IRGC-Affiliated Media Trying to “Prepare Public Opinion” For Execution of Kurdish Man
Relatives of Ramin Hossein Panahi, a Kurdish man on death row in Iran, have raised concerns that his chances of imminent execution have increased since several ...
Ethnic Discrimination
Kurdish Activist Facing Prison Time in Iran For Criticizing Supreme Leader
Kurdish political activist Mokhtar Zarei was summoned and taken into custody in Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan Province, on July 21, 2018, for criticizing Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in a letter, a close associate informed ...
Iran Affirms Right of Constitutionally Recognized Religious Minorities to Run in Local Elections
Sepanta Niknam has reclaimed his city council seat in the city of Yazd, southeastern Iran, nine months after he was suspended by a local court because he’s a member of the Zoroastrian faith. ...
Detained Iranian Azeri Rights Activists Badly Injured During Interrogations
Several ethnic rights activists detained at an annual celebration at Babak Fort in Iran’s East Azerbaijan Province required medical attention after being violently interrogated. “All of the 20 ...
Location of Baluchi Activist Arrested at Mass Rape Protest Concealed From His Family
The location of detained Baluchi ethnic rights activist Abdollah Bozorgzadeh remains unknown three weeks after he was detained in the Iranian city of Iranshahr in Sistan and Baluchistan Province. Bozorgzadeh was taken into ...
Iran: Stop Imminent Execution of Kurdish Prisoner, Investigate Evidence of Torture and Denial of Due Process
Fear Grows After Bus Driver Was Executed in Iran Despite Similar Concerns June 20, 2018—The Iranian judiciary should immediately annul the death sentence issued against Kurdish prisoner ...
Arab Rights Activist Hatam Morammezi Dead After One Year of Detention in Iran
Hatam Morammezi holding his nephew. Family Threatened to Stay Silent About the Case, Which Marks Sixth Death in Custody in Iran in ...
“You Know What Your Problem Is:” Young Man Expelled From Iranian University For His Baha’i Faith
A young man has been expelled from the University of Gilan in northern Iran because of his Baha’i faith in another example of Iranian universities discriminating against students for their religious beliefs without consequences. ...
Lawyer: Dervish Bus Driver Could be Executed in “3 or 4 Days” Despite Innocence Plea
Mohammad Salas, a Sufi bus driver convicted in Iran of running over three policemen in the capital city of Tehran, could be hanged in a “few days” despite ...
Iran’s Expediency Council Dragging Its Feet Over Fate of Religious Minority Candidates in Local Elections
Six months have passed and the Iranian government has still not resolved the dispute over the suspension of a Yazd City Council member, Sepanta Niknam...
Hundreds Arrested as Anger Over State Discrimination Against Iranian Arabs Spills Into the Streets
Ahvaz Friday Prayer Leader Calls For Apology From State TV Over Discriminatory Children’s Show At least 200 people were arrested after a week of demonstrations in Iran’s mainly Arab-populated Khuzestan Province. ...
Iran Cracks Down on Kurdish Activists After Anti-State Protests
At Least Two Activists Facing “National Security” Charges Iran’s cyber police, known as FATA, and the Intelligence Ministry have summoned rights activists in mainly Kurdish-populated provinces of the country and accused them of ...
Christian Property in Iran to Be Taken Over by Supreme Leader’s Organization
Very few photographs exist online of Sharon Gardens, a large and valuable piece of real estate located in the Iranian city of ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...