News

May 12, 2018

Despite Facing Prison, Rights Lawyer Mohammad Najafi Still Seeking Justice For Deceased Detainee

“The authorities…told me that they are trying to grind me into oblivion.” Mohammad Najafi, a human rights lawyer facing years behind ...

May 12, 2018

Rouhani Commission on Detainee Deaths in Iran Fails to Produce Results Three Months After Formation

The fact-finding commission set up by President Hassan Rouhani to investigate the recent spate of ...

May 12, 2018

Iran’s Telegram Ban Reveals New Authority By Judiciary to Directly Order Online Content to Blocked

Iran’s ban on the widely used Telegram messaging app has revealed a new state tactic for blocking access ...

May 12, 2018

Shaparak Shajarizadeh Twice Arrested For Allegedly Removing Her Headscarf in Public in Iran

Shaparak Shajarizadeh has been arrested again for allegedly allowing her hair to show ...

May 11, 2018

Dozens of Environmentalists Arrested in Southern Iran in Widening Crackdown

MP: Intelligence Ministry Has Rejected Espionage Claims More than 40 environmentalists, rangers and some of their relatives were arrested May 7-8, 2018, in the ...

May 11, 2018

Eight Internet Freedom Organizations Call on Iran to Lift Ban on Telegram

The undersigned organisations call on the Rouhani administration to challenge the order and call on the Judiciary to revoke the order and end this egregious violation of freedom of expression rights ...

May 11, 2018

Lawyer: Dervish Bus Driver Could be Executed in “3 or 4 Days” Despite Innocence Plea

Mohammad Salas, a Sufi bus driver convicted in Iran of running over three policemen in the capital city ...

May 10, 2018

Six Lawyers in Iran File Petition Challenging Ban on Popular Telegram App

Six Iranian lawyers have presented a legal challenge to a recent judicial order blocking access in Iran to the widely ...

May 9, 2018

800 Iranian Environmentalists Call on President Rouhani to Uphold the Rights of Detained Colleagues

Detainees’ Families Still Seeking Answers More Than Three Months Into Loved Ones’ Arrests President Hassan Rouhani has not responded to a ...

May 8, 2018

Iranian Opposition Leader Under House Arrest Declines “Limited” Lifting of Restrictions

Zahra Rahnavard Demands Unconditional Freedom For Herself and Fellow House Arrest Detainees Zahra Rahnavard, an Iranian opposition leader ...

May 8, 2018

“Downtism Café” Launched as Iran’s First Business Staffed by People Living With Disabilities

Iran saw the opening of Downtism Café, the country’s first café staffed by people living with ...

May 7, 2018

State-Owned Telecommunications Company Has Yet to Comply With Judicial Order to Block Telegram

President Rouhani Claims Supreme Leader Ordered Ban on Messaging App Used by 40 Million Investigations by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) show ...

May 6, 2018

Iranian Lawyers: Rouhani Government Can Challenge Judiciary’s Ban on Telegram Messaging App

Iranian President Has Refused to Directly Counter Ban on Widely Used Social Network Two lawyers in Tehran told the Center for Human ...

May 4, 2018

Hackers With Ties to Security Agencies Launch Phishing Attacks on Well Known Iranians and Dual Nationals

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned that during the first two weeks of April 2018, hackers attempted ...

May 4, 2018

Execution of Iranian Kurdish Activist Suspended But Niece Commits Suicide

Nishtiman Hossein Panahi (left) committed suicide on May 2 after being harassed by agents of Iran's Intelligence ...

May 3, 2018

Grim Photo of Swedish Resident Imprisoned in Iran Surfaces Amid Heightened Concerns For His Life

A photo of imprisoned Swedish resident and scientist Ahmadreza Djalali in which he appears thin and ...

May 3, 2018

Reformists Look On as Former Rouhani Campaign Manager Ordered to Serve Two-Year in Prison For Poem

High School Teacher Prosecuted For Satirical Poem About Shia Imam A former campaign manager for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been ordered to serve a two-year ...

May 2, 2018

British Council Employee Being Held Without Access to a Lawyer by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry

Agents of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry have arrested a London-based employee of the British Council, Aras Amiri, and are holding her ...

May 2, 2018

Execution Imminent of Prisoner in Iran Despite Unfair Trial and Credible Allegations of Torture

Photo: Ramin Hossein Panahi has been transferred to an unknown location possibly to face execution. Lawyer: “Ramin’s case ...

May 2, 2018

UN Rights Expert Urges Iran to Halt Imminent Execution of Ramin Hossein Panahi

GENEVA (2 May 2018) – A UN human rights expert has urgently called on Iran to halt the death sentence against ...

May 1, 2018

Rouhani’s Citizens’ Rights Charter: A Harmful Distraction

This report is essential reading for policymakers and officials charting a forward path with the Islamic Republic. It provides an in-depth review of the Citizens’ Rights Charter and analysis of the political dynamics affecting human rights in Iran. The report establishes that the charter has ...

April 30, 2018

In a Desperate Move to Squash Internet Freedom, Iran Blocks Telegram

Ban Unlikely to Stop Most of Telegram’s 40 Million Users in Iran April 30, 2018--The Iranian Judiciary has ordered internet service providers (ISPs) to ...

April 28, 2018