Key Points
- A former member of Iran’s national football squad was arrested after training.
- The demonstrations were sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
- Iranian authorities have grown increasingly heavy-handed in their response to the protests.
An outspoken Kurdish-Iranian football player was arrested on Thursday, the same day the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) vowed to undertake a high-level investigation into the deadly crackdown on demonstrations in Iran.
Nationwide protests have been sparked by the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September, who had been arrested for an alleged breach of the country's strict dress rules for women.
Demonstrations have swelled into a broad movement against the theocracy that has ruled Iran since 1979.
Voria Ghafouri, a former member of Iran’s national football squad, was arrested for "insulting the national team" and "propaganda against the system", according to the official IRNA news agency.
No further details about the allegations against Ghafouri have not been released.
Ghafouri, who played 28 times for Iran, was arrested after a training session with the Foolad Khuzestan Football Club.
When Iran lined up for its first match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup on Monday, players opted not to sing the national anthem at the beginning of the match; instead remaining silent in what appeared to be a nod of support to protesters at home.
Captain Ehsan Hajsafi also publicly addressed the issue, saying "we have to accept the conditions in our country are not right and our people are not happy".
Despite heavy lobbying by Tehran and a last-minute effort by China to undercut the UNHRC resolution, a broader-than-expected majority of the 47-member council backed launching the probe of Iran's response to the ongoing protests.
Thunderous applause erupted when the resolution passed with 25 votes in favour, 16 abstaining, and only six countries — Armenia, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Pakistan and Venezuela — opposed.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hailed the vote, saying it showed the top UN rights body "recognises the gravity of the situation in Iran".
"The fact-finding mission established today will help ensure that those engaged in the ongoing violent suppression of Iranian people are identified and their actions documented," he said in a statement.
The vote came at the end of an urgent session requested by Germany and Iceland with the backing of 50 countries to discuss the situation in Iran, rocked by two months of protests.
Iranian authorities have grown increasingly heavy-handed in their response to the demonstrations as they have spread across the country and swelled into a broad movement against the theocracy that has ruled Iran since 1979.
During Thursday's session, UN rights chief Volker Turk insisted that "the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force must come to an end".
Mr Turk, who told reporters he had offered to visit Iran but had received no response from Tehran, said more than 300 people had been killed since Ms Amini's death.
Iranians around the world have raised awareness about the ongoing uprising in their home country. Source: AAP / PA
Around 14,000 people, including children, had been arrested over the protests, he said, describing this as "a staggering number", and decried the fact that at least six death sentences had been handed down to demonstrators.
A long line of Western diplomats took the floor in Geneva on Thursday to denounce the crackdown in Iran.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called on all countries to back the independent international fact-finding mission to probe all abuses connected with the ongoing protests, to ensure "those responsible can be held to account".
"Impunity prevents justice. Justice for sisters, sons, mothers. They have names. Jina, Abolfazl, Minoo," she said, listing some of the many killed.
She told reporters that the investigation would collect evidence towards holding perpetrators to account — although it remains unclear under which jurisdiction they would be tried.
"If we don't collect the evidence today ... justice will never come to the victims," Ms Baerbock said.
Icelandic Foreign Minister Thordis Kolbrun Reykfjord Gylfadottir agreed, telling reporters that the council vote was "about respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights and fundamental freedoms."
Dozens of people protested outside the UN in Geneva, waving the flags used in Iran prior to the 1979 revolution, amid pictures of alleged victims of the Iranian regime.
The organisers of that demonstration, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, hailed Thursday's vote as "a positive and important step," insisting the "culture of impunity must end".
Rights groups also celebrated the vote, with Amnesty International describing it as "historic", while Human Rights Watch said it was "a welcome step towards accountability."
Iran, however, denounced the Western countries behind Thursday's meeting. Europe and the United States "lack the moral credibility to preach ... on human rights", said Khadijeh Karimi, Iran's deputy of the vice president for women and family affairs.
Deputy of the vice president for women and family affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran Khadijeh Karimi spoke at the European UN headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Source: AAP / EPA
Iran received backing from some countries, with Pakistan, Venezuela and others decrying growing politicisation in the council, and China's ambassador Chen Xu warning against "turning human rights into a tool to intervene into other countries' internal affairs".
China also put in a last-minute bid to change the text of Thursday's resolution, asking that the request to establish an investigation be removed. Only six countries supported that effort.
