Iran threatens crackdown on anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death – but some refuse to be silenced
“They killed my brother, and now they’re coming for us too.”
These are words from inside Iran that its rulers do not want the world to hear.
Warning: This article contains a graphic image of injury
“They’re taking us hostage,” Reza said. Sky News is not using Reza’s real name to protect his safety.
Reza’s brother was brutally killed during the protests last year. Armed police forced the grieving family to bury his body the same night he died – in an effort to cover up their crimes, he said.
Reza, who is in his late 20s, and his family have been the target of a campaign of harassment and threats by the authorities ever since.
He risks imprisonment, torture and death to speak to Sky News. But despite the government’s efforts, Reza is adamant he won’t be silenced.
And he’s not alone.
Reza is speaking from a small room in Turkey where exiled Iranian activist Shilan Mirzaee works in hiding.
She supports victims of the country’s brutal crackdown on protests, which looks set to intensify as the anniversary of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini‘s death in police custody approaches.
“The harder they’re pushing, the harder people fight back,” said Ms Mirzaee.
Mahsa Amini’s death sparked mass protests in Iran
Ms Amini’s death last September in the custody of Iran‘s notorious morality police sparked an unprecedented uprising against the regime, which threatened the very existence of the Islamic Republic.
The response of the cleric-led government was brutal and bloody with more than 500 people killed, including 70 children.
Almost a year later, the protests appear to have subsided but the government crackdown continues.
In the past month, Ms Mirzaee has seen a sharp rise in the number of the families of those who were imprisoned or killed during the protests reporting threats, harassment and arrests.
Ahead of Saturday’s anniversary, human rights campaigners, activists and academics have reportedly been arrested – including Ms Amini’s uncle and lawyer, and the young journalist who broke the story of her death.
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What happened to the Iran protesters?
“Iran’s government is clearly anxious,” Ms Mirzaee said. “They know that people are preparing to reignite the protests.”
But the widespread crackdown on protesters by authorities isn’t just limited to Iran.
Ms Mirzaee, who lives in Turkey, is regularly threatened and harassed.
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“They’re trying to silence me,” she said. She rarely leaves her house and even stopped her son going to school for three months out of fear something might happen to him.
Her family in Iran aren’t safe either. Shilan said they’re being taken “hostage”.
In the past year, her father has been arrested six times for her activism. Her brother and sister have also been arrested. Her sister was threatened with rape.
A police motorcycle burns during a protest last September
But her family has encouraged her not to stop being an activist.
“We can’t speak out ourselves,” her father said, “but you can be our voice”.
“I’m not scared of the Islamic Republic government. Even if they kill my father, I will keep on fighting,” she said.
“We don’t want the Islamic Republic. Dictatorship must end.”
While many protesters prepare to take to the streets once again, others are left grappling with life-changing injuries from last year. Others look on from afar after escaping Iran in search of safety and medical treatment.
A demonstrator holds a picture of Mahsa Amini during a protest last year
Behzad Hamrahi, 44, and his family were forced to seek asylum in Turkey several months ago.
“The guards held my arms behind me,” the father-of-two said. “Another stood less than a metre away, pointing a gun directly at my face. Then everything went black.”
Mr Hamrahi thought he had died. A guard had shot him in his left eye with a paintball gun that contained a dense ball of pressurised plastic.
He lost his eye – one of 600 people to be injured in this way according to doctors in just two provinces. The actual numbers across Iran are likely to be much higher.
Behzad Hamrahi after the attack
Mr Hamrahi was beaten by the guards but before they could take him away, several other protesters carried him to a nearby apartment block and helped him hide.
One of the protesters, a nurse, helped clean the wound. But Mr Hamrahi desperately needed urgent medical care.
“I knew [getting medical treatment] would lead to my arrest,” he said. But he decided to go to a hospital the next day “regardless of the consequences”.
Most clinics and hospitals refused him as it was clear he sustained his injury in the protests.
Behzad Hamrahi now
Mr Hamrahi ended up having his left eye removed in a hospital that he had reasons to believe collaborate with authorities.
Shortly after he was discharged, he was held in prison for a week where he was tortured.
“That’s when I decided that I must leave the country immediately,” he said.
He arrived in Turkey a few days later with his wife and young children.
Around 600 people are believed to have lost an eye in last year’s protests
Mr Hamrahi, now living in a modest apartment in the country, said he doesn’t regret his involvement in the protests “because I fought for a free and prosperous Iran”.
But not everyone feels the same. Reza tells me that the stress and suffering his family has been through since his brother was killed is unbearable.
“The harassment towards our family has been non-stop from day one and it’s only getting worse,” he said.
He promised his family he would not take part in any future protests. “They can’t bear to lose another son,” he said.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for Israel to take full military control of the Gaza Strip has been condemned, amid fears a reoccupation could put the lives of Palestinians and the remaining Israeli hostages at risk.
Asked in a Fox News interview on Thursday if Israel would “take control of all of Gaza”, the prime minister replied: “We intend to, in order to assure our security, remove Hamas there, enable the population to be free of Gaza.”
Latest updates from war in Gaza
“We don’t want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter,” he continued. “We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us and giving Gazans a good life.”
Israel already controls around 75% of Gaza and has largely sealed its borders.
