Filmmaker’s Family Blocked From Boarding Flight in Tehran: “Iran is Sick and Making Everyone Sick”
Filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi poses for a photo beside his mother Iran Hamzehie. Several members ...
Free Expression
Death of Iran’s “Blue Girl” Spotlights Senseless Ban on Women in Stadiums
No More Empty Promises: FIFA Should Call on Iran to Lift Ban Once and For All September 10, 2019 – The death of Sahar Khodayari, a woman who set herself on fire in Tehran because she thought she would have to serve jail time for ...
Female Political Prisoners To Serve Additional Two Years For “Insulting” Supreme Leader
Political prisoners Atena Daemi and Golrokh ...
15 Iran MPs Urge New Judiciary Chief to Stop Renewed Crackdown on Freedom of Speech
During a speech addressing Iran’s legislature, member of Parliament (MP) Parvaneh Salahshouri strongly criticized the recent crackdown on journalists and workers’ rights advocates and called on recently appointed ...
Prisoners in Iran’s Gharchak Prison for Women Protest Inhumane Living Conditions
Prison Fails to Meet UN’s Minimum Standards for Treatment of Prisoners Two hundred inmates in Ward 5 of Gharchak Prison for women in the Iranian city of Varamin have sent an open letter to ...
At Least 13 Signers of Open Letters Urging Khamenei’s Resignation Are Arrested
Demonstrating the Iranian authorities’ continued intolerance for peaceful dissent, two open letters written since June 2019 by 28 political and civil rights activists urging Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to step down ...
Journalist Sentenced to 10.5 Years Imprisonment for Covering Labor Day Rally
Four months after being arrested while covering a Labor Day protest, Journalist Marzieh Amiri has been sentenced to 10.5 years in prison and 148 lashes by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Mohammad ...
Iran Cracks Down on Instagram Celebrities
Instagram influencers in Iran are being forced to censor their posts and give their account passwords to intelligence agents amid a renewed crackdown on freedom of expression and speech. Investigations by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) indicate that dozens of Iranians with large followings on Instagram—including athletes, fashion models and actors—were summoned ...
Iran Sentences Satirist Keyomars Marzban to 23 Years Imprisonment
Marzban’s Only “Crime” Was Working for Foreign Media Outlets He Must Serve 11 Years if Appeals Court Upholds Sentence Before Eligibility for Parole Satirist Keyomars Marzban has been sentenced to 23.3 years ...
Arrests, Prison Sentences Fail to Stem Growing Public Opposition to Iran’s Mandatory Hijab Law
At Least 12 People Sentenced to Prison Since January 2018 August 19, 2019 – Mounting arrests and prison sentences have not enabled Iran's government to achieve broad public compliance with the country's mandatory hijab law, or stem growing protests against it. At least 12 people have been ...
Six-Year Prison Sentence Upheld Against Journalist Who Was Denied Right to Fair Trial
An Appeals Court in Tehran has upheld a six-year prison sentence against political affairs journalist Hamed Aynehvand without holding a hearing, his lawyer, Hossein Bayat, informed the Center for Human Rights in ...
Iran Cracks Down on Instagram Celebrities as It Tightens Noose on Freedom of Speech and Expression
Investigations by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) indicate that dozens of Iranians with large followings on Instagram—including athletes, fashion models and actors—were summoned by security officials in 2019 and ...
“Why Should We Be Silent?” Colleagues Condemn Photographer’s Unjust Detention
Film and theater photographer Nooshin Jafari has ...
Detained Anthropologist Kameel Ahmady Worked Independently and Transparently, Says Wife
Iranian-British anthropologist Kameel Ahmady has had no ...
Supporters of Detained Workers’ Rights Activists Arrested Outside Courthouse
The family of labor activist Roham Yeganeh has not heard from him since he was arrested in front of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on August 3, 2019, his mother, Atieh Nouri, told ...
Detained Conservationists Niloufar Bayani and Sepideh Kashani on Hunger Strike
Wildlife conservationists Niloufar Bayani and Sepideh Kashani have been ...
Independent News Editor in “Terrible Shape” After One-Month Hunger Strike
Amirhossein Mohammadifar and his wife Sanaz Allahyari, also a journalist, began a hunger strike on July 3, 2019, to protest their prolonged detention. The health of Amirhossein ...
Iranian Heavy Metal Band Members Escape to Norway After Receiving Prison Sentences
Nikan Khosravi and Arash Ilkhani, members of the Iranian heavy metal band Confess, have left Iran to escape prosecution and prison for their art. “We took a risk and left the country ...
Cannes Film Festival, Iranian Filmmakers Condemn Sentence Against Colleague Mohammad Rasoulof
Acclaimed director Mohammad Rasoulof was sentenced to one year in prison in Tehran in July 2019. He has been banned from making films or leaving Iran since ...
Mohammad Rasoulof’s Films Were Banned in Iran, Now He’s Been Sentenced to Prison
“We have to pay a price, and every person will pay some price,” says acclaimed filmmaker July 24, 2019 – The sentencing of award-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof to one year in prison for the content of his films has highlighted the perilous political landscape independent artists must navigate ...
Kurdish-Iranian Political Prisoner Denied Hospitalization for Stomach Tumor
Mohammad Nazari Has Been Imprisoned Since 1994 Imprisoned for more than 25 years, Kurdish-Iranian political prisoner Mohammad Nazari has been denied hospitalization to receive tests for a tumor in his stomach, his ...
Iran: Release Four Women Detained at Labor Day Protest
From left to right: Marzieh Amiri, Atefeh Rangriz, Neda Naji, and Anisha Asadollahi. Four ...
Mass Hunger Strike Launched in Evin Prison Against Unlawful Treatment of Political Prisoners
In an open letter calling on the people of Iran to support their demands, six political prisoners in Ward 4 of Tehran’s Evin Prison have announced that they’ve gone on hunger strike to protest the judiciary’s treatment of political prisoners. The undated letter was posted July ...
Husband and Wife Journalists Hunger Strike to Break “Limbo” of Six-Month Detention
Imprisoned journalists Amirhossein Mohammadifar and Sanaz Allahyari, a married couple, have been on a wet hunger strike since July 4, 2019, in Tehran’s Evin Prison to convince the authorities to allow them to ...
Parliament Faction Links Lacking Accountability to Deaths of Political Prisoners in State Custody
Defense Attorney: Firing Prison Officials Won’t Keep Political Prisoners Safe One month after political prisoner Alireza Shirmohammadali was murdered in the Greater Tehran Central Penitentiary (GTCP) after being unlawfully held in a ward with inmates convicted of violent crimes, two prison officials have been fired while ...