Shiite Mystic Sentenced to Another Five Years Imprisonment in Iran
Death Sentence Struck Down Twice by Supreme Court Mohammad Ali Taheri, the founder of a mystical Shiite spiritual group in Iran, has been sentenced to five years in prison ...
Ethnic Discrimination
Iranians Debate Use of Violence Against Security Forces After Clashes With Sufi Gonabadis Leave Three Dead
Clashes among members of a predominantly peaceful minority faith in Iran and security forces have resulted in a discussion on social media among Iranians about the use of violence ...
Follower of Sufi Order Expelled From Iranian University After Refusing to Sign Pledge
Sepideh Moradi Sarvestani Sepideh Moradi Sarvestani, a member of the Gonabadi Dervish Sufi order, was expelled from Tehran’s Tarbiat Modares University on February 3, 2018, for refusing to formally pledge not to engage in ...
Thousands of Undocumented Iranians Denied Affordable Kerosene In Winter Months
Tens of thousands of people living in poverty in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province are being denied heating oil in the cold winter months because they lack identification papers, the Center ...
Imprisoned Iranian-American Art Dealer Accuses IRGC of Judicial Interference
Karan Vafadari: “I don’t think we will be justly treated ...
Hardline Judge Keeps Iranian-American and Wife in Jail by Imposing $27 Million Bail
Family Meets Bail for Wife, but Judge Still Refuses to Release Her The judge presiding over the case of imprisoned Iranian-American gallery owners Karan Vafadari and his wife Afarin ...
Iranian-American Zoroastrian Denounces 27-Year “Unjust” Prison Sentence in Letter From Prison
Update: The couple's sentence was later reduced to 15 years for Karan Vafadari and 10 years for Afarin Nayssari. In a letter from Evin Prison obtained by the Center for Human ...
Iranian Sunni Cleric Faces Travel Restrictions: “It All Comes Down to Intolerance”
Iranian Officials have imposed travel restrictions on one of the ...
Iranian Protesters’ Relatives Threatened With Arrest For Holding Sit-In at Evin Prison
“We will not go anywhere until we get some news about our kids.” The families of protesters detained during the anti-government protests that began in Iran on December 28, 2017, have been threatened with arrest for holding a sit-in at Evin Prison in Tehran. “Since the first night he was arrested, we have ...
Reformist MP Enquires About Students Detained in Iranian Protests
Four Sufi Gonabadi Dervishes Detained Without Charge A member of the reformist women’s faction in Iran’s Parliament has publicly enquired about the condition of university students who were arrested since anti-state ...
Iranian-Jewish Worshippers Find Two Synagogues Ransacked and Vandalized in Shiraz
Unidentified assailants attacked two synagogues in the southern Iranian city of Shiraz on December 24 and 25, 2017, and destroyed or desecrated religious items, according to Sam Kermanian, an adviser to the Los ...
Baha’is Still Misunderstood in Iran, Says Former Leader After Serving 10 Years in Prison
Baha’i leader Behrouz Tavakkoli has spoken out about the Iranian government’s “misunderstandings” about his minority faith. Tavakkoli spoke to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on December 15, 2017, 11 days after his release from Rajaee Shahr Prison where he served a 10-year-prison sentence for his religious beliefs. “Those ...
Judge Demands Political Prisoner Mohammad Ali Taheri Pick Lawyer from Judiciary’s List
Judge Salavati Often Assigned to Issue Harsh Sentences in Political Cases The judge who will re-sentence imprisoned spiritual thinker Mohammad Ali Taheri for the charge of “corruption on earth” has demanded that ...
Baluchi Imprisoned For Brother’s Alleged Terrorist Links Hunger Strikes Against Repeated Beatings
Mohammad Saber Malek-Raeisi, imprisoned in Iran for the last eight years solely because of his brother’s alleged links with a terrorist organization, has gone on hunger strike in Ardabil Central Prison ...
Reformist MPs Call on Science Ministry to Allow “Starred” Student Activists to Attend University
Students accused of engaging in peaceful activism continue to be banned from attending university in Iran despite President Hassan Rouhani’s ...
Intelligence Ministry Pressures Two Sunni Rouhani Campaign Managers to Halt Peaceful Advocacy Efforts
Within the course of the same week, two Sunni Muslim politicians were warned by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry to stop advocating for Sunni Muslims rights, especially the inclusion of Sunnis in the president’s cabinet ...
Intelligence Ministry “Invites” Rouhani Campaign Manager to Stop Advocating for Sunni Muslim Rights
President Hassan Rouhani’s chief campaign manager in Iran’s Kurdistan Province was subjected to intimidation tactics while being questioned by Intelligence Ministry agents about his peaceful efforts to include Sunni Muslims in the government. A ...
Former MP: Preventing Religious Minorities From Running in Iran’s Local Elections Violates Constitutional Rights
Passing legislation to restrict the rights of religious minorities in Iran would violate their rights as equal citizens, a prominent reformist former legislator told the Center for Human Rights in ...
Three Baha’is Barred From University in Iran Sentenced to Five Years in Prison
Three young Iranians who complained to state officials after being denied university education for being followers of the Baha’i faith have been sentenced to five years in prison each, the Center for Human ...
Iran’s Rouhani Writes to Supreme Leader On Dispute Over Suspended Zoroastrian Council Member
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has condemned the recent suspension of a Zoroastrian member of a city council as “illegal” and asked the supreme leader to intervene in the growing dispute that has highlighted divisions within the state ...
After 10 Years in Prison, Faith Leader Fariba Kamalabadi Says Baha’is Hope to Serve Iran
In her first interview since being released from Evin Prison on October 31, 2017, Baha’i faith leader Fariba Kamalabadi said Baha’is “love” Iran and want to “serve” their country. “There have been a lot of reports about the rights that have been denied to Baha’is,” Kamalabadi told the ...
UN Special Rapporteur: Despite “Encouraging Signs,” Human Rights Deteriorating in Iran
Asma Jahangir, the special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran. In presenting her semi-annual 2017 report on Iran to the United ...
Iran’s Expediency Council to Decide Whether Religious Minorities Can Run in Elections
Yazd city councilman Sepanta Niknam holds up a book called Ghathas, the ...
“Suspended” Zoroastrian Member of Yazd City Council Facing Uncertain Future
The head councilman of the city of Yazd, in southeastern Iran, has refused to carry out a court order suspending the membership of a fellow councilman who is a member of the minority ...
Innocent Bystanders Killed in Anti-Smuggling Operations in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan Province
A three-year-old boy and his father were killed by police men chasing alleged smugglers in the southeastern city of Iranshahr on September 28, 2017. More than 100 people, ...