Iran International
The US-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) urged the United Nations and member states to immediately hold Iranian authorities accountable for a deadly crackdown on protests in 2019 as the fifth anniversary of the uprising approaches.
Ali Larijani was meeting with the head of Syria's Supreme National Security Council when a nearby building was hit with three air strikes, according to an unconfirmed report by the Jamaran news website in Iran, which added that Larijani was unhurt.
Several people were killed and injured on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes targeting two residential buildings in the suburbs of Syria's capital, Damascus, according to the state news agency SANA.
Israel's military radio reported that the strikes targeted assets and the headquarters of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad.
While Israel has conducted airstrikes on Iran-linked targets in Syria for years, it has significantly intensified these operations following the October 7 attack last year by the Palestinian group Hamas, which ignited the Gaza war.
Larijani held talks with Hammouda Sabbagh, the Speaker of the Syrian People's Assembly on Thursday afternoon but Iran’s foreign ministry gave no detailed explanation of the itinerary and goals of his trip.
The special envoy, a senior advisor to Khamenei and a former parliament speaker, is no stranger to unofficial diplomacy. He previously played a central role in securing the 25-Year Iran-China Agreement, a controversial deal whose full terms were never publicly disclosed.
During that effort, he bypassed Iran’s formal governmental structures to deliver Khamenei’s message directly to Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Now, operating outside Iran’s traditional diplomatic framework, his Syria visit may be a sign that Khamenei is again relying on direct emissaries to manage critical foreign policy matters.
Bashar al-Assad, whose government survived a rebellion beginning in 2011 largely due to Iranian military and financial backing, occupies a pivotal position in Tehran’s regional security calculus.
Syria’s geographic proximity to Israel and Lebanon makes it a key base for Iran's Lebanese ally Hezbollah in its conflict with Israel.
Over the past year, Israeli strikes have repeatedly targeted Iranian-linked forces and infrastructure in Syria, with high-ranking Iranian and Hezbollah commanders among those killed.
Although Assad has maintained close ties with Iran, he has occasionally distanced himself from Tehran’s broader regional conflicts. Notably, he has managed to mend relations with Saudi Arabia and rejoined the Arab League in 2023 after years of diplomatic isolation.
Assad’s restrained response to the recent escalation following Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel suggests a cautious approach, even as Syria remains a key theater in Iran’s regional strategy.
The envoy’s meeting with Assad and other officials is being seen as part of Iran’s efforts to consolidate its position in Syria amid heightened regional tensions.
Iranian officials have repeatedly signaled plans for retaliation against Israel for its attack on Iran on October 26 but have refrained from detailing their timeline or approach.
In April and October 2024, Iran launched unprecedented missile attacks on Israel, with the October 1 assault involving around 200 ballistic missiles targeting military installations and urban centers, marking the largest direct attack by Iran on Israel.
These strikes were retaliatory responses to earlier Israeli operations, including airstrikes on Iranian-linked targets in Syria.
In response, on October 26 Israel launched a series of airstrikes against Iranian military assets, including missile facilities and Revolutionary Guard units, aiming to weaken Iran’s capabilities and deter further aggression.
This escalation marked a shift from proxy warfare to direct confrontation between the two nations.
Larijani's visit will mark his second meeting with Assad. The first occurred in February 2020, shortly after the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by US forces in Iraq, a trip that underscored his role as Khamenei’s trusted emissary during critical periods.
As the region braces for further developments, the visit signals Iran’s intent to strengthen its coordination with Syria and reassert its influence in the face of mounting challenges.
“Not a single official has yet to be held accountable for the lethal state force that killed hundreds if not over a thousand protesters,” the independent non-profit said on Wednesday.
The 2019 protests erupted in November in response to a sudden fuel price hike and were met with live ammunition, heavy weaponry, and widespread arrests.
Security forces enacted a shoot-to-kill policy on orders from the highest levels, including Iran’s Supreme Leader, who instructed officials to “do whatever it takes to end it” according to a report at the time by Reuters.
The crackdown resulted in the deaths of at least 1,500 people, according to the same report, and a nationwide internet blackout to prevent the full extent of the killings from being exposed.
CHRI warned that impunity for Iranian authorities has fueled further bloodshed, including the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini in morality police custody in which security forces killed over 500 protestors.
“The Islamic Republic has learned it can commit mass murder with little cost, and so it does it again and again,” said CHRI Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.
The group has called on the UN to launch an inquiry into the events of November 2019, urging international action to address what it called persistent use of lethal force against civilians and systematic targeting of families seeking justice.
Member states are also encouraged to pursue Iranian officials implicated in these abuses under universal jurisdiction if they enter foreign territories.
Ongoing imprisonment and death sentences for protesters
The Iranian government has continued to prosecute and sentence 2019 protesters and has increasingly resorted to capital punishment as a means of silencing dissent, CHRI said in their report.
In September 2024, Iranian boxing champion Mohammad Javad Vafaei-Sani was sentenced to death for his involvement in the protests, despite a previous Supreme Court ruling overturning his sentence. Another protester, Abbas Deris, also faces execution following a conviction reportedly based on coerced confessions.
Additionally in August this year, Matin Hassani, who lost an eye in the protests, was summoned to serve a 31-month prison sentence for supporting victims' families and seeking justice.
Families face persecution
CHRI highlighted that the families of those killed in 2019 have faced continuous harassment, arrests, and imprisonment for their efforts to pursue justice.
Earlier in October this year, Farzad Moazami Goudarzi, cousin of slain protester Reza Moazami Goudarzi, was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “assembly and collusion against national security.”
Meanwhile two mothers of slain protesters, Mahboubeh Ramezani and Rahimeh Yousefzadeh, received 18-month prison sentences in September on charges including “propaganda against the regime,” “membership in the Mothers of November 2019 Victims group” and “insulting the Supreme Leader.”
The family of Pouya Bakhtiari, a protester killed in 2019, has faced similar reprisals.
His father Manouchehr received an 18-year sentence earlier this year, while his mother, Nahid Shirpisheh, is currently serving a five-year term. Authorities have also detained Pouya’s uncle, Arian Shirpisheh, and assaulted another uncle, Mehrdad Bakhtiari, following their public appeals for justice.
Speaking on the lack of accountability, Soran Mansournia, a member of the Aban Families for Justice, and whose brother Borhan was killed during the protests, stressed the urgent need for a UN investigation to investigate: “Five years have passed, and we are still unsure about the most important issue—how many people were killed?"
It requires a collective will, a collective demand, to truly uncover the unseen aspects of November 2019," he added. "We are dealing with an impoverished social class that does not have the means to share their suffering—a group that does not have access to media or to the outside world.”
