June 2 – Amnesty International accused Iran’s government of a “horrific state-sanctioned killing spree” this week, as it called on the country to stop executing its prisoners.
Iran is currently the second most active country after China for its use of the death penalty, and is the world’s most prolific executioner of women and children.
Describing what it called “an alarming rise in executions,” Human Rights Watch said Iran had executed at least 60 people over a two-week period in May.
Violent clashes between Iranian troops and the Taliban at the Iran-Afghanistan border were reported, over an alleged water dispute.
Both countries are facing extreme drought conditions, with tensions over water scarcity likely to intensify in the coming weeks.
Iran accused the Taliban of failing to observe a water treaty settled by the two sides in 1973, a claim the Taliban has denied.
And hardline lawmakers in Iran’s parliament have rejected a government bill to impose fines on women who fail to wear their hijabs according to the country’s dress code.
The lawmakers said the bill did not include the option to confront partially or unveiled women in the streets, and that harsher punishments needed to be added to the proposed legislation.
Women in Iran have increasingly shunned the mandatory hijab following nationwide anti-government protests sparked by the death of Kurdish-Iranian Jina Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody.
Amini had been brought into the police station for allegedly failing to wear her hijab correctly.
