Iranian-based Badri Hosseini Khamenei, the sister of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, condemned the crackdown on protests in the country and called on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), an elite branch of the armed forces, to lay down their arms. This is stated in a letter published by her son Mahmoud Moradkhani, who now lives in France, writes Reuters.
Badri Hosseini has been critical of the government from the time of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, to the rule of her brother, the letter said.
“I consider it appropriate now to state that I am against the actions of my brother and express my sympathy to all mothers who mourn the crimes of the Islamic Republic from the time of Khomeini to the current era of the despotic caliphate of Ali Khamenei.”
Earlier, Ali Khamenei's niece, human rights activist Farideh Moradhani, was arrested for calling on foreign governments to sever all ties with Iran over a brutal crackdown on protests. In the video message, Moradhani asked people around the world to call on their governments to "stop any relationship with this regime."
The hijab became mandatory for Iranian women in April 1983, four years after the Islamic Revolution. On September 16, 2022, protests began in the country related to the death of 22-year-old activist Mahsa Amini, who was arrested by the vice police for violating the law on wearing a hijab (her hair was visible from under a headscarf). As a result, many Iranian women stopped wearing it in protest, and Iranian Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said the authorities are reviewing the law on the mandatory wearing of the hijab. Iran admitted that about 200 people died during the autumn protests, but human rights activists claim 460 dead. Iranian authorities turned to Russia for help in suppressing the uprisings, noting that it can supply equipment and advisers, and also has experience in dealing with protests.
