Labor Activist Dies From Cancer Left Untreated in Iranian Prison
A photo of Mohammad Jarrahi ...
Free Expression
Iranian Baha’i Singer Facing Prison Time After European Concert Tour
Behnam Rohani-Fard Interrogated “20 Times” in Solitary Confinement After being repeatedly interrogated while spending a month in solitary confinement, Iranian singer Behnam Rohani-Fard was released on 100 million tomans bail (approximately ...
Imprisoned Iranian-British Citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Threatened With 16 More Years Behind Bars
Revolutionary Guards Bring New Charges Against Young Mother Who Was Eligible for Release in November 2017 October 9, 2017—Iranian-British dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, imprisoned in Iran since April 2016 on trumped up and unspecified national security charges, is now facing up to 16 more years in prison based on new ...
Imprisoned Teachers’ Rights Advocate Esmail Abdi Denied Sentence Review
Esmail Abdi is serving a six-year prison sentence for peacefully advocating for teachers' rights in Iran. Iran’s judiciary has denied a request for a review of the heavy prison sentence issued ...
Iran’s Ex-Reformist President Banned From Public Appearances Week After Seven MPs Sentenced to Prison
Former President Mohammad Khatami. Iran’s former reformist President Mohammad Khatami has been banned from making public appearances and receiving political guests for three months. The ban, first reported on October 5, 2017, was issued by the Special Court for the Clergy ...
Senior Reformist Politicians Sentenced to Prison, Banned From Political Activities
Seven prominent Iranian reformist politicians who wrote in an open letter that the judiciary has been given an “open hand” to prosecute legal political activities with “security crimes” have been handed one-year prison ...
Rights Activist Barred from University Under Ahmadinejad Faces Same Roadblocks Under Rouhani
Mahdieh Golru: “I have lost hope along with the years of my youth.” Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has blocked formerly imprisoned civil rights activist Mahdieh Golru from attending ...
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 ...
Religious Freedom Advocate: “Iran’s Ruling Clerics are Followers of Machiavelli, Not the Mahdi”
Amir Soltani is the co-author of Zahra's Paradise, a ...
Iranian Singer Offered Bribes in Exchange for Cooperating with Rouhani Government
Arya Aramnejad Says Repression Has Continued Under New President Iranian pop singer Arya Aramnejad has been indefinitely banned from engaging in any musical activity by Iran’s ...
Suffering From Severe Dental Problems, US Resident On “Enforced Hunger Strike” in Evin Prison
Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese-born US permanent resident imprisoned in Iran since September 2015, has been on hunger strike since September 29, 2017, due to severe and untreated dental problems, the ...
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. ...
Gorgan Appeals Court Issues Prison Sentences, Fines for Facebook Posts
Three Iranians were issued jail terms and a fine for expressing their views on social media. Two residents of the Iranian city of Gorgan have been sentenced to prison and another ...
Dozens Arrested in Iran for Celebrating Iraqi Kurdish Independence “Yes” Vote
Security forces detained dozens of people in Iranian Kurdish-populated cities on September 26, 2017 following the “yes” vote in the Iraqi Kurdish independence referendum. “There was a large gathering in front of the governor’s ...
Former Sunni MP: Rouhani Government Failing to Uphold Minority Rights Despite Supreme Leader’s Call
The situation of Iran’s Sunni Muslims has not improved since Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei pointed out in a sermon that minorities are constitutionally protected from discrimination, a former Sunni member of Parliament told ...
Outspoken Political Prisoner Maryam Akbari-Monfared Denied Medical Care and Furlough
Political prisoner Maryam Akbari-Monfared is being denied specialized medical care despite her worsening health, according to her husband, Hassan Jafari. “Thyroid disease is causing her a lot of suffering,” he told CHRI in an interview on September 25, 2017. “We also scheduled a ...
Q&A: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Husband Speaks Out About Dual National’s Imprisonment in Iran
The husband of imprisoned Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe speaks to CHRI about her case and their lives since she was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards in April 2016. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe never imagined she would be arrested and ultimately sentenced to five years in prison ...
Iran’s Judiciary Sues Telegram CEO to Adopt Censorship Policies
A lawsuit has been filed in an Iranian court against the CEO of the Telegram messaging app, Pavel Durov, accusing the app of ...
Iranian Teachers’ Rights Activist Facing 14 Years Behind Bars for Peaceful Advocacy
Imprisoned teacher’s rights activist Mahmoud Beheshti-Langroudi is facing 14 years behind bars in Iran after the confirmation of his latest prison sentence, his son told the Center for ...
Political Prisoner Atena Daemi Denied Major Surgery After Authorities Insist on Keeping Her Cuffed
Imprisoned children’s rights activist Atena Daemi has been denied a major operation after demanding that the authorities fulfill their promise to allow her to receive the surgery without handcuffs and with a family member in ...
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 ...
Workers Peacefully Demanding Unpaid Wages Beaten and Arrested by Anti-Riot Police in Iranian City of Arak
“Poor workers don’t deserve to be beaten.” Anti-riot police forces stormed peaceful protests by workers at two industrial units in Arak, the capital of Iran’s Central Province, on September 19, 2017, and arrested ...
The Minister is Wrong: Using Circumvention Tools to Access Censored Websites in Iran is Legal
Iranian Telecommunications Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi was incorrect when he stated recently that using software to access censored online content in Iran is illegal. Indeed, no such law exists. ...
Persistent Hunger Strikers at Rajaee Sharhr Prison in Iran Denied Medical Care
Four political prisoners in Iran’s Rajaee Shahr Prison are being denied medical care after refusing food for more than one month to peacefully demand that ...
Wife of Man Imprisoned for Facebook Posts Loses Job After Pressure From IRGC
Every day something bad is happening to him.” Nastaran Naimi, the wife of Soheil Arabi, who was imprisoned in Iran for his Facebook ...