Iran ‘main challenge’ in Middle East: Macron

TEHRAN

French President Emmanuel Macron on Jan. 6 said Iran was the main strategic and security challenge in the Middle East, citing the acceleration of its nuclear program and support for Russia’s war against
Ukraine.

“Iran is the main strategic and security challenge for France, the Europeans, the entire region and beyond,” Macron said in a speech to ambassadors, adding the issue would be a key subject of discussion with the new administration of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump.

Iran’s disputed uranium enrichment drive is nearing a point of no return and European partners to a moribund 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran should consider reimposing sanctions if there is no progress with Tehran, he also said.

Meanwhile, an NGO on Jan. 6 reported that Iran in 2024 executed at least 31 women, warning that female prisoners were increasingly being caught in a surge in the use of capital punishment in the Islamic Republic.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR), which closely tracks executions in Iran, said in a report that the figure for 2024 marked the highest number of women to be hanged in Iran since it started documenting the use of capital punishment in 2008.

It added that at least 241 women were executed from 2010 to 2024, mostly on drug and murder convictions, adding that 70 percent of those executed for murder had been convicted of killing a husband or partner, often in the context of domestic violence.

Activists are increasingly alarmed over the surge in hangings in Iran, accusing the Islamic authorities under supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of using capital punishment as a tool to instill fear throughout society particularly in the wake of 2022-2023 nationwide protests.

IHR said in November that there has been a dramatic increase in executions in 2024, with at least 166 recorded in October alone, the highest number for a single month since it began recording executions.