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 who played the World Championship in Kazakhstan without wearing the hijab, the obligatory veil. 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”.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani summoned Iran’s Ambassador Mohammad Reza Sabouriaccelerates the pace: 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,” said Farnesina.
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 grew into a radical opposition movement against the regime. At least 100 protesters are among thousands arrested at risk of the death penalty, 11 are already on death row, Iran Human Rights (IHR) reports. “Our judges are murderers, the whole system is corrupt,” is the slogan now echoing in the squares, as the more sensational “Death to Khamenei” is now taken for granted, while boys and girls continue the turban-busting protest streets, knock off a religious’s headdress – once untouchable – and post the video on social networks. “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 which has turned on nearly 100 of its Starlink satellites, which will be able to guarantee internet access and 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, controversy erupts over the death of little Saha Etebari, the 12-year-old girl who was shot dead at a police checkpoint while she was in a car with her parents: The public prosecutor’s office promised an investigation after the initial accident theory had been put in the father’s mouth and had seemed too clumsy. 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.