Sentenced to Prison For His Political Views, Sadegh Zibakalam Decries Censorship in Iran
Sadegh Zibakalam is an Iranian scholar and political analyst. “They Should Come Out ...
Free Expression
Blogger Arrested Amid Iran’s December 2017 Protests Vows to Hunger Strike Until Freedom or Death
Agents Threaten to Arrest Wife For Speaking Out About Peyman Roshanzamir’s Case A blogger who never served a previous prison sentence on the condition that he would not engage in political activities was taken ...
Detained Human Rights Lawyer Forced to Choose Counsel From Judiciary’s Approved “List”
Iranian human rights lawyer Mohammad Najafi is facing eight charges for daring to speak up about a client he believes was killed in custody. Security Agents Create “Climate of Fear” ...
Iranian Lawyers: Judiciary’s Mandatory List of Approved Counsel Sets “Dangerous Precedent”
Three human rights lawyers in Iran have strongly criticized the judiciary’s decision to force defendants held on politically motivated charges to pick their lawyer from an approved list ...
Iran: End Persecution of Families Seeking Truth and Justice For Detainees Who Died in Detention
JOINT PUBLIC STATEMENT 13 March 2018 The Iranian authorities should end their cruel campaign of harassment and intimidation against the families of detainees who have died in detention under suspicious circumstances, Amnesty International, ...
Prominent Iranian Human Rights Lawyer to Appeal Hijab Protester’s Prison Sentence
Narges Hosseini smiles for the camera after being released on bail from Gharchak Prison in February 2018. Nasrin Sotoudeh: Iran’s Constitution Makes No Mention of ...
Shirin Ebadi: Iranian Law “Deliberately Silent” on the Hijab to Leave Room for Harsh Sentencing
Iranian human rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. Iranian law is deliberating vague about the hijab to leave room for ...
Iran Should Stop Persecuting BBC Journalists and Threatening Their Families
Ongoing harassment of BBC Persian staff continues despite repeated UN criticism March 12, 2017—The UN should take immediate action on an appeal by the British Broadcasting Service (BBC) urging the Human Rights Council to protect journalists from an escalating campaign of intimidation and harassment by Iranian security forces. “The UN should ...
Conservative Iranian Officials Outraged That Little Girls Were Allowed to Dance at Women’s Day Event
Iran’s ultra-conservative prosecutor general has demanded that the organizers of a Women’s Day event in the capital city be punished for allowing little girls to ...
Woman Who Removed Headscarf in Public Sentenced to Prison as Supreme Leader Tries to Diminish Hijab Protests
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has described recent demonstrations in Iran against the country’s compulsory hijab rule as “small and insignificant,” which raises the question of why people are ...
Father and Son Political Prisoners Kept on Death Row in Iran For Eight Years Despite Deteriorating Health
Two prisoners of conscience who have been behind bars for nearly a decade in Tehran’s Evin Prison have been denied medical leave despite suffering from ...
Ongoing Harassment: Wife of Iranian-Canadian Who Died in Iran’s Evin Prison “Banned” From Leaving Country
Lives of Seyed-Emami Family Thrown Into “Chaos and Terror” March 8, 2018—The Iranian government should immediately allow the wife of Iranian-Canadian academic and environmentalist Kavous Seyed-Emami to leave Iran as she wishes and ...
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 ...
Outspoken Iranian Professor Fined as Noose Tightens Around Freedom of Speech in Universities
Sadegh Zibakalam, a Tehran-based reformist political analyst and academic known for his criticisms of Iranian state policies, has been fined for telling a foreign newspaper that the majority of Iranians do ...
Four Deaths in State Custody in Iran in Two Months Heighten Grave Concerns for Detainees
Gonabadi Dervish Detainee Died From “Blows to the Head,” Says Daughter March 6, 2018—The recent death of a devotee of Iran’s largest Sufi order in Tehran marks the fourth known death of a detainee ...
Tehran Police Chief Says Man Accused of Killing Policemen Will Be “Punished by Hanging”
The alleged driver of a bus that was driven into three policemen and two members of the Basij volunteer militia, killing them all during recent clashes...
Environmentalists Detained in Crackdown Denied Legal Counsel Amid Claims Some Were “Jewish Spies”
“No one knows if they are well or where they are being held.” Several environmentalists who were arrested by Iran’s Islamic ...
41 Tehran University Students Facing Prosecution For Participating in December 2017 Protests
The Iranian Judiciary has opened cases against 41 students of Tehran University who allegedly participated in protests in the capital city in January ...
Political Prisoners in Rajaee Shahr Subjected to Inhumane Living Conditions as Punishment For Hunger Strike
Inmates in the ward for political prisoners in Iran’s Rajaee Shahr Prison continue to be punished seven months after many of them went on hunger strike to protest their forced move to a high-security ward. Prison officials have denied them adequate heating during the cold winter months and prevented ...
Journalist Confronts FIFA President Over Iran’s Ban on Women in Stadiums: “It’s Our Right”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino (left) with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani in ...
Iranian Hijab Protester Charged With “Acting Against National Security”
An Iranian woman who was arrested in Tehran for peacefully protesting against Iran’s compulsory hijab law has been formally charged, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. ...
Baha’i Leader Spent 10 Years in Prison, Authorities Incapable of Producing Any Evidence of Wrongdoing Throughout
Oppression Has Failed to Break Our Commitment to Our Faith, Says Leader The Islamic Republic of Iran has failed to suppress Baha’is by putting their leaders behind bars and ...
Iranian MP Calls For Separation of Powers Among Rival Intelligence Agencies
Former Intelligence Minister Admits Iranian-Canadian Zahra Kazemi Was Killed in Evin Prison in 2003 Iran’s Parliamentary Committee for National Security and Foreign Policy is drafting a bill to separate the responsibilities of the ...
Opposition Leader Under House Arrest and 68 Female Documentary Makers Lend Support to Iran’s Hijab Protesters
As people protesting against the Islamic Republic of Iran’s mandatory hijab law continue to be arrested, an increasing number of political and cultural personalities ...
Iran Seals Its Egregious Rights Record With Toxic Pick For Top Spot on Human Rights Council
Selection of Avaei Shows Culture of Impunity For Human Rights Violators Will Continue in Iran February 27, 2018—The Iranian government’s decision to name Minister of Justice Seyyed Alireza Avaei as its representative ...