Exiled Members of Sufi Gonabadi Dervish Order Told to “Repent” or Serve Life in Prison
The sentences of a lifetime in exile issued against Mohammad Ali Shamshirzan and Hamid Arayesh of the Sufi order in Iran known as Gonabadi Dervishes ...
Ethnic Discrimination
Attorney Calls Out Local Governor For “Empty” Promises to Iran’s “Kulbar” Border Couriers
An attorney representing Iranian border couriers, “kulbar” in Farsi, has criticized a local governor in northwestern Iran for making “unreasonable” and “empty” promises of financial assistance to the impoverished, unlicensed tradesmen. On ...
Freed Iranian Baha’i Leader Mahvash Sabet Describes Unjust Trial, Prison Conditions
“We never betrayed our country and never will.” Mahvash Sabet, a leader of Iran’s persecuted Baha’i faith who was released from Evin Prison on September 18, 2017 after completing a 10-year sentence, said she was convicted of espionage charges despite non-existent evidence. “There were seven charges against us,” she ...
Family of Man Shot by Iranian Border Guards: Authorities “Lying” About Victim’s Identity
Heydar Faraji (right) and Ghader Bahrami were shot to ...
Iran’s Supreme Leader Forbids Discrimination Against Minorities in Rare Outreach to Sunnis
Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi. Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has expressed opposition to “discrimination and inequality” against Iranian minorities ...
Protest Against Killing of Couriers in Iran’s Kurdistan Province Attacked by Security Forces
Local MP Calls for Investigation A protest was met with tear gas in the city of Baneh in northwestern Iran on September 5, 2017, after people gathered in front of the local governor’s ...
Sunni Arabs Beaten and Arrested in Iran For Praying in Public
Thirteen Sunni Arabs have been beaten by security and plainclothes agents and arrested for publicly praying in Ahvaz, the capital of Iran’s Khuzestan Province, the Center for Human Rights ...
Iranian Sunnis Who Supported Rouhani’s Reelection Feel Snubbed by His Cabinet Picks
Former MP Urges Rouhani to “Expose” Human Rights Violators Iran’s Sunni Muslim community is “disappointed” by President Hassan Rouhani’s decision to exclude members of the minority religious group from his cabinet, two former Sunni members ...
Azeri Man Facing Prison Time for Peacefully Advocating Ethnic Language Rights in Iran
Facing prison time for his peaceful advocacy of Azeri ethnic rights, Asgar Akbarzadeh has been summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Ahar, 307 miles northwest of Tehran in ...
Sufi Devotee With Heart Disease Denied “Urgent” Medical Care in Bandar Abbas Prison
Despite worsening heart disease, Mohammad Ali Shamshirzan, an imprisoned dervish of Iran’s Sufi Gonabadi Order in Hormozgan Province, is being denied specialized treatment outside prison. “Prisoners are ...
Sunni Council in Iran Suspends Operations Amid Ongoing Arrests and Intimidation
Dissident Sunni cleric Hassan Amini is the secretary general of the Sunni Theologians ...
Impoverished Children Without Identification Documents Deprived of Education in Iran
Children without state-issued identification documents mostly from Iran’s underdeveloped border provinces are being denied education in Iran, attorney Osman Mozayan told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). Iran ...
Azeri Ethnic Rights Activists Beaten at Peaceful Protest Remain Detained Without Access to Legal Counsel
Iranian police units arrested several ethnic Azerbaijani rights activists at a peaceful protest gathering in Ghaleh Babak in East Azerbaijan Province on June 30, 2017, the Center for Human Rights (CHRI) in Iran has learned. An eyewitness, who ...
Four Christian Converts Sentenced to 10 Years Imprisonment in Trial Lacking Due Process
Three Azeri men from the Republic of Azerbaijan, and one Iranian man--all Protestant Christian converts--have been sentenced to 10 years in prison by the Revolutionary Court in Iran, according to Mansour Borji, the ...
Two Imprisoned Azeri Rights Activists on Hunger Strike in Iran
After being detained for more than one year on unsubstantiated espionage charges, Azeri political activist Habib Sasanian began a hunger strike on June 13, 2017, according to his wife. “They ...
Thirteen People Arrested Amid Arab Ethnic Rights Protests in Iran’s Khuzestan Province
Thirteen people, including Arab ethnic rights activists and poets, were arrested in Ahwaz, the capital of Iran’s Khuzestan Province, on June 25, 2017, local activist Karim Dahimi ...
Prominent Civil Rights Activists Urge Iran’s Parliament to Ban Use of Deadly Force Against Border Couriers
The killing, by border guards, of another kulbar—the Persian word for the border-crossing couriers who transport illegally imported goods into Iran—has prompted 250 Iranian civil rights ...
Human Rights Activist Told He Must Serve Additional Year in Prison on Day of Expected Release
While his family waited for him outside Rajaee Shahr Prison the day he was supposed to be released, on June 6, 2017, Navid Khanjani was told he would ...
Another Student Expelled From University in Iran For Baha’i Faith
Farzad Safaei was one semester away from a bachelor’s degree in industrial metallurgy at the Islamic Azad University when he was expelled on May 20, 2017 by the security office for being a member of the Baha’i faith ...
Iran’s Top Sunni Cleric Urges President Rouhani to Appoint Religious Minorities to Cabinet
The leader of Iran’s Sunni population told CHRI that Sunnis should be invited to participate in the second-term government of newly re-elected President Hassan Rouhani ...
Rouhani: Delivering Human Rights After the Election
Hassan Rouhani was re-elected as president of Iran in May 2017 largely on the basis of his support for human rights and Iranians’ perceptions that he would do more to improve civil and political rights in the country than his rivals. He should now deliver on his pledges. ...
Formerly Imprisoned Lawyer and Religious Minority Activist Expelled From University Without Explanation
Mostafa Daneshjou, a formerly imprisoned lawyer and member of a Sufi religious order known as the Gonabadi Dervishes, has been ...
Iran Election Update | May 19, 2017 (Live Updates)
Find out the latest news about Iran’s May 2017 elections by following CHRI’s live updates ...
Prominent Kurdish Activist Facing More Prison Time After Serving 10 Years in Evin Prison
Prominent Kurdish rights activist Mohammad Sadiq Kaboudvand was freed from Evin Prison in Tehran on May 12, 2017 after serving 10 years for his peaceful activism. ...