The Fragility of Human Rights in Iran
"[Iranian
authorities are attempting to suppress public discontent over the]
humiliating blow [inflicted by Israel, which showed the Islamic Republic
was] unable to control its airspace and protect civilians."
"Now,
to maintain control and prevent its opponents inside the country from
organizing and mobilizing forces, Iran's leaders are turning to
[inspiring] fear."
"If unchecked, the violence that targets Iranians today will target others outside Iran's borders."
Roya Boroumand, executive director, NGO Abdorrahman Boroumand Center
"A widespread wave of repression and mass arrests has unfolded across
the country."
"Kurdish cities have borne a
disproportionate share of these crackdowns."
"[Detainees have
included a] significant number of women and teenage girls."
Norway-based Hengaw rights group
"After the ceasefire with Israel, the Islamic Republic needs more
repression to cover up military failures, prevent protests, and ensure
its continued survival."
"Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of prisoners might be at risk of executions [in the coming weeks]."
Mahmood Amiry Moghaddam, director, Norway-based Iran Human Rights Organization
 |
Khamenei says Iran has delivered a 'harsh blow' to US in 1st comments since bombing.
Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenei struck a defiant tone on Thursday as he
congratulated Iran for “its victory over the American regime.” Still
from video ABC News |
Hundreds
of people in Iran have been arrested by Iranian authorities, and dozens
executed following the 12-day war with Israel. Activists are accusing
the Islamic Republic of terrorizing its population in an effort to
compensate for the aura of failure that the conflict revealed. While
Iranian campaigners against the repressive regime have been detained on
the street or in their homes, prisoners have been transferred to unknown
locations, executions have been expedited, and minority groups have
been targeted.
The
regime in its fury is incapable of venting its rage against Israel or
the United States for the humiliating international position it finds
itself in now, but nothing at all prevents it from wreaking its
vengeance against those within the country whom the regime is convinced
were traitors, willing to aid foreign interlopers detested by the
regime, to invade their airspace, giving them intelligence relating to
the whereabouts of key regime figures, military hierarchy, and nuclear
scientists critical to the work of enriching uranium to weapons-grade,
all of whom were successfully targeted for assassination.
So
far, six men have been publicly hanged, charged with spying for Israel
and dozens more hanged on other charges. Over 1,000 Iranians were
arrested following the conflict, charged with involvement in the war
through aiding Iran's enemies, according to Iran Human Rights, based in
Norway. Freedom of speech activists were arrested, interrogated and
released. Criticism aimed at the revolutionary leaders were launched
inside the country over failure to prevent the aerial attacks by Israel
and the United States.
 |
| An Iranian woman walks past a banner showing head of the Revolutionary Guard’s
Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters Gen. Gholam Ali Rashid, who was
killed in Israeli strike, at Enqelab-e-Eslami (Islamic Revolution)
street in downtown Tehran, June 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) |
Iranian
leaders are apoplectic with fury over the targeting top officials,
military officers and nuclear scientists, with intelligence that could
only be gained by Israel's successful intelligence penetration of Iran. A
realization that has prompted a major hunt for spies. According to
Iran's judiciary chief, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, the trial and
punishment of anyone arrested on suspicion of collaborating with Israel "should be carried out and announced very quickly". So quickly, evidently, that the formality of trials is an unnecessary time-waste.
Three
unidentified Europeans, two of whom have been accused of spying for
Israel, have also been arrested. And according to the Hengaw rights
group which focuses on Kurdish-populated areas of western and
north-western Iran, 300 people of Kurdish ethnicity were also arrested
in the crackdown. "A widespread wave of repression and mass arrests has unfolded across the country."
Iran's
remaining Jewish community is comprised of an estimated 10,000 people,
recognized as an official minority by the Islamic Republic. From within
that community so far, 35 members were summoned for questioning,
according to the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists New Agency.
 |
| Vehicles drive along a main road with Tehran’s Milad Tower in the background on June 24, 2025. (Atta Kenare/AFP) |
Labels: Iranian Regime Internal Crackdown, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israeli Aerial Attack, Nuclear Sites, Search for 'Traitors', US. Bunker-Busters
Iran: Israel is Just a One-Bomb Country
"[All parties must] refrain from actions that further destabilize the region."
"Further action risks triggering a broader regional conflict with devastating consequences."
