Arezoo Badri before and after her shooting by Iranian police (BBC)
Originally published by The Guardian:
A woman is reported to have been left paralyzed after being shot by Iranian police who were attempting to stop her car over alleged violations of Iran’s draconian hijab laws.
According to human rights groups and sources inside Iran, Arezoo Badri was driving home in the northern city of Noor on 22 July when the police attempted to pull her over after her car was identified as being on an impoundment list.
Last year, as part of a clampdown on women defying Iran’s compulsory dress code, Iranian authorities said they would use CCTV to identify female drivers who were failing to cover their hair, and confiscate their vehicles.
See also Iranian Singer Imprisoned For Performing in Public Without A Hijab
Human Rights Activists in Iran, a nonprofit NGO, said it believed Badri might have been seen or filmed driving with her head uncovered in the days before the shooting and an alert had been placed on her number plate.
When police attempted to stop Badri on July 22, she allegedly failed to comply with their orders and police opened fire on the moving vehicle. A police commander in Noor confirmed to local media that a driver had been shot when they failed to comply with an order to pull over, but did not name Badri.
According to Mamlekate, an Iranian citizen journalists’ organization, Badri fell into a coma after being hit by a bullet. She has been moved to a hospital in Tehran.
A Tehran-based physician who secretly treated survivors of sexual assault and people with pellet injuries during the Woman, Life, Freedom” protests — sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 after she was detained and reportedly beaten by “morality police” — told the Guardian:
We have had no news on her condition because it’s a heavily guarded military hospital and owned by the police. I haven’t got any doctors from the hospital who will give information.
Masih Alinejad, an exiled Iranian journalist, claimed she had received details of the shooting and photos of Badri from sources close to her family but that immediate relatives were being pressured not to publicly discuss her situation.
When I first received the photos from the relative and heard that Arezoo is a mother of two children, I couldn’t stop crying and I kept thinking of my own son. How will someone explain in the 21st century to those young children that their mother was shot by the police for the crime of not covering her hair?
Iran’s president negotiates release of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi: https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/iran-president-negotiates-release-opposition-leader-mehdi-karroubi
“Iran’s newly elected president Masoud Pezeshkian has successfully negotiated the release of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi from house arrest, sources have told Middle East Eye. The sources said that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accepted Karroubi’s release from house arrest, but refused the president’s request that fellow reformist opposition leader Mir Houssein Mosavi also be released…..Unlike Karroubi, who took part in the past few elections, Mousavi has refused to vote, even calling for constitutional change. The second source explained that the decision to release the opposition leader aligns with Pezeshkian’s efforts to promote unity and reconciliation in the country. He added that Karroubi had been allowed to meet people and visit some homes with the security apparatus’s approval over the past four years. However, Mousavi had refused a similar offer to meet people after receiving security clearance.”
Iran signals promised strike on Israel may not be imminent: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/08/21/iran-israel-gaza-news/
“U.S. officials, who are believed to be in indirect contact with Tehran, are also watching for any changes as Pezeshkian assumes office. “We do believe that there is not consensus or unanimity within the Iranian government about what kind of retaliation to do against Israel,” said one U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the assessment. “The newly elected Iranian leadership could be playing a role in that.”
Very interesting acknowledgement that the President of the Islamic Republic has pushed back against the IRGC and others wanting to get Khamenei to order an attack (at least now). As head of the national security council, the President makes key decisions, reached by consensus, that require the approval of the Leader.
“Very interesting acknowledgement that the President of the Islamic Republic has pushed back against the IRGC and others wanting to get Khamenei to order an attack (at least now)”
No, it is neither interesting nor true. It is just your bullshit to imply pezeshkian is different from the rest of savages. The mullah islamic state calculates any attack will endanger its very existence. Khar khodeti (by now everyone knows the mullah state)
https://www.radiofarda.com/a/33089520.html
All cabinet ministers win Iranian parliament’s vote of confidence: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/08/21/731792/All-cabinet-ministers-win-Iranian-parliament%E2%80%99s-vote-of-confidence
Among those approved are reformist, Abbas Araghchi, who becomes foreign minister, Abdolnasser Hemmati who becomes finance minister, and Ahmad Donyamelli who becomes Youth and Sport minister. A woman, Farzaneh Malvajerd, was also approved as Housing and Transport minister.
Not unexpected….
How Supreme Leader’s “Approval” Got Votes for Pezeshkian’s Nominees
https://iranwire.com/en/politics/133127-how-supreme-leaders-approval-got-votes-for-pezeshkians-nominees/
“… president openly told parliament: “I don’t want to tell the details. I want to say that we have coordinated and come here… approve it… we all agreed with the security organizations, the Revolutionary Guards, and the Intelligence Organization and presented this list of the cabinet.”
Islamic Republic Intensifies Pressure on Donors Aiding Families of Crackdown Victims
https://iranwire.com/en/features/133057-islamic-republic-intensifies-pressure-on-donors-aiding-families-of-crackdown-victims/
Iran’s Police Admit Shooting Woman After 3 Weeks, But Blame Victim
https://iranwire.com/en/women/133002-irans-police-admit-shooting-woman-after-3-weeks-but-blame-victim/
https://www.iranintl.com/en/202408145001
[Editor’s Note: The line from Iranian authorities to justify the shooting of Arezoo Badri….]
Further confirmation about the shooting of the car Arezoo Badri was in (nothing to do with hijab): https://pelikan.media/ni/2wSXYiKJJV5SYaMir
Police state that they didn’t know the gender of the driver or occupants of the car they were pursuing and which tried to speed away from them.
“(nothing to do with hijab): ”
Yes, just as Mahsa’s death had nothing to do with her beatings.
https://hadese24.ir/news/122749#
“The patrol officers of the Noor city police were patrolling when suddenly the Pride car with darkened windows left the Noor Forest Park at high speed, became suspicious of it and issued a stop order, but the driver of the car, who was not at all clear whether he was a woman or a man due to the smoked windows of the Pride, increased his speed and tried to flee………..The patrol officers, who had started the chase operation, tried to turn on the turnstile, sirens, and even blocked the escape route of the car for a few moments, but the driver continued to flee without paying attention to the police order, when the police, according to the law on the use of weapons, first fired air warning shots and then fired at the car, and after stopping, the police faced the car with two young women in the car. The bullet hit the back of one of the women, Arezoo Badri, and she was injured.”