Tehran police close Turkish Airlines office after its employees defy Iran’s headscarf law

Iran's riot police forces stand on a street amid the implementation of the new hijab surveillance in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2023. (REUTERS)
Iran's riot police forces stand on a street amid the implementation of the new hijab surveillance in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2023. (REUTERS)
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Updated 10 July 2024
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Tehran police close Turkish Airlines office after its employees defy Iran’s headscarf law

Tehran police close Turkish Airlines office after its employees defy Iran’s headscarf law
  • The fracas at the Tehran office of the Turkish Airlines took place on the same day as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Iran’s President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian to congratulate him on his win in Iran’s presidential runoff last week

TEHRAN, Iran: Police in Iran shut down the Turkish Airlines office in the capital of Tehran, Iranian media reported Tuesday, after female employees there apparently refused to wear the mandatory headscarf, or hijab, in an act of defiance of the country’s law.
The semi-official Tasnim news agency said police officers went to the Turkish Airlines office in Tehran on Monday to issue what is called a first warning over the “non-observance of hijab” by the company’s employees.
However, the employees — who are Iranian nationals — reportedly “made trouble for the police officers,” prompting the closure. The Tasnim report said police subsequently sealed the office over the employees’ behavior.
According to Tasnim, the Turkish Airlines office will be allowed to reopen on Wednesday and resume business as usual, something that the police did not confirm. The report further said that police would not seal any business due to the non-observance of hijab but issue first warnings.
There was no immediate comment from the Turkish Airlines over the incident in Tehran.
An open defiance of the headscarf law erupted into mass protests across Iran following the September 2022 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the country’s morality police. While those demonstrations appear largely to have cooled, the choice by some Iranian women to remain uncovered in the street poses a new challenge to the country’s theocracy.
Iranian authorities have over the past years shuttered hundreds of businesses across the country — from shops, restaurants to pharmacies and offices — for quietly allowing their female employees to forgo wearing the hijab.
That reinforcement was intensified in the months running up to Iran’s presidential election in June to replace the late President Ebrahim Raisi who died in a helicopter crash a month earlier.
The fracas at the Tehran office of the Turkish Airlines took place on the same day as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Iran’s President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian to congratulate him on his win in Iran’s presidential runoff last week.
Pezeshkian bested hard-liner Saeed Jalili in the election by promising to reach out to the West and ease enforcement on the country’s mandatory headscarf law after years of sanctions and protests squeezing the Islamic Republic.
The state-run IRNA news agency quoted Tehran Prosecutor Ali Salehi as saying that no legal proceedings or ruling had been issued regarding the sealing the Turkish Airlines office in Tehran.
Iran and Turkiye have maintained good relations and in 2023, the volume of bilateral trade between the two stood at $5.4 billion. Turkiye is also a popular tourist destination for Iranians, with some 2.5 million visiting last year.
Turkish Airlines is a favored carrier among Iranians because of the shorter travel time to the United States and Canada, compared to other long-haul flights from Arab countries in the Arabian Gulf.

 


Norway says sending $24 million to UNRWA after Israel ban

Norway says sending $24 million to UNRWA after Israel ban
Updated 7 sec ago
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Norway says sending $24 million to UNRWA after Israel ban

Norway says sending $24 million to UNRWA after Israel ban
“Gaza is in ruins, and UNRWA’s help is more necessary than ever,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said
“It is extremely dramatic for Palestine that Israeli laws come into force that in practice can prevent UNRWA from working“

OSLO: The Norwegian government said Thursday that it would contribute $24 million to the UN agency that helps looks after Palestinian refugees, the same day that Israel banned the group from operating on Israeli territory.
“Gaza is in ruins, and UNRWA’s help is more necessary than ever,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement. “It is extremely dramatic for Palestine that Israeli laws come into force that in practice can prevent UNRWA from working.”
Starting Thursday, UNRWA is banned from operating on Israeli soil and contact between it and Israeli officials is forbidden. Israel’s supreme court rejected late Wednesday a challenge to the ban.
UNRWA has provided support for Palestinian refugees around the Middle East for over 70 years, and it says it has brought in 60 percent of the food aid that has reached Gaza since the start of Israel’s war with Hamas in 2023.
But Israeli officials have repeatedly accused it of being a cover for militant groups and undermining the country’s security. The hostility intensified in the wake of Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, with accusations that a small number of UNRWA employees participated in the assault.
A series of investigations, including one led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna, found some “neutrality-related issues” at UNRWA, but said Israel had not provided evidence for its headline allegation.
Many donors cut their support for UNRWA following the accusations, though almost all have resumed their funding.
Relations between Norway and Israel have worsened in recent years, especially after the Scandinavian country recognized a Palestinian state last May along with Spain and Ireland.

