Khamenei's niece calls on nations to shun regime

A niece of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called on foreign governments to cut all links with Tehran's "murderous and child-killing" regime in a video posted online two days after she was arrested.

- Angelique Chrisafis and Patrick Wintour

The video of a statement by Farideh Moradkhani, a well-known rights activist, has been circulating online after it was shared by her France-based brother Mahmoud Moradkhani last Friday. Mahmoud said his sister had been arrested after going to a prosecutor's office following a summons.

Farideh Moradkhani condemned the "clear and obvious oppression" Iranians have been subjected to, and criticised the international community's inaction. Moradkhani is an engineer who comes from a branch of Ayatollah Khamenei's family that has a record of opposition to Iran's clerical leadership, and has been jailed previously.