Agents Interrupt Labor Activist’s Dialysis Treatment to Transport Him to Prison
Labor activist Mahmoud Salehi was detained by security agents on October 28, 2017, while undergoing dialysis at a hospital in the city of Saqqez, in Iran’s Kurdistan ...
Free Expression
UN experts call on Iran to stop intimidation of BBC staff
GENEVA (27 October 2017) – Civil and criminal proceedings by Iran against BBC Persian staff and contributors must be halted, two UN human rights specialists have said. “The Iranian authorities appear ...
Iranian Mother Sentenced to Prison for Demanding Justice For Slain Son
“Confessions” Obtained by Intelligence Ministry While Shahnaz Akmali Held in Solitary Confinement A court in Tehran has sentenced Shahnaz Akmali, the mother of a well-known victim of the state ...
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 Nations General ...
Iran Launches New Assault on Freedom of Expression With Mass Criminal Investigation of BBC Persian Staff
Popular BBC talkshow presenter Pooneh Ghoddoosi in the studio. BBC Persian Staff Appeal to UN on Iran’s “Unprecedented Collective Punishment of Journalists” Ongoing attempts by hardline officials in Iran ...
Conservative Clerics, IRGC Pressured Court to Convict Rouhani Campaigner
Ali Mohammad Mohammadi, a former local chief campaigner for ...
Students, MPs Protest Against Rouhani’s Conservative Nominee for Iran’s Science Ministry
Students protest against President Rouhani’s nominee to head ...
Iranian-Born Swedish Resident Sentenced to Death Based on Forced Confession
Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-born Swedish resident who has been imprisoned in Iran since April 2016, was sentenced to death for “moharebeh” (enmity with God) ...
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 ...
Photo of Smiling Political Prisoners in Iran’s Evin Prison Lands One in Prison Known For Harsh Conditions
Arash Sadeghi (right) and Soheil Arabi in the courtyard of Evin Prison. Lawyer: Arash Sadeghi’s transfer was ...
Mousavi’s Daughters: Officials “Hoping and Planning” for Death of Opposition Leaders Under House Arrest
Former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavian addresses a cheering crowd during the protests following Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election. In an open ...
Husband: Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Jobs and Britishness “Exaggerated” to Use Her as “Bargaining Chip”
Iranian judicial officials are misrepresenting Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s past jobs and her British citizenship to persuade the UK government to negotiate with the Iranian government for her release, her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, told the ...
Reformist Political Activist Turned Refugee Briefly Arrested Upon Return to Iran
A reformist political activist who fled Iran in 2011 after years of being harassed by the Intelligence Ministry was summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Evin Prison upon returning to the country. A source close to ...
Reformist Journalist Sasan Aghaei in Prolonged Solitary Confinement Despite Calls for His Release by MPs
The Iranian judiciary is refusing to release reformist journalist Sasan Aghaei, who has been detained for more than two months in solitary confinement despite calls ...
Tehran Prosecutor: Streaming TinyMoviez Website Shut Down For “Indecent” Content
Case Highlights State Sanctioning of Copyright Infringement in Iran The popular Iranian streaming movies website, TinyMoviez, which featured pirated material, was shut down for distributing “indecent” foreign films, announced Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari ...
Seven Reformists MPs Plan to Sue Iran’s State Broadcasting Agency IRIB for Defamation
Seven reformist members of Iran’s Parliament who were recently sentenced to prison for their political views will sue the state TV and radio broadcasting agency for alleging the MPs engaged in ...
Family of Late Iranian President Rafsanjani Banned From Traveling Abroad
Four family members of the late Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani have been banned from traveling abroad by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), while one ...
Former MP: Don’t Underestimate the New Restrictions on Reformist Ex-President Khatami
Iran's former reformist President Mohammad Khatami. The increasingly restrictive judicial bans issued against reformist leader Mohammad Khatami could morph into something much bigger and enflame the current political climate, an ally of the former president told the Center for ...
“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 ...
Rouhani’s Criticism of Judiciary for Tightening Ban on Reformist Ex-President Spurs Debate
President Hassan Rouhani’s criticism of the judiciary for arbitrarily punishing critics of the state, including ally and reformist former President Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), has been met with a flurry of responses from adversaries ...
Rights Organizations Urge US to Aid Access to Information in Iran by Expanding General License D-1
In a joint statement, nine rights organizations including the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) have urged the US government to expand General License D-1, which allows the sale and distribution of ...
Leftist Poet Missing in Tabriz Two Days After Intelligence Ministry Raided His Home
Children’s rights advocate and leftist poet Omid Aghdami has been missing since October 5, 2017, two days after he tweeted that Intelligence Ministry agents had searched his home in ...
Imprisoned Editor Ehsan Mazandarani Told to File for Temporary Release With One Month Left on Sentence
A reformist journalist imprisoned in Iran who is due to be freed in less than a month has gone on a hunger strike to protest his continued incarceration. “Ehsan Mazandarani...
Iranian Officials Increase Pressure on Telegram App to Comply With Censorship Policies
The Amad News channel on the Telegram messaging application. Iranian Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari ...