Judiciary Chief Threatens to Punish Opponents of Extrajudicial House Arrests
In the run-up to Iran’s recent elections, thousands of voters called for an end to the more than six-year extrajudicial house arrests of three opposition leaders...
Free Expression
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. ...
Newly Elected Reformist Council Member Arrested For Calling Prophet Mohammad “Secular”
A newly elected reformist member of the city council in Hamadan, northwestern Iran, was arrested for allegedly insulting the Prophet Mohammad ...
More Than 15,000 Petition Iran’s Judiciary to Free Prominent Teachers’ Rights Activist
An online petition signed by more than 15,000 people calling for the release of imprisoned teachers’ rights leader Esmail Abdi has been delivered to the judiciary and the office of the president ...
Newly Reelected Rouhani Abandons Promise to End Six-Year House Arrest of Opposition Leaders
In the first press conference of his second presidential term, Rouhani refused to commit to ending the extrajudicial house arrests of three opposition leaders—a pledge he made four years ago ...
Activists Acquitted of National Security Charges for Peaceful Defense of Labor Rights
Trade union activists Jafar Azimzadeh and Shapour Ehsani-Rad have been acquitted of the charge of ‘acting against national security’ for peacefully advocating for labor rights ...
Rouhani’s Battle With Hardliners Over UN 2030 Educational Guidelines Follows Him Into Second Term
A major challenge for newly reelected President Hassan Rouhani is integrating guidelines from a UN agenda into the country’s educational system amid fierce opposition from hardliners ...
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 ...
Baha’i Persecution Worsens Under Rouhani Government
“Banned from university, businesses sealed, cemeteries desecrated… What rights do Baha’is have as citizens?” The persecution of the Baha’i religious minority in Iran has grown worse under ...
Cartoon 167: Raisi’s Candidacy
The presidential candidacy of Ebrahim Raisi as depicted by Iranian cartoonist Touka Neyastani....
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 ...
Presidential Vote Count To be Announced Gradually in May 2017 Elections
Assistant Interior Minister Mohammad Hossein Moghimi The authority in charge of counting ballots in Iran’s presidential election has backed down from its ...
Most Yarsani Religious Minority Candidates Disqualified From Iran’s 2017 Councils Elections
The majority of Yarsani candidates seeking seats in Iran’s May 2017 elections for local councils have been disqualified, the faith’s spokesman, Siavash Hayati, ...
Judiciary Forbids Campaigners From Printing Rouhani’s Criticism of Revolutionary Guard
Hardliners Working to Suppress Reformist Leader’s Endorsement of Rouhani Since reformist leader Mohammad Khatami endorsed incumbent President Hassan Rouhani's second-term election campaign, hardliners have been working to ...
Judiciary Announces Arrests of Election Campaign Staff One Week After Rouhani’s Criticism
A week after incumbent President Hassan Rouhani criticized Iran’s hardline judiciary, its spokesman has announced that dozens of government officials will face possible prosecution for unspecified election campaign violations. ...
Rouhani’s Attempt to Adopt UNESCO Educational Guidelines Emerges as 2017 Election Issue
In the run-up to Iran’s presidential election on May 19, 2017, the country’s hardline supreme leader has strongly denounced the Rouhani government’s attempt to integrate guidelines from a UN agenda into the country’s ...
Iranian Women’s Rights Activists Use Elections as “Opportunities” to Put Forth Demands
A member of the Women’s Citizenship Center, a non-governmental organization in Tehran, told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) that women’s rights activists are increasingly using their leverage as an important voting ...
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. ...
Pro-Rouhani Editor Arrested Ahead of May 2017 Elections Remains Detained Without Charge
The family of Tahereh Riahi, an editor who has been detained since December 2016 without charge, is calling on President Hassan Rouhani to “keep his word on individual liberties and the rights of citizens” and facilitate Riahi’s ...
29 EU Parliamentarians Say Iran Must End Crackdown Ahead of Elections
Letter to Mogherini Condemns Numerous Arrests and Summons May 15, 2017—This week 29 members of the European Parliament wrote a public letter to Federica Mogherini, the high representative of the ...
Tehran City Council Candidate Says “Military Organizations” Intervened to Disqualify Reformist Candidates
A reformist politician and former member of Iran’s Parliament told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) that his last-minute disqualification from the Tehran City Council election, ...
Iran Election Update – May 15, 2017
Items of Note Khatami Endorses Rouhani Influential reformist leader Mohammad Khatami has thrown his weight behind incumbent President Hassan Rouhani for Iran's May 19 presidential election. “We started on a path with Mr. Rouhani and we are at the halfway point,” he said in a ...
29 Members of EU Parliament Urge Iran to Release Detained Journalists and Activists Ahead of 2017 Elections
Ahead of Iran’s elections on May 19 for president and local councils, 29 members of the European Parliament have written a letter to Federica Mogherini, the representative of the European Union ...
Hunger-Striking Imprisoned Prominent Teachers’ Rights Activist in Poor Health
Esmail Abdi, the imprisoned former leader of Iran’s largest teachers’ union, is suffering from a severe drop in blood pressure and vertigo after nearly two weeks on hunger strike ...