Rouhani Staff Repeatedly Blocked From Campaigning in North Tehran Weeks Before 2017 Elections
For the second week in a row, the staff at the campaign headquarters of incumbent President Hassan Rouhani in north Tehran has been prevented ...
Assembly / Association
Prominent Political Activist Faezeh Hashemi Barred From Speaking at Rouhani Campaign Event
Speeches by reformist politicians and supporters of incumbent president Hassan Rouhani have been cancelled ahead of the May 19, 2017 presidential election, including two by former member of Parliament Faezeh Hashemi. Hashemi, an outspoken political activist and the daughter of the late former President Akbar Hashemi Rafasanjani, ...
Rouhani Promises to Withdraw Anti-Labor Amendments While Police Quash Peaceful Protests
During a ceremony marking International Labor Day on May 1, 2017, President Hassan Rouhani, who will be running for re-election on May 19, pledged to withdraw ...
Deadly Coal Mine Explosion in Iran: Who’s Responsible?
The employer, and possibly the government are legally liable for the explosion at a coal mine in northern Iran that killed more than 30 workers and injured dozens on May 3, ...
Labor Activist Freed From Rajaee Shahr Prison After Serving Seven Years Behind Bars
After serving seven years, labor activist As’ad (Behnam) Ebrahimzadeh was released from Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj, east of Tehran, on May 1, 2017—a year after his ...
CHRI’s updates on Iran’s 2017 elections | May 3, 2017
Get caught up on Iran’s 2017 presidential and local council elections with a special weekly update by CHRI. ...
Hardliners Pounce on Rouhani Campaigner’s Criticism of Iran’s Military Policy in Syria
Gholamhossein Karbaschi, the reformist former mayor of Tehran and a supporter of President Hassan Rouhani, has come under attack for publicly criticizing Iran’s military engagement in ...
Shirin Ebadi: Iran’s 2017 Presidential Hopefuls Have Unacceptable Human Rights Records
Not one of the candidates running for Iran’s presidency has an acceptable human rights record, Iranian Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi told the Center for Human ...
Judiciary Shuts Down Reformists’ Campaign Headquarters in Iran’s Second Largest City
The campaign headquarters of reformists in Khorasan Razavi Province, northeastern Iran, was shuttered on May 2, 2017—three weeks before the country’s presidential and local council elections on May 19, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. ...
Political Prisoner Atena Daemi’s Health Worsens Four Weeks Into Hunger Strike Without Proper Care
Atena Daemi, a human rights activist serving a seven-year prison sentence for her peaceful activism, is in “critical” condition on the fourth week of ...
Iranian Female Soccer Player Publicly Decries Ban For Playing Without Hijab
A professional soccer player who once played for the Iranian women’s national futsal team has publicly spoken out against a ban she says was imposed on her for not wearing the hijab while playing the ...
Female Former Council Member Advocates For Women Candidates in Iran’s Local Elections
Political parties and factions in Iran should promote more women candidates in the country’s local council elections to improve gender equality, Sedigheh Vasmaghi, a former Tehran city council member, told the Center for ...
Supporters Urge For Release of Ailing Iranian-Americans Siamak and Baquer Namazi Imprisoned in Iran
The American lawyer representing ailing Iranian-Americans Siamak Namazi and his father, Baquer, serving 10-year sentences in Iran for unspecified espionage charges, has called for US President Donald Trump to immediately secure their release. “If not resolved ...
Political Commentator and Former Political Activist Released From Evin Prison
Issa Saharkhiz Facing New Trial Reformist political commentator Issa Saharkhiz and former political activist Navid Kamran were released from Evin Prison in Tehran on April 25, 2017, the ...
Iran’s Other Elections: Local Council Applicants Subjected to Arbitrary Vetting
In a surprising development, a few outspoken and prominent political activists have been approved to run in Iran’s elections for city and village councils on May 19, 2017. However, many well-known activists and reformists have been arbitrarily disqualified. ...
Former MP: Guardian Council Has “No Legal Authority” to Exclude Religious Minorities From Elections
The Guardian Council’s attempt to ban religious minorities from running in Iran’s nationwide local council elections on May 19, 2017 is unlawful and infringes on their constitutional rights, a former reformist member ...
IRGC Commander Publicly Criticizes Rouhani’s Refusal to Block Telegram Call Service Before Election
One month before Iranians head to the polls, a senior commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has revealed that President Hassan Rouhani opposed pressure ...
Eight Baha’is Arrested Without a Warrant by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry and Denied Legal Counsel
Seven Baha’i citizens were arrested by the Intelligence Ministry in Bandar Abbas and Qeshm Island, southern Iran, on April 18, 2017, an informed source told the Center for Human ...
University Student Groups Decry Security Climate on Campus, Rising Costs and Gender Segregation
Seventy-two student organizations from universities throughout Iran have issued a joint statement asking President Hassan Rouhani to end the security ...
Low Female Participation Rate in Iranian Elections Symptom of Gender Inequality
Women's rights advocate Nahid Tavasoli is the editor-in-chief of Nafe, an academic women’s periodical. The low number of female participants in Iranian elections is an indicator of inequality in the political, social and cultural fabric of the ...
Iranian Azeri Rights Activist on Trial for Advocating Mother Language
Abbas Lesani, an Azeri ethnic rights activist, is being tried for advocating state recognition of his mother tongue and making a speech at his friend’s wedding calling for an end ...
Social Media Emerges as Major Battlefront in Iran’s May 2017 Elections
A month before Iranians head to the polls for the presidential and council elections, a heated exchange between the judiciary and the Intelligence Ministry has highlighted ...
Rights Activist Atena Daemi Hunger Strikes Against IRGC-Related Additional Sentence
Imprisoned civil rights advocate Atena Daemi has started a wet hunger strike to protest new sentences issued against her and her two sisters for allegedly insulting agents of ...
Political Prisoner Narges Mohammadi Offered Furlough in Exchange for Silence
Mohammadi: Imprisonment Makes Me More “Determined” Imprisoned human rights defender Narges Mohammadi has been offered temporary release if she promises to be silent about her unjust sentence, her husband told the Center ...