Images of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini are projected on to the Azadi Tower in Tehran. A fire was reported at his former home in Khomein. AFP
Images of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini are projected on to the Azadi Tower in Tehran. A fire was reported at his former home in Khomein. AFP
Images of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini are projected on to the Azadi Tower in Tehran. A fire was reported at his former home in Khomein. AFP
Images of Iran's late supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini are projected on to the Azadi Tower in Tehran. A fire was reported at his former home in Khomein. AFP

Iran: crowds cheer as Ayatollah Khomeini's ancestral home burns


Holly Johnston
  • English
  • Arabic

Crowds cheered while a fire burned in the ancestral home of the former Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini on Thursday night as anger at the government showed no sign of waning after two months of protests.

Videos posted on social media and verified by several news agencies showed people shouting "Mullahs, get lost!" as they marched near the burning building in the city of Khomein.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency denied claims the building was set alight, saying crowds had only gathered in front of the late leader's home.

Exiled Iranian activist Masih Alinejad shared footage of protesters in the town and praised demonstrators who took to the streets.

Traditionally conservative towns and cities in Iran have not stayed silent as demonstrations continue across the country, sparked by the custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who died in the custody of the morality police, and fuelled by the killing of hundreds of people in subsequent protests.

In the holy city of Qom, protesters set fire to the Shia seminary in what some have called the ultimate act of defiance against the "powerhouse" of the Iran.

Rights groups say at least 342 people have been killed, including 26 children, since the wave of protests began in mid-September.

The nationwide demonstrations, in which women have played a leading role, pose the biggest challenge yet to the theocratic regime established by Khomeini after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Protesters have often targeted symbols of the ruling elite, including police stations, governor's offices and statues of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Khomeini's successor, despite the violent crackdown. Several protesters have already been sentenced to death.

'Stone-hearted' leader

Kian Pirfalak, a young boy said to have been nine or 10, has become the latest face of the movement after being shot dead in the south-western town of Izeh on Wednesday.

His mother and uncle denied officials' claims that he was killed in a terrorist attack, saying security forces opened fire on the car in which the boy was travelling with his family. His father was also injured.

A 14-year-old was also reported dead in Izeh on the same night.

Kian's death has prompted renewed outrage. Social media users shared videos of the young boy showcasing his home-made inventions, while lamenting that his dreams of becoming an inventor were cut short.

Large crowds gathered at his funeral on Friday, where mourners chanted against the regime, equating Iran's security forces to ISIS and calling for "death to Khamenei".

In videos shared online, his mother recited a poem describing Iran's supreme leader as "stone-hearted".

Protests have also been reported in several other cities across the country.

In the northern city of Gilan, doctors were reportedly beaten for tending to injured protesters.

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The specs

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Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

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Kathryn Hawkes of House of Hawkes on being a good guest (because we’ve all had bad ones)

  • Arrive with a thank you gift, or make sure you have one for your host by the time you leave. 
  • Offer to buy groceries, cook them a meal or take your hosts out for dinner.
  • Help out around the house.
  • Entertain yourself so that your hosts don’t feel that they constantly need to.
  • Leave no trace of your stay – if you’ve borrowed a book, return it to where you found it.
  • Offer to strip the bed before you go.

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

The biog

Year of birth: 1988

Place of birth: Baghdad

Education: PhD student and co-researcher at Greifswald University, Germany

Hobbies: Ping Pong, swimming, reading

 

 

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What sanctions would be reimposed?

Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:

  • An arms embargo
  • A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
  • A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
  • A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
  • Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

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Director: Shahad Ameen

Rating: 3/5

Updated: June 17, 2023, 8:14 AM