Iranian Poet Baktash Abtin Dies After Being Arbitrarily Detained in Iran
Abtin, Jailed for Dissent, is Second Political Prisoner to Die in Iran in First Week of 2022 January 8, 2022 – The death of Iranian poet Baktash Abtin today in Tehran ...
Free Expression
Writer in Coma, Another Political Prisoner Dead after Unjust Imprisonment in Iran
Baktash Abtin (left) and Adel Kianpour (right). Concerns Mount for Prisoners Under Judiciary Chief Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i COVID-19 in Crowded Jails and Routine Denial of Medical Treatment Put All at ...
Support Human Rights in Iran and Your Donation Will be Matched
Dear Friend and Supporter, While families around the world come together to celebrate the holiday season, we ask that you remember the people of Iran, who are facing great hardships under a repressive and corrupt ...
Teachers Across Iran Protest for Fair Pay, Release of Jailed Colleagues
Teachers and supporters protested in the streets of more than 119 Iranian cities across Iran ...
Khuzestan Kangaroo Court Sentences Two Protesters to Death, Life in Prison
Abbas and Mohsen Deris, both members of Iran’s ethnic Arab minority in Khuzestan Province, were arrested during the country’s violently repressed November 2019 protests, which broke out across the country that month and which saw an estimated 100 protesters killed in Khuzestan alone ...
Isfahan: Instead of Crushing Protests, the Iranian Government Should Solve Its Water Crisis
The Iranian security and military forces’ violent crackdown on large protests in the city of Isfahan that broke out over severe state mismanagement of water resources is more evidence of the Ebrahim Raisi government’s policy of zero tolerance of public criticism and dissent ...
Victims of State Oppression Defy Iranian Government’s Denial of the Right to Mourn
The right to mourn is a human right, yet totalitarian regimes have long tried to deny this right to families who’ve lost loved ones from state oppression. Public mourning can expose and ...
Renowned Activist Narges Mohammadi Arrested on Anniversary of Historic Protests
Mother of Two Facing Flogging, Prison—Two Years After Completing 5.5-Year Sentence November 17, 2021 – The prominent rights advocate Narges Mohammadi was detained on the anniversary of the country’s violently repressed ...
Iran Atrocities Tribunal on November 2019 Massacre: A Major Step towards Seeking Justice
International Community Must Finally Act with One Voice to Address these Crimes Evidence of the Islamic Republic’s Top Officials Directly Involved in the Atrocities November 15, 2021 -- The Iran Atrocities Tribunal (or “Aban ...
“They’re Torturing Me Without Touching Me” Says Unarmed Protester Shot by Iranian Security Forces
Two years after Iran’s massive November 2019 protests, the government has yet to respond to questions about its deadly use of force to suppress the demonstrations, which occurred in more than 200 cities, leaving hundreds dead and thousands injured ...
Iran Rights Lawyer: Judicial Process is a “Means to Settle Political Scores”
One of the few remaining defense lawyers in Iran willing to take on human rights cases, Nasser Zarafshan is an expert at navigating the Islamic Republic’s judicial system, which criminalizes ...
Two Years After Iran’s Massacre of Protesters, Officials Who Oversaw Killings Now Lead Government
No Accountability for Hundreds Killed, Thousands Injured and Arrested International Community Must Demand Independent Investigation and Justice for Victims November 10, 2021 -- Two years after Iran’s security forces violently crushed mass protests ...
Raisi Government to Launch Religious “Vice-Prevention” Courses, Paramilitary “Community Patrols”
Two months after the inauguration of ultra-conservative President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran’s state-run Headquarters for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice organization has announced plans to launch religious ...
Four Baha’is Sentenced to Five Years in Prison for Trying to Access Higher Education
Court Rulings Reveal Systematic Religious Discrimination The Baha’i faith community is one of the most severely persecuted religious minorities in Iran. Iran’s government is unabashed in its propagating of false narratives about the community ...
Imprisoned Iranian Writers Among Countless Who’ve Been Jailed for Dissent
The Iranian government’s intolerance of dissent has resulted in systemic suppression of freedom of expression. To prevent the free flow of information and views, Iranian courts work with the intelligence-security establishment to identify ...
Iran’s New Government Moves to Silence Dissent by Muzzling Leading Activists
September 28, 2021 – The Iranian security establishment’s attempt to imprison four prominent human rights defenders, only a few months after the inauguration of the country’s new presidential administration, signals the beginning ...
Teachers in Iran Continue Protests Under New Raisi Government
With Iran’s new academic year, beginning on September 23, 2021, just around the corner, teachers have been protesting in front of Parliament and the Plan and Budget Organization in Tehran to ...
Supreme Court Refusal to Review 25-year Sentence for Afkari Brother is Travesty of Justice
Investigation Marked by Torture, Witness Tampering and Contradictions August 26, 2021—The refusal by Iran’s Supreme Court to allow a judicial review of the 25-year prison sentence for Vahid Afkari, the brother of ...
Lawyers, Activists Arrested as they Attempt to Sue State for Failed COVID Response
Six Arbitrarily Detained as State Tries to Block Attempt to Seek Justice August 17, 2021—The unlawful arrests of six prominent lawyers and civil rights activists in Tehran as they were preparing to file ...
Key Witness in Nouri’s Crimes Against Humanity Trial: Conviction Could Lead to Prosecution of President Raisi
The historic trial against Nouri, which will hear testimonies from dozens of witnesses in 72 sessions, will be the first time that one of the worst crimes committed in the Islamic Republic of Iran will be thoroughly examined and exposed in a court of law ...
Musician Marjan Farsad’s New Song Pays Tribute to Iranian Political Prisoners
“My Song is About Stars That Go Missing Every Night” August 5, 2021 – Iranian American musician and songwriter Marjan Farsad released a new song today about political prisoners in Iran, a country where people are jailed for peacefully exercising basic human rights such ...
Two Elderly Dual Nationals Among Five Sentenced to Prison in Iran
Prisons Pose High Risks to Inmates Amid the Country’s Surging Covid-19 Pandemic August 4, 2021 – Elderly dual national prisoners Mehran Raoof, 66, and Nahid Taghavi, 64, were among five prisoners held ...
Three More Iranian Human Rights Attorneys Slapped with Unjust Prison Sentences
Three more human rights attorneys in Iran were handed unjust prison sentences in July 2021 amid an ongoing campaign to eliminate due process for activists and dissidents by intimidating the ...
Total Control Over Internet Use in Iran Sought by Security Agencies with New Legislation
Parliament Maneuvers to Pass Bill Without Full Vote to Avoid Public Scrutiny Move Comes on Heels of State’s Internet Shutdowns During Crackdown on Protesters July 30, 2021 – In a bid to sidestep public ...
Khuzestan Protests: Iranians Should be Allowed to Air Grievances Without Threat of Death
At Least Three Shot Dead Less Than a Week into Demonstrations Against Water, Power Shortages July 19, 2021—The unlawful killings of protesters by state security forces in Iran’s drought-ridden Khuzestan Province should ...