To take full control, it would need to launch ground operations in the remaining areas that have not been destroyed, where most of Gaza’s two million population have sought refuge.
Israel’s security cabinet, which would need to approve the military operations, began a meeting on Thursday evening, but for now no official announcement has been made.
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Netanyahu on Israel’s plans for Gaza
Plan will ‘put hostages and soldiers in danger’
The plan has been criticised by many, including families of hostages being held by Hamas and a top Israeli Defence Force (IDF) official.
Einav Zangauker, the mother of hostage Matan Zangauker, said Mr Netanyahu promised her that he would pursue a deal to free the hostages.
She said in a post on X: “Someone who talks about a comprehensive deal doesn’t go and conquer the Strip and put hostages and soldiers in danger.
“Netanyahu and his partners are about to condemn [Matan] to death.”
Israel’s military chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, has warned against occupying Gaza, saying it would endanger the hostages and put further strain on the IDF, according to Israeli media reports.
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In an illustration of the kind of opposition Israel could face internationally if it purses the plan, a Jordanian official aid Arabs would “only support what Palestinians agree and decide on”.
“Security in Gaza must be done through legitimate Palestinian institutions,” the source said.
“Arabs will not be agreeing to Netanyahu’s policies nor clean his mess.”
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Israeli hostage families sail near Gaza
At least 42 more Palestinians killed by Israeli fire, say hospitals
It comes after at least 42 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes and shootings across southern Gaza on Thursday, according to local hospitals.
At least 13 of those people were seeking aid in an Israeli military zone where UN aid convoys are regularly overwhelmed by desperate crowds and looters.
An Israeli soldier, standing next to an Israeli flag, looks out across Gaza. Pic: Reuters
Another two were killed on roads leading to sites run by the Israel- and US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies.
The GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites on Thursday.
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The war in Gaza began when Hamas killed about 1,200 people – mostly civilians – in its attack on 7 October 2023 and abducted 251 others. They still hold approximately 50 of those hostages – with 20 believed to be alive – after most of the others were released in ceasefires or other deals.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which does not differentiate between militants and civilians in its count.
Vladimir Putin has played down the possibility of a meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, saying that while it is possible, certain conditions must be met.
The Russian president was responding to an American proposal of a trilateral meeting between him, the Ukrainian president and Donald Trump.
The idea was floated by Steve Witkoff, the US president’s envoy during talks with Mr Putin on Wednesday, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.
War in Ukraine: Latest updates
Mr Ushakov said the three-way option was “simply mentioned by the American representative during the meeting in the Kremlin”.
He added, however: “This option was not specifically discussed.”
On the prospect of meeting Mr Zelenskyy, Vladimir Putin said: “I have already said many times that I have nothing against it in general – it is possible.”
However, he distanced himself from any such meeting happening soon, adding: “But certain conditions must be created for this. Unfortunately, we are still far from creating such conditions.”
Pic: AP
Mr Zelenskyy offered to speak to Vladimir Putin in May, challenging him to meet in Istanbul for talks on ending the war in Ukraine – an invitation the Russian leader declined.
While a trilateral meeting appears to be off the agenda, Mr Ushakov said an agreement had been reached for Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin to meet “in the coming days”.
After the US president touted a “very good prospect” of the leaders meeting for Ukraine ceasefire talks, Mr Ushakov said on Thursday that Russian and American officials had started working on the details.
“At the suggestion of the American side, an agreement was essentially reached to hold a bilateral meeting at the highest level in the coming days,” he said.
“We are now beginning concrete preparations together with our American colleagues.”
Regarding a trilateral meeting, Mr Ushakov said: “We propose, first of all, to focus on preparing a bilateral meeting with Trump, and we consider it most important that this meeting be successful and productive.”
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Will Putin agree to Trump’s condition to meet Zelenskyy?
It would be the first time the two leaders have met since Mr Trump returned to office, and follows a three-hour meeting between Mr Putin and Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday.
Following the meeting, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said it appeared that Russia was “more inclined to a ceasefire”.
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The Ukrainian president said he planned to speak on Thursday to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, as well as contacts from France and Italy.
He said he planned to discuss a ceasefire, a leaders’ summit and long-term security, adding: “Ukraine has never wanted war and will work toward peace as productively as possible.”
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A poll from Gallup suggests 69% of Ukrainians support a negotiated end to the war with Russia – an almost complete reversal from 2022, when 73% favoured fighting until victory.
Most said they were sceptical the war would end soon, with 68% saying they believed it was unlikely that active fighting would stop within the next 12 months.
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Seven hours is a long time in US politics.
At 10am, Donald Trump accused Russia of posing a threat to America’s national security.
By 5pm, Mr Trump said there was a “good prospect” of him meeting Vladimir Putin “soon”.
There had, he claimed, been “great progress” in talks between his special envoy Steve Witkoff and the Russian president.
It’s difficult to gauge the chances of a meeting between the two leaders without knowing what “great progress” means.
Is Russia “inclined” towards agreeing a ceasefire, as Ukraine’s president now claims?
Is Mr Putin prepared to meet with his Ukrainian foe, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, too?
The very fact that we’re asking those questions suggests something shifted on a day when there was no expectation of a breakthrough.
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