happened when police opened fire using live rifle bullets, other protesters have been killed and injured by beatings and the use of so-called “less-lethal” weapons – notably shotguns.

The Biden administration is sitting idly by as the Iranian regime ratchets up, and keeps getting away with, both its attacks on its own fed-up populace, and its delivery of weapons to Russia — assisted, it seems, by China and North Korea.

In spite of US Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley’s recently having said that the White House is not going to “waste our time” on the nuclear deal “if nothing’s going to happen,” he nevertheless stressed that the Biden administration is still committed to employing diplomacy, presumably to revive it at a later date.

Young Iranians are filming themselves knocking turbans off clerics’ heads to protest the country’s draconian hijab mandate.

In one clip that has gone viral, a young woman is seen running up to a man in a traditional robe from behind and delivering a powerful blow to the back of his white turban, causing it to fall on the ground.

The woman runs away without looking back, while the bare-headed Muslim clergyman stoops to pick up his headdress.

Another brave girl taking part in "knock the turban off the Mullah" in Iranpic.twitter.com/Gi8iduoTyG

— mina bai (@bai_mina) November 3, 2022

Iranian security forces have opened fire on crowds near Tehran marking the 40th day of mourning for a woman shot dead while protesting, witnesses say.

Videos showed thousands walking along roads to reach the grave in Karaj of Hadis Najafi, who has become a symbol of the anti-government unrest in Iran.

State-run media say “rioters” killed a militiaman and injured 10 police.

But witnesses told the BBC that security forces attacked protesters with shotguns, tear gas and machetes.

📢#FreeIran2022
🚨#IranRevolution2022: Nov 3—Karaj, #Iran: Large crowd gathers to commemorate the 40th day of the murder of 22-year-old girl Hadis Najafi #Iranprotests2022.#مهسا_امینی#اعتراضات_سراسری pic.twitter.com/KKiBHO6UNw

— alirezakhosh (@alirezakhosh275) November 3, 2022