We as a country always prefer negotiated solutions, and we encourage parties to get [to] the [negotiating] table.
The concerns relating to
potential escalation are real, and the key is going to be to de-escalate
and reach a negotiated solution.
Of course Israel has the right to defend itself
[and Canada is concerned] about the threat posed by Iran's nuclear ballistic missile program.
"[Canada believes the] best path to sustainable peace and security in the region are the talks between the United States and Iran.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand
All levels of government must take
extra steps to protect Canada's Jewish community from vile antisemites
who may use these events as an excuse for more acts of violence.
"[Israel] disarming Tehran’s genocidal nuclear program [is within Israel’s right to self-defence].""It cannot wait until the regime has capabilities for a nuclear strike."
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre
 |
| An Iranian security official in protective clothing walks through a nuclear
facility just outside the Iranian city of Isfahan, March 30, 2005.
(Vahid Salemi/AP) |
The ruling Liberal government of Canada was quick to caution Israel and the United States to step down from their success in disarming however temporarily, the Islamic Republic of Iran's nuclear program, following Israel's bombing of above-ground nuclear installations, command centres and leadership that saw the U.S. bombing of the Fordow nuclear site with U.S. B-2 bombers dropping bunker-busters to penetrate the facility deep underground.
In view of the threat a nuclear-armed Islamic Republic posed to Israel and by extension the West, as the most notorious sponsor of Islamist terrorism targeting Western values, principles and by allusions, the very geographies that the theocratic administration condemns and reviles, the civilized world should be exhaling a huge breath of relief. Canada, however, thanks to its current government, prefers a stance redolent of pacific conciliation even while the threat has not been entirely averted, but temporarily set back.
It's part and parcel of the Liberal government's virtue-signalling exceptionalism. A country in North America, a world removed from the Middle East, where oceans and land masses separate it from the threat of attack and invasion. Instead, this government saw virtue in an open immigration system, in welcoming illegal migrants, in handing out student visas to the extent that a population of 40 million, brought in an additional million in 2024. Among whom are hundreds of thousands of people whose clasp of Islam and sharia law ensures they remain a silo population intent on destroying a culture and values not their own.
 |
| This graphic image compares Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility before and after the US bombed the site on June 20, 2025. (AP Graphic) |
And it is primarily to this base that the government addresses itself with assurances of support for their way of life alien to Canada's but fast becoming a mainstream arm, one that is alienated from other groups in Canadian society, in line with ancient ethnic/cultural/social antipathies and Koranic injunctions on separation. The message from Canada's Liberal prime minister, another cautionary reminder that Israel has the right to defend itself as long as it's not too successful in doing so.
"All parties to exercise maximum restraint", the Canadian prime minister urges. As though two world democracies were not involved in restraining the aspirational conquest through violent nuclear potential to keep the world safe. Following the two countries' joint action in neutralizing Iran's nuclear ambition, the Canadian prime minister while expressing opposition to a bomb being acquired by Iran, called for a "diplomatic solution ... including a ceasefire in Gaza". Never has he called for a ceasefire in Ukraine...
If the world wants stability, that state is possible by refusing to allow a state plotting to destroy another state and in the process warning other nearby states that with possession of atomic bombs, none other should attempt to deny Iran the conquest that is its Shi'ite-Islamic birthright. Should the regime in Iran ever acquire nuclear weapons, a firestorm of like acquisitions would soon develop whereby its threatened neighbours would acquire theirs as well. And Mutual Assured Destruction as a deterrent to use is not assured in that neighbourhood.
Since 2015, Canada has committed to providing $900 million to the West Bank and Gaza, the world's largest charitable recipients. Most of which was used in Gaza, along with an additional $165 million provided following the October 7 massacre by Hamas in southern Israel. Hamas took possession of an estimated billion dollars of global charitable funding to build over 500 kilometres of tunnels for offensive purposes.
When U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that Canada would do well to offer itself as the 51st U.S. State, musing how much better Canadians would be off, becoming one great big U.S.A., avoiding usurious tariffs he is imposing on the world -- should other nations wish to do business trade with America -- Canadians were outraged at the threat to their sovereignty and a federal campaign to feed that outrage resulted. Yet when Israel faces an enemy that muses it is "a one-bomb country", with the real intention of annihilation by a regime that funds terrorism by its minion-proxies, Canada has a casual attitude about Israeli 'restraint'.
 |
| A giant billboard depicting Muslim peoples walking with flags toward the Dome
of the Rock shrine in Jerusalem is erected in Valiasr Square in the
center of Tehran, October 25, 2023. (Atta Kenare / AFP) |
Labels: Canadian Hypocrisy, Fordow, Islamic Republic of Iran, Israeli Aerial Attack, Nuclear Aspirations, Nuclear Installations, U.S. Bunker-Busters
Iran's Bluff
"Wise
individuals who know Iran, its people and its history never speak to
this nation with the language of threats, because the Iranian nation is
not one to surrender."
"Americans should know that any military involvement by the U.S. will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage to them."
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
 |
| Israeli air-defense systems are activated to intercept Iranian missiles over Tel Aviv on June 16, 2025. Photograph by Menahem Kahana / AFP / Getty |
The
Trump administration's calls for the Islamic Republic to surrender,
even as it is being battered by Israeli airstrikes, urging the time is
right to bring the crisis to a stop and prevent a greater number of
human casualties has been summarily dismissed by the regime, with the
country's theocratic leader warning military involvement by the
Americans would cause "irreparable damage to them".
For
its part, Israel has lifted some of the restrictions it was forced to
impose on daily life in the Jewish state, since the Israeli strikes on
Iran were initiated almost a week earlier. That lifting of restrictions
suggests that the missile and drone threats emanating from Iran's
retaliatory attacks in response to the Israeli air barrage have eased
up.
 |
| A photo released by the Israeli air force, showing fighter jets taking part
in Operation "Rising Lion," which targeted nuclear sites in Iran for
strikes, on June 13, 2025. EYEPRESS NEWS VIA REUTERS CONNECT |
U.S.
President Donald Trump at the outset of the Israeli bombing campaign
distanced himself from the attack that surprised Tehran on Friday; more
recently, however, he has alluded to the potential of greater American
involvement, that he wants something "much bigger" than a ceasefire.
More military aircraft and warships of the American fleet have been sent
to the region.
President
Trump had demanded that Iran surrender without conditions, warning
Khamenei that American intelligence knows where he has sequestered
himself ostensibly in safety from Israeli bombing, but does not at
present plan to assassinate him: "at least not for now". In response, Khamenei dismissed the "threatening and absurd statements".
U.S. intervention, warned an Iranian diplomat would risk "all-out war".
Thousands of American troops are based within range of Iran's missiles,
in nearby countries. That implied threat carries its own risk to Iran
since the US. counter-threatened a massive response to any such attack
occurring. Another defiant Iranian official declared the country plans
to continue enriching uranium for 'peaceful purposes', ruling out
demands that Iran abandon its disputed nuclear program.
The
most recent Israeli strikes struck a facility making uranium
centrifuges, and another producing missile components. Israeli military
officials observed that their defences had intercepted ten missiles
overnight aimed at Israel in retaliatory barrages, much diminished from
the previous nights' attacks. Israel, according to the UN nuclear
watchdog agency, struck two centrifuge production facilities in and
around Tehran.
Several
nuclear and military sites have been struck in Israel's air campaign,
killing top generals and nuclear scientists. At least 585 people have
been killed and over 1,300 wounded, according to an Iranian human rights
group based in Washington. Some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones
have been fired by Iran in retaliatory strikes, killing at least 24
people in Israel, and wounding hundreds more.
Schools
remain closed in Israel, with many businesses remaining shut, but the
ban on gatherings and office work for all but essential employees has
been eased, signalling confidence on the part of the Israeli military
that its attacks have served to limit missile capabilities in Iran.
While in Iran shops are closed, and people wait in gas lines, packing
roads leading out of the capital, Tehran.
Israel
launched its strikes on Iran to prevent them from building nuclear
weapons when negotiations between the U.S. and Iran over a potential
diplomatic resolution made no progress over two months. Trump had set a
60-day window for the talks to succeed, after which Israel's campaign
was initiated. Iran, while insisting its nuclear program is peaceful, is
the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60 percent, a
technical step from weapons-grade levels of 90 percent.
Labels: Iran's Nuclear Program, Israeli Aerial Attack, Tehran, U.S.-Iran Negotiations
