Filmmaker’s Family Blocked From Boarding Flight in Tehran: “Iran is Sick and Making Everyone Sick”
Filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi poses for a photo beside his mother Iran Hamzehie. Several members ...
Prisoners / Arrests
“His Health is Deteriorating” Imprisoned US Navy Vet Undergoes Melanoma Operation in Iran
Imprisoned American navy veteran Michael White is in poor health after undergoing an operation to remove his melanoma in the Iranian city of Mashhad, his family’s spokesman told the ...
Audio Message From Gharchak Prison Reveals Intense Pressure on Labor Activist Sepideh Qoliyan
Mehdi Qoliyan Acquitted of All Charges After Violent Home Raid On September 14, 2019, the BBC aired an audio file containing the voice of labor activist Sepideh Qoliyan saying that she was pressured to ...
Detained Iranian-British Anthropologist Says Charges Based on Government-Approved Research
Kameel Ahmady Was Held in Solitary Confinement for Nearly a Month, Detention Order Extended Held in solitary confinement since being arrested in Tehran on August 11, 2019, Iranian-British anthropologist Kameel Ahmady will ...
Australian Academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert Isolated for Months in IRGC-Controlled High-Security Ward
Iran Has Detained at Least Three Australians in the Last Year September 16, 2019 – Australian academic Kylie Gilbert-Moore has been held for almost a year in Ward 2-A of Tehran’s Evin Prison, controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) intelligence organization, the ...
Death of Iran’s “Blue Girl” Spotlights Senseless Ban on Women in Stadiums
No More Empty Promises: FIFA Should Call on Iran to Lift Ban Once and For All September 10, 2019 – The death of Sahar Khodayari, a woman who set herself on fire in Tehran because she thought she would have to serve jail time ...
Mass Sentencing of Labor Activists, Journalists Prelude to Reign of Repression Under New Judiciary Chief
Seven Sentenced to Lengthy Jail Terms in Connection with Peaceful Protests September 9, 2019—Less than a year after workers’ rights activists in southwestern Iran publicized evidence that Intelligence Ministry agents had tortured detainees, those same activists and four independent journalists who covered their cases ...
Female Political Prisoners To Serve Additional Two Years For “Insulting” Supreme Leader
Political prisoners Atena Daemi ...
15 Iran MPs Urge New Judiciary Chief to Stop Renewed Crackdown on Freedom of Speech
During a speech addressing Iran’s legislature, member of Parliament (MP) Parvaneh Salahshouri strongly criticized the recent crackdown on journalists and workers’ rights advocates and called on recently appointed ...
Prisoners in Iran’s Gharchak Prison for Women Protest Inhumane Living Conditions
Prison Fails to Meet UN’s Minimum Standards for Treatment of Prisoners Two hundred inmates in Ward 5 of Gharchak Prison for women in the Iranian city of Varamin have sent an open letter to ...
At Least 13 Signers of Open Letters Urging Khamenei’s Resignation Are Arrested
Demonstrating the Iranian authorities’ continued intolerance for peaceful dissent, two open letters written since June 2019 by 28 political and civil rights activists urging Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to step down ...
No Family Visits or Lawyer Allowed for Detained Anthropologist Kameel Ahmady Two Weeks Into Detention
Wife’s Requests for Charges and Medical Examination Go Unanswered After more than two weeks in detention, Iranian-British social anthropologist Kameel Ahmady has not had any contact with his family except three phone ...
Journalist Sentenced to 10.5 Years Imprisonment for Covering Labor Day Rally
Four months after being arrested while covering a Labor Day protest, Journalist Marzieh Amiri has been sentenced to 10.5 years in prison and 148 lashes by Branch 28 of the Revolutionary Court presided by Judge Mohammad ...
Iran Cracks Down on Instagram Celebrities
Instagram influencers in Iran are being forced to censor their posts and give their account passwords to intelligence agents amid a renewed crackdown on freedom of expression and speech. Investigations by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) indicate that dozens of Iranians with large followings on Instagram—including athletes, fashion models and actors—were summoned ...
Iranian Authorities Force Detained Photographer to Threaten Activist With Eerie Voice Message
Nooshin Jafari Detained and Used as Bait to Gain Control Over Anti-Government Twitter Account A tearful audio message containing the voice of Nooshin Jafari, a photographer held under close supervision in an ...
Iran Sentences Satirist Keyomars Marzban to 23 Years Imprisonment
Marzban’s Only “Crime” Was Working for Foreign Media Outlets He Must Serve 11 Years if Appeals Court Upholds Sentence Before Eligibility for Parole Satirist Keyomars Marzban has been sentenced to 23.3 years ...
British Council Employee’s 10-year Prison Sentence Upheld Without a Hearing
The 10-year prison sentence issued against British Council employee Aras Amiri was upheld on August 18, 2019, without a hearing, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned. “In order to ...
Iran Releases Detained Stadium Ban Protesters as Hardliners Cheer on Discriminatory Policy
Four women arrested by agents of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on August 17, 2019, for trying to enter Azadi Stadium in Tehran to watch a men’s soccer game were released on bail from Gharchak Prison, south of the capital, two days later. But ...
Political Prisoner Arash Sadeghi Denied Hospitalization Despite Loss of Arm Motion
The authorities of Evin Prison are denying political prisoner Arash Sadeghi hospitalization for a serious medical problem. Political prisoner Arash Sadeghi's loss of motion in his right arm ...
Arrests, Prison Sentences Fail to Stem Growing Public Opposition to Iran’s Mandatory Hijab Law
At Least 12 People Sentenced to Prison Since January 2018 August 19, 2019 – Mounting arrests and prison sentences have not enabled Iran's government to achieve broad public compliance with the country's mandatory hijab law, or stem growing protests against it. At least 12 people have been ...
Six-Year Prison Sentence Upheld Against Journalist Who Was Denied Right to Fair Trial
An Appeals Court in Tehran has upheld a six-year prison sentence against political affairs journalist Hamed Aynehvand without holding a hearing, his lawyer, Hossein Bayat, informed the Center for Human Rights in ...
Iran Cracks Down on Instagram Celebrities as It Tightens Noose on Freedom of Speech and Expression
Investigations by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) indicate that dozens of Iranians with large followings on Instagram—including athletes, fashion models and actors—were summoned by security officials in 2019 and ...
“Why Should We Be Silent?” Colleagues Condemn Photographer’s Unjust Detention
Film and theater photographer Nooshin Jafari has ...
Detained Anthropologist Kameel Ahmady Worked Independently and Transparently, Says Wife
Iranian-British anthropologist Kameel Ahmady has had no ...
Supporters of Detained Workers’ Rights Activists Arrested Outside Courthouse
The family of labor activist Roham Yeganeh has not heard from him since he was arrested in front of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran on August 3, 2019, his mother, Atieh Nouri, told ...