Four Independent News Journalists Arrested in Iran in Less Than a Month
Former political prisoner Ali (Amir) Amirgholi has become the fourth journalist working for the Gam independent online news outlet to be arrested in Iran in recent weeks. ...
Prisoners / Arrests
Satirist Keyomars Marzban to Be Tried in Iran Under Hardline Judge Salavati
Iranian satirist Keyomars Marzban, who has been detained in Iran since August 2018, is due to face trial for the charges of “propaganda against the state” and ...
Evin Prison Repeatedly Blocking Nasrin Sotoudeh From Seeing Her Children
Defense attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh continues to be denied family visits in Iran’s Evin Prison where she has been held on trumped-up ...
Sham Investigation of Labor Activist’s Alleged Torture Lacks Impartiality, Ignores Witnesses
Iran Must Re-Open an Independent and Impartial Investigation into Labor Activist’s Abuse Multiple Cases of Alleged Torture Must Be Thoroughly Investigated January 17, 2018—After a brief and deeply flawed investigation lacking any semblance ...
UN Calls on Iran to Give Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mohammadi Urgent Medical Care, Release Them Immediately
UN human rights experts* have today called on Iran to urgently provide Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Narges Mohammadi access to appropriate health care, and reiterated calls for their immediate release. “We urge the Government to immediately ...
UK Foreign Secretary: Iran’s Treatment of Zaghari-Ratcliffe “Breach of Human Rights”
Jeremy Hunt Summons Ambassador to Tehran Following Revelations Iran Pressured Dual National to Spy UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt summoned Iran’s ambassador to Tehran on January ...
Sufi Woman Jailed in Iran Sentenced to 148 Lashes For Criticizing Gharchak Prison Conditions
Elham Ahmadi, an imprisoned member of the Sufi Gonabadi Order in Iran, has been sentenced to 148 lashes for speaking out about the denial of medical treatment and ...
Former Presidential Candidate Karroubi Did Not Receive Saudi Money, Son Says
False Claims Meant to Divert Attention from “Shame” of Eight Years of House Arrest Without Trial A son of the 2009 presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi...
Nasrin Sotoudeh and Baha’i Political Prisoner Refuse Phone Calls in Solidarity With Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Authorities Revoke Phone Privileges, Reduce Food Rations in Evin Prison’s Women’s Ward Two political prisoners held in the same ward as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran’s Evin Prison have given up ...
Labor Activist’s Revelation of Torture During Detention Prompts Wave of Reports of Abuse in Iran’s Prisons
Esmail Bakhshi’s lawyer says her client is under intense pressure to retract statements about his torture Labor activist Esmail Bakhshi’s public letter in which he revealed his ...
Mother of Imprisoned Activist Describes Beatings and Threats by Interrogators to Kill Family
Atena Daemi’s Mother: “[Torture] is not just Mr. Bakhshi’s story. It’s my daughter’s story, too.” In the wake of revelations of the torture of labor activist Esmail Bakhshi, others have stepped forward to join the public outcry over abuses committed against detainees in Iran by ...
Iranian Journalist Sentenced to Six Years in Prison Without Lawyer
Revolutionary Court Blocked Hamed Aynehvand From Using Lawyer of His Choice Political journalist Hamed Aynehvand has been sentenced to six years in prison without the presence of his ...
Labor Activist Smaeil Bakhshi Tortured by Agents of Rouhani’s Intelligence Ministry
Held Without Access to Lawyer, Bakhshi Beaten During 25-Day Detention January 4, 2018—The beating and torture of the labor activist Smaeil Bakhshi (also spelled Esmail Bakhshi), ...
Stricken With Chicken Pox, Political Prisoner Alireza Tavakoli Hunger Strikes for Medical Treatment
Prisoner of conscience Alireza Tavakoli, currently imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin Prison for his social media postings, is hunger striking to be “transferred ...
Open Letter: Mohammadi and Zaghari-Ratcliffe to Hunger Strike for Access to Medical Treatment
Will Take “Other Steps” if Authorities Continue to “Endanger” Their Health Political prisoners Narges Mohammadi and Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe have written an open letter warning that they will go on hunger strike if the authorities continue to deny their requests for medical treatment. The letter, dated December ...
Political Activist Hengameh Shahidi Held for Six Months in Solitary Without Access to Lawyer
Imprisoned political activist Hengameh Shahidi has been held in solitary confinement for six months with extremely limited access to a lawyer since June 26, 2018, the day she ...
Food With “Rodent Feces” Served to Political Prisoners in Iran’s Great Tehran Penitentiary
The food served at the Great Tehran Penitentiary (GTP) is unsanitary and has been found to contain rodent feces, making some prisoners sick, the wife of a political ...
Peaceful Teachers Protesting Heavy Sentence Against Mohammad Habibi Met With Tear Gas, Arrests
Teachers who were peacefully protesting a fellow colleague’s heavy prison sentence were met with tear gas by anti-riot units who made “several arrests” in the Iranian city of Isfahan on December 27, 2018, a trade unionist told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). On ...
Elderly Baha’i Man Arrested for Third Time for Peacefully Practicing His Religion
While searching Ali Ahmadi's house, agents of Iran's Intelligence Ministry called him a ‘Baha’i dog’ and warned ...
Imprisoned Attorney Mohammad Najafi Facing More Jail Time for Criticizing Supreme Leader
Mohammad Najafi has been in Arak Central Prison since October 2018 serving a three-year sentence (currently being appealed) for informing media outlets that a local police station ...
Law Student Begins Six-Month Prison Term for Social