Trump’s travel ban is a gift to Iran’s rulers
Marian Vayghan reacts after her uncle is released from a detention center for deportation back to Iran as people protest President Trump’s travel ban from Muslim-majority countries ...
Prisoners / Arrests
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry Arrests Mother of Green Movement Gunshot Victim
Shahnaz Akmali, the mother of a well-known victim of the Islamic Republic’s violent crackdown on the Green Movement, which grew out of the widespread protests ...
Iranian University Conceals Evidence of Expelling Baha’i Students for Religious Beliefs
"Death to Baha'is" reads the graffiti spray painted by a vandal on the gates of a Baha'i-owned home. Fifteen Baha'i Students Expelled in December and January At least 15 ...
Rouhani Must Act Against Imprisonment of Dual Nationals
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Husband Writes Direct Plea to Rouhani January 25, 2017–The Iranian Judiciary’s recent upholding of the indefensible five-year prison sentence ...
Ailing British-Iranian Grandpa Serving 7-Year Prison Sentence Denied Medical Leave
Kamal Foroughi, a 77-year-old ailing British-Iranian dual citizen and former civil engineer incarcerated at Evin Prison in Tehran since May 2011, has been denied previously promised and urgently required extended medical leave, ...
Poll: 70% of Iranians Dissatisfied With Rouhani on Democracy and Civil Rights
A survey of public opinion in Iran conducted in the last quarter of 2016 shows that even though a large majority of Iranians (75%) rated advancing democracy and protecting personal and civil ...
Civil Rights Activist Sentenced to Seven Years in Prison at 10-Minute Mass Trial Released
Revolutionary Guards Pressured Judiciary for Harsh Sentences Civil rights advocate Aso Rostami—whose initial mass trial with three other activists lasted “barely 10 minutes”—was released from Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj on January 15, 2017 at the end ...
Award-Winning Kurdish Filmmaker Denied Urgent Hospitalization by Evin Prison Authorities
The authorities of Evin Prison in Tehran are refusing to transfer imprisoned filmmaker Keyvan Karimi to a hospital outside the prison for urgent medical care, his lawyer, Amir Raeisian, told the ...
Court Rejects Some New Charges by Revolutionary Guards Against Activist Sentenced to 7 Years In Prison
Atena Daemi and Family Still Face Legal Persecution Three of the five new charges brought against imprisoned civil rights advocate Atena Daemi by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) were dismissed after two policemen ...
Saeed Shirzad Ends Hunger Strike After Officials Pledge to End Rights Abuses at Rajaee Shahr Prison
An informed source close to imprisoned civil rights activist Saeed Shirzad said Shirzad ended his hunger strike after 39 days when “Judiciary and Rajaee Shahr Prison officials met ...
Ailing Political Prisoner Issa Saharkhiz on Hunger Strike Against Additional Six-Month Sentence
Imprisoned political commentator Issa Saharkhiz began a wet hunger strike on January 14, 2017 to protest a newly issued six-month prison sentence for allegedly “slandering the supreme leader.” Saharkhiz is ...
Judiciary Cites “Lost” Case Files in Denying Man Imprisoned for 23 Years Medical Care
Political prisoner Mohammad Nazari, imprisoned in Tehran for the past 23 years, has told the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that even though his prison warden sent a letter ...
Political Prisoners on Death Row in Iran Fear Reinstatement of Long-Term Visitations Ban
Political prisoners Zanyar Moradi and Loghman Moradi, both ethnic Kurds on death row in Rajaee Shahr Prison in Karaj, have been denied visitations since mid-December 2016 without reason ...
Khatami, Former Political Prisoners and Ailing Mother Convince Ali Shariati to End 75-Day Hunger Strike
Requests by prominent reformist leader Mohammad Khatami, political prisoners, and his ailing mother ultimately convinced imprisoned civil rights activist Ali Shariati to halt his hunger strike, after 75 days, on January 14, 2017. “Ali ended the hunger strike because of ...
Revolutionary Guards Arrest Former Reformist MP’s Sister on Unspecified “Security Charges”
Fatemeh Haghighatjou, a former reformist member of Iran’s Parliament currently living in the United States, is desperately seeking information about her sister, Leila Haghighatjou, who was arrested on December 19, 2016 in Tehran by the ...
Listen to Ailing Political Prisoner Saeed Shirzad “Before It’s Too Late,” Warns Lawyer
Saeed Shirzad has been hospitalized in critical condition after more than 35 days ...
Woman Imprisoned in Iran for Facebook Posts Conditionally Released
Political prisoner Omolbanin (Nahid) Gorji was conditionally released from Vakilabad Prison in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, on January 9, 2017 after serving more than a third of her sentence, an ...
U.S. Resident Imprisoned in Iran “Punished” for Going on Hunger Strike
Nizar Zakka, a Lebanese-born U.S. permanent resident on hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin Prison since December 8, 2016, has been moved to a ward for common criminals to force ...
Revolutionary Guards Blocking Temporary Release of Canadian Resident Imprisoned in Iran
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are blocking the granted furlough (temporary release) request of Saeed Malekpour, an Iranian-born Canadian resident who has been in imprisoned in Tehran since 2008, his ...
Tehran Prosecutor Goes on the Defensive Over Hunger-Striking Political Prisoners
In an apparent response to growing pressure to resolve the issue, Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi has criticized media coverage of a wave of hunger strikes in Iran ...
Supporter of Persecuted Spiritual Leader Arrested at Tehran International Airport
Masoumeh (Pegah) Zia, a follower of imprisoned spiritual leader Mohammad Ali Taheri, was arrested on January 6, 2017 at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport by ...
Activist Saeed Shirzad on Hunger Strike Against Poor Prison Conditions Hospitalized
Imprisoned children's rights activist Saeed Shirzad began his hunger strike in Rajaee Shahr Prison on December 17, 2016, the day he sewed his lips shut. Imprisoned civil rights activist ...
Tehran University Invite Lands Iranian-Swedish Disaster Medicine Expert in Jail
Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-born Swedish resident and expert in emergency disaster medicine who has been detained in Evin Prison without trial since April 24, 2016, is prepared to “die” on hunger strike rather ...
Iranian-Swedish Disaster Medicine Expert Held in Iran Jail for Nine Months, on Hunger Strike Since Dec. 25
Case Continues Pattern of Dual Nationals Snatched and Held Without Due Process January 12, 2017—In yet another case of a foreign resident or dual national from a western country grabbed and imprisoned in Iran without ...
Wife of Imprisoned Activist Arash Sadeghi Resists Order to Return to Prison
Political prisoner Arash Sadeghi, the husband of Golrokh Iraee who went on a 71-day hunger strike demanding a case review for his imprisoned wife, was quickly returned to prison against ...