German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was shocked by the number of innocent protesters being illegally and violently arrested. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has already announced that she is going to ask the European Union to sanction the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, Canada announced a fourth round of sanctions against senior Iranian officials and law enforcement agents, whom Canada accuses of being involved in the crackdown and arrest of unarmed protesters. Meanwhile, Ukraine has formally called for Iran’s soccer team to be banned from next month’s World Cup over Iranian-made drones being used by Russia to strike political and infrastructure targets inside Ukraine. For the first time, Iran has acknowledged that it is at risk of being banned from the World Cup, a move that would be a devastating blow for a country that loves football. Iran’s president, Ibrahim Raisi, said he would contact Qatar, the tournament’s hosts. Ukraine said Iran – who play England on November 21 – “are guilty of systematic human rights violations, possibly in breach of the FIFA Charter”. Iran’s national football team during a friendly match against Syria in Tehran last year. Ukraine called for the team’s exclusion from the Qatar World Cup. Photo: AFP/Getty Shakhtar Donetsk CEO Sergey Palkin has called for Iran to be replaced by Ukraine at this year’s tournament. “While the Iranian leadership will have fun watching their national team play in the World Cup, Ukrainians will be killed by Iranian drones and Iranian missiles,” he tweeted. The latest signs of external support for Iran’s women- and student-led protests came as sit-ins continued at universities and more than 500 civilian journalists put their names to an internal appeal calling for the release of reporters who helped break the story. by Mahsa Amini. detention. In a sign of justice, Mohammad Ghobadlo, a protester arrested on charges of “corruption in the land” after taking part in an anti-government rally, was sentenced to death after just one hearing, his mother said on Monday. . “My son is only 22 years old and he is also sick. They denied him a lawyer and they don’t allow lawyers to enter the court,” Ghobadlo’s mother said in a video posted online. “They interrogated him without access to a lawyer and sentenced him to death after only one hearing. Is this Islamic justice? In what court do they sentence people to death after a single hearing? They will execute him soon. I’m asking people to help,” he added in the video. Security agencies have unleashed a heavy crackdown on the mostly peaceful protests, which have killed at least 253 people, including 34 Iranians under the age of 18, according to a human rights group. Several thousand people have been arrested, many of whom were taken to special IRGC detention centers. But Iran’s elite remains divided between those who want to see the protests solely as the product of a well-organized foreign conspiracy best stopped by repression, and those who say the unrest, now in its sixth week, reveals deep problems in the U.S. Iranian society, including an unreliable and silenced official media that leaves young Iranians dependent on Western satellite channels. Former foreign minister Javad Zarif appeared to side with those calling for talks, saying that opponents of dialogue, whatever their guise or slogan, seem to prefer violence. An Iranian woman adjusts her headscarf as she walks down a street in Tehran. Several thousand people have been arrested since the protests began. Photo: Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA The main state news agency IRNA reported that 1,000 detained protesters played a “central role” in the unrest. Each will stand trial on his own for “subversive acts,” including assaulting security guards, setting fire to public property and other charges. “Those who intend to challenge and undermine the regime depend on foreigners and will be punished according to legal standards,” said Iran’s judiciary chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni Ejei, indicating that some protesters would be charged with collaborating with foreign governments. Ejay claimed that prosecutors tried to distinguish between angry Iranians – who were simply trying to vent their grievances in the streets – and those who wanted to topple the Islamic Republic. “Even among the agitators, it should be clarified who was intent on challenging the system and overturning it,” he said. Iran’s government must also deal with the fallout from a round of tests, funerals and 40th-day celebrations as the death toll rises. In addition to the two arrested journalists, attention on Monday focused on Hassan Ronaghi, Hossein Ronaghi’s brother, who said that after 41 days his parents were finally allowed to meet Hossein in prison. He says Hossein was still on hunger strike and “wasn’t well”. Ronagi was dragged into a patrol car soon after the protests began.
