The repression in Iran does not stop the protest movement, which in fact gains a new protagonist: it is Sara Khadim al-Sharia, the chess champion who challenged the ayatollahs by playing without the hijab, the obligatory veil, at the World Cup in Kazakhstan carry. The photo of the 25-year-old in front of the chessboard with her tuft of hair in derision of Iranian conservatives was going around the world just as President Ebrahim Raisi hurled his anathema at the demonstrators in Tehran: “We will have no mercy”.
In the meantime, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani has summoned the Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sabouri for tomorrow to speed things up: The diplomat from Tehran is only nominated because he has not yet submitted his credentials to the Quirinale, “but the seriousness of the situation in Iran prompted the government to take this step,” Farnesina said. Sara is just the latest brave face in the revolt that has been inflaming the Islamic Republic for over 100 days. A large-scale rebellion that began with the death of Mahsa Amini and soon became a radical one At least 100 protesters among thousands arrested at risk of the death penalty, 11 are already on death row, reports Iran Human Rights (IHR).”Our judges are murderers, the whole system is corrupt,” the Slogan now echoing in the squares as the more sensational “Death to Khamenei” is now taken for granted , as boys and girls continue the turban-bashing protest in the streets, knocking off a religious’s headdress – once untouchable – and posting the video on social media.
“We will show no mercy to the enemies,” Raisi thundered, describing the protests as “annoying.” The protesters were “hypocrites, royalists, counter-revolutionaries” and anyone “damaged by the revolution,” he told a crowd gathered in Tehran to commemorate the remains of 200 soldiers killed during the Iran-Iraq war. war killed in 1980. 1988. “The arms of the nation are open to all who have been deceived. The young are our children,” he conceded, but “we will have no mercy on hostile elements.” In conclusion, Raisi warned the Islamic Republic’s historic enemies, particularly the US and Israel, who are said to be fomenting the unrest: “If you think you can achieve your goals by spreading rumors and dividing society, you are wrong”.
Perhaps his arrows were also aimed at Elon Musk, who has turned on nearly 100 of his Starlink satellites, which guarantee internet access and can break through government-imposed lockdowns. The SpaceX boss wanted to make the announcement by reacting to a Twitter user’s video of the protests. Tehran narrowly covered up the Starlink site, a system but using it requires special kits that are unlikely to legally enter the country.
Meanwhile, the controversy over the death of little Saha Etebari, the 12-year-old who was shot dead at a police checkpoint while she was in the car with her parents, flares up: prosecutors have promised an investigation after initial admission The accident thesis that his father in being shut up had seemed far too embarrassing. Storm also for the case of the wife and daughter of Iranian football legend Ali Daei, who had to get off a plane because of the footballer’s critical positions, a retaliatory move that has drawn criticism across the country. Also in the spotlight are the appeals of the mother of a young protester accused of injuring five pasdaran, 22-year-old Mohammad Qobadlou, whose execution – confirmed on December 24 – is said to be imminent.
Chess players, figure skaters, climbers, swimmers, soccer players, actors, actresses, directors, ordinary people: everything in Iran seems to be turning against the central power Tehran in a way that perhaps hasn’t happened since 1979.