Barbaric Terrorist Attacks in Iran No Excuse for Crackdown on Civil Liberties

June 7, 2017—The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) strongly condemns the terrorist attacks in Tehran on June 7 that took the lives of at least 13 people and left 41 people injured. While addressing the people’s legitimate security concerns, we urge the Iranian authorities to avoid violating the citizenry’s civil and political rights.

“Despite the threat Iran is facing, the Iranian authorities should not use the attacks as an excuse to further crackdown on civil society,” said CHRI’s Executive Director Hadi Ghaemi.

Whenever the Iranian state has perceived external threats, the intelligence establishment, including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), has seized the opportunity to further infringe upon the civil rights of the Iranian people.

“Just as hardliners in Iran should not use these horrific events as a means to advance political objectives, the international community should not exercise selectivity in its condemnation of such barbaric acts against Iran as a means to settle political scores,” said Ghaemi.

Hardline politicians and news outlets close to the IRGC have already begun placing blame for the attacks on the Iranian Parliament building and the founder of the Islamic Republic Ruhollah Khomeini’s Mausoleum on reformist and centrist officials who have been critical of Iran’s security forces.

“These terrible events should not undermine the mandate to improve civil and political rights that the Iranian people handed Rouhani in the recent election,” said Ghaemi. “Just as the fight against violence in any shape and form should be steadfast, so too must be the fight for basic rights and freedoms.”