Iran says FM in Qatar to meet Hamas leaders

Iran says FM in Qatar to meet Hamas leaders
Updated 30 January 2025
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Iran says FM in Qatar to meet Hamas leaders

Iran says FM in Qatar to meet Hamas leaders
  • Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was visiting Qatar on Thursday to meet leaders of Tehran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas, a ministry statement said

TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was visiting Qatar on Thursday to meet leaders of Tehran-backed Palestinian militant group Hamas, a ministry statement said.
It said he would meet senior Hamas officials “to hail the victory of the Palestinian people through 16 months of legendary resistance” in the Gaza Strip.
On October 7, 2023, Palestinian fighters based in Gaza attacked Israel which then launched an assault on the Palestinian territory.
The fighting later spread to include the Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon, and also led to direct exchanges between sworn enemies the Islamic republic and Israel.
A ceasefire began on January 19 that will see 33 Israeli hostages captured on October 7, 2023, freed in exchange for 1,900 people — mostly Palestinians — in Israeli custody.
On Tuesday, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Gaza had brought Israel “to its knees” in the conflict.
“The small, limited Gaza brought the Zionist regime, armed to the teeth and fully supported by America, to its knees,” he said during a meeting in Tehran.
On January 22 in Davos, Switzerland, Iranian Vice President Mohammad Javad Zarif acknowledged that Hamas’s attack on Israel had “destroyed” an opportunity for talks to revive a landmark nuclear accord.


Israel delays prisoner release after chaotic hostage handover

Two Thai captives are escorted by Hamas fighters as they are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
Two Thai captives are escorted by Hamas fighters as they are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
Updated 5 min 15 sec ago
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Israel delays prisoner release after chaotic hostage handover

Two Thai captives are escorted by Hamas fighters as they are handed over to the Red Cross in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
  • Total of 110 Palestinian prisoners were expected to be freed on Thursday as part of the phased agreement that halted fighting in the territory earlier this month
  • Israeli official involved in the operation said buses carrying the detainees had been instructed to return to prisons in an apparent response to the chaotic handover

CAIRO/JERUSALEM: Hamas handed over three Israelis and five Thai hostages in Gaza on Thursday, but Israel delayed the expected release of Palestinian prisoners after chaotic scenes at one of the handover points, where large crowds swarmed around the captives.
Arbel Yehud, 29, abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz in the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, looked fearful and struggled to walk through a surging crowd as armed militants handed her to the Red Cross in a tense scene in the southern city of Khan Younis.
Another Israeli hostage, Gadi Moses, 80, was also released along with five Thai nationals working on Israeli farms near Gaza when the militants burst through the border fence, the Israeli military said.
The mother of one of the Thais watched a livestream of the scene anxiously from her home in the northeastern Udon Thani province.
“Please, let my son walk out now, I want to see his face,” Wiwwaro Sriaoun, 53, said as the footage on her phone showed a vehicle moving slowly through the crowd.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the sight of their handover amid the swarming crowds was shocking and threatened death to anyone hurting hostages. He urged mediators to ensure the scene would not be repeated.
A total of 110 Palestinian prisoners were expected to be freed on Thursday as part of the phased agreement that halted fighting in the shattered coastal territory earlier this month. An Israeli official involved in the operation said buses carrying the detainees had been instructed to return to prisons in an apparent response to the chaotic handover.
Earlier, in Jabalia in northern Gaza, an Israeli soldier, Agam Berger, wearing an olive green uniform, was led through a narrow alley between heavily damaged buildings and over piles of rubble before being handed to the Red Cross.
“Our daughter is strong, faithful, and brave,” a statement from her family said. “Now Agam and our family can begin the healing process, but the recovery will not be complete until all the hostages return home.”
A video released by Netanyahu’s office showed a pale Berger crying and smiling while sitting on her mother’s lap.
Netanyahu has faced criticism in Israel for not having sealed a hostage deal earlier after the security failure that enabled the Oct. 7 Hamas assault.

Hamas defiance
Hamas, which Israel has vowed to obliterate, still has a strong presence in Gaza despite heavy bombardment from the Middle East’s most advanced military over more than 15 months and the assassination of Hamas leader Yahya Al-Sinwar.
“The killing of leaders only makes the people stronger and more stubborn,” senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said of Sinwar, filmed by an Israeli drone badly wounded throwing a piece of wood at the device in his final defiance of Israel.
The release in Khan Younis took place near the bombed ruins of Sinwar’s house.
The Palestinian prisoners, who include 30 minors and some convicted members of Palestinian groups responsible for deadly attacks that killed dozens of people in Israel, had been expected to be taken to the West Bank or Gaza later in the day.
Israelis gathered in what has become known as Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, cheering and crying as they watched the release on a giant screen. The hostages will be taken to hospital for treatment.
Some people cheered as US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff arrived at the square, in apparent gratitude for his role in securing the ceasefire deal. He shook hands with some people, including family members of hostages.
Around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 hostages were abducted in the Hamas attack in Israel, the bloodiest single attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Israel’s military response has killed more than 47,000 Palestinians and laid waste to the enclave of 2.3 million people, who face severe shortages of medicine, fuel and food.
Around half the hostages were released the following month during the only previous truce, and others have been recovered dead or alive during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Hundreds of thousands of Gazans, most displaced repeatedly during the conflict, have returned to their neighborhoods in the north, where the fighting was most intense. Many have found their homes to be uninhabitable and basic goods in short supply.
Israel still lists 82 captives in Gaza, with around 30 declared dead in absentia.
In the course of the war triggered by the Hamas attack, Israel has killed other leaders of Hamas as well as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, striking major blows against Iran’s network of proxies in the Middle East. The fall of Iran-backed Syrian president Bashar Assad was also a boost for Israel.
Israeli forces have stepped up operations in another Palestinian territory, the West Bank, since the Gaza ceasefire came into effect, saying they are targeting militants there.


Palestinian Red Crescent says Israeli strike kills 7 in West Bank

Palestinian Red Crescent says Israeli strike kills 7 in West Bank
Updated 30 January 2025
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Palestinian Red Crescent says Israeli strike kills 7 in West Bank

Palestinian Red Crescent says Israeli strike kills 7 in West Bank
  • The strike occurred in the village of Tamun in northern West Bank, organization says
  • Israeli said its forces were involved in a ‘counterterrorism operation’ in the area

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: The Palestinian Red Crescent said an Israeli drone strike in a village in the occupied West Bank killed at least seven people on Wednesday, while the military said it had struck an “armed cell.”
“An Israeli strike in the village of Tamun in the northern West Bank killed seven people,” the group said in a statement.
The Palestinian health ministry in Ramallah said eight people had been killed.
The Israeli military told AFP its forces were involved in a “counterterrorism operation” in the area.
As part of the operation, an Israeli “aircraft, with the direction of ISA (security agency) intelligence, struck an armed terrorist cell in the area of Tamun,” the military said in a statement.
Violence has soared throughout the West Bank since the war between Hamas and Israel broke out in Gaza on October 7, 2023.
Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 870 Palestinians, including many militants, in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
At least 29 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids in the territory over the same period, according to official Israeli figures.


First Gaza aid ship arrives at Egypt’s El-Arish port since ceasefire

First Gaza aid ship arrives at Egypt’s El-Arish port since ceasefire
Updated 30 January 2025
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First Gaza aid ship arrives at Egypt’s El-Arish port since ceasefire

First Gaza aid ship arrives at Egypt’s El-Arish port since ceasefire

CAIRO: A Turkish ship docked at Egypt’s El-Arish on Wednesday, delivering the first aid destined for Gaza through the port since a fragile ceasefire went into effect, a Turkish official and Egyptian sources said.
“We are prepared to heal the wounds of our Gazan brothers and sisters and to meet their temporary shelter needs,” Turkish Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya posted on X on Wednesday.
The ship was loaded with 871 tons of humanitarian aid, including 300 power generators, 20 portable toilets, 10,460 tents and 14,350 blankets, according to Yerlikaya.
A team from the Egyptian Red Crescent received the Turkish aid to make the necessary arrangements for its delivery to the Strip, a source at the port, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of the Gaza Strip, said.
Two staff from the Egyptian Red Crescent also confirmed its arrival.
Since the start of the truce in the Palestinian territory, hundreds of truckloads of aid have entered Gaza while some has been airlifted in.
The truce between Israel and Hamas came after more than 15 months of war sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.