All articles tagged with #mashhad
Iran has hanged three men linked to January anti-regime protests in Mashhad, part of a renewed wave of executions as authorities crack down amid regional tensions; rights groups say the men were political prisoners who endured unfair trials and torture, prompting calls for international accountability.
Eyewitnesses describe a coordinated January crackdown in Mashhad where the lights and mobile networks went out, snipers on rooftops fired into crowds, and security forces moved through tear gas to suppress protesters. The report details mass burials and hundreds of death certificates, with authorities allegedly ordering suppression at any cost. Internet outages and conflicting casualty figures—government figures running in the low thousands versus rights groups and Iran International reporting far higher tolls—highlight a tightly controlled narrative around the crackdown across multiple cities.
Following the Feb. 28 assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Tehran has not chosen a burial site or announced a state funeral, weighing security risks, potential Israeli strikes, and possible nationalist backlash; Mashhad near the Imam Reza shrine is being considered as a safer burial location amid ongoing conflict and political uncertainty.
Water levels in Mashhad's dams have fallen below 3% due to severe drought, prompting calls for reduced water consumption and raising concerns about potential water shortages in Iran's capital, Tehran, amid the country's worst drought in decades.