Currently Imprisoned

March 16, 2017

Rouhani’s Intelligence Ministry and Khamenei’s IRGC Widen Crackdown Ahead of Election

A growing rivalry between Iran’s Intelligence Ministry and Revolutionary Guards may be the result of a much deeper power struggle. ...

March 16, 2017

Predicting Her Arrest, Reformist Activist Wrote Letters Criticizing Rouhani’s Failure to Protect Citizens

Anticipating her arrest ahead of the 2017 election, a reformist politician wrote two open letters to President Hassan Rouhani about his failure to carry out his campaign promises. ...

March 15, 2017

Dual National Speaks of Yearning for Family and Disillusionment with Iran in Letter Prison

Iranian-British citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, imprisoned in Iran since April 2016, has written a letter to her UK-based husband about the pain of being separated from their infant daughter, Gabriella “Gisoo” Ratcliffe, and disillusionment with her ...

March 14, 2017

Teachers Hold Rallies Across Iran for Labor and Education Rights

Teachers held rallies in several Iranian cities in March 2017 demanding livable wages and improved student resources. ...

March 14, 2017

IRGC Violently Arrests Reformist Editor One Month After Release From Evin Prison

Reformist editor Ehsan Mazandarani was violently returned to Evin Prison less than a month after being released. ...

March 10, 2017

Dual National Robin Shahini Serving 18-Year Prison Sentence in Iran Proclaims Innocence in Letter

An Iranian-American man who was sentenced to 18 years in prison during a visit to his birth country has written a letter proclaiming his innocence. ...

March 10, 2017

Grave and Baseless New Charges Against Imprisoned Iranian-American and Wife

March 10, 2017—Serious and baseless new charges have been brought against Karan Vafadari and Afarin Neyssari, the dual-national Iranian-American and his wife ...

March 8, 2017

Iran: Repression of those seeking truth and justice for 1980s killings needs to stop

In a joint statement 20 human rights organizations urged the Iranian authorities to stop their attempts to silence human rights defenders and others seeking to shed light on past atrocities. ...

March 7, 2017

Judiciary Refusing to Release Ailing Baha’i Leader Imprisoned in Iran for Nine Years

Behrouz Tavakkoli, an elderly former Baha’i community leader who has spent nearly nine years in prison for his faith, is legally eligible for early release, but his requests ...

March 7, 2017

Imprisoned Spiritual Leader Facing the Death Penalty Again for His Personal Beliefs

Imprisoned spiritual thinker Mohammad Ali Taheri has again been tried for the charge of “corruption on earth” despite being cleared of the same charge in 2015, his sister Azardokht Taheri told the Center for Human Rights ...

March 6, 2017

Revolutionary Guards Seeking “Revenge” by Blocking Political Prisoner’s Hospitalization

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are preventing the hospitalization of political prisoner Arash Sadeghi, who ...

March 6, 2017

Iranian Catholic Converts Arrested in Northwestern Iran

Two Iranian Catholic converts have been arrested in their home by the Revolutionary Guards in West Azerbaijan Province, ...

March 5, 2017

Evin Prison Violating Iranian Law by Keeping Political Prisoners in Wards With Violent Offenders

Some Prisoners Attacked With “Brass Knuckles and Knives” The authorities of Evin Prison in Tehran are violating Iranian law by refusing to move four political ...

March 3, 2017

Imprisoned Iran-Born Swedish Resident Refusing Food and Water in Desperate Bid for Justice

Rouhani Officials Ignore Djalali’s Wife’s Letters Iranian-born Swedish resident Ahmadreza Djalali is protesting his detainment in Iran since April 2016 ...

March 1, 2017

Former Political Prisoner Arrested by “Unidentified Agents” Without a Warrant

Former political prisoner Majid Asadi was arrested at his home in Karaj, west of Tehran, and taken to Evin Prison on February ...

March 1, 2017

Iranian-Kurdish Activist Lured to Government Office and Arrested by Intelligence Ministry

Update: Farzaneh Jalali was released on March 13, 2017, according to a post on her Facebook page. Farzaneh Jalali, an Iranian-Kurdish civil rights activist, has ...

February 28, 2017

Editor of State-Funded News Agency Remains Detained Without Access to Due Process

Detained since December 2016, Tahereh Riahi, the social affairs editor of the state-funded Borna News Agency, remains isolated ...

February 28, 2017

Daughter of Imprisoned Rights Lawyer Accuses Intelligence Minister of Blocking His Release

The daughter of an imprisoned prominent human rights lawyer has accused Iran’s hardline Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi of blocking the ...

February 23, 2017

Four Azeri Rights Activists Sentenced to More Than 10 Years in Prison for Peaceful Activism

Four Iranian ethnic Azerbaijanis have been issued long prison sentences for peacefully defending their rights, the Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has learned. One ...

February 22, 2017

Beaten and Harassed, Dual National Serving 18-Year Prison Sentence in Iran on Hunger Strike

Iranian-American dual citizen Reza (Robin) Shahini, currently serving an 18-year prison sentence in Gorgan Prison (about 190 ...

February 22, 2017

Sunni Leader Calls on Khamenei to Investigate Reports of Expedited Executions of Sunni Prisoners

Iranian Sunni cleric Molavi Abdolhamid Ismaeelzahi (right) greets Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei (left). Iran’s most senior Sunni cleric, ...

February 20, 2017

Detained Iranian-Born Swedish Resident Djalali Starts Hunger Strike After Judge Dismisses Lawyers

Iranian-born Swedish resident Ahmadreza Djalali, detained in Iran since April 2016, began a second hunger strike in ...

February 17, 2017

Iran’s Supreme Leader Cements Hardline Position by Rejecting Offer of National Reconciliation

Some Conservatives Side With Reformist Leader Khatami Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s refusal of an offer to achieve “national reconciliation” in Iran by ending the six-year ...

February 15, 2017

Revolutionary Guards Try to Silence US-Based Iranian Dissident by Arresting Her Sister

Update: Leila Haghighatjou was released on February 19, 2017 on bail set at 220 million tomans ($68,000 USD). Leila Haghighatjou, the sister of Fatemeh Haghighatjou, an ...

February 15, 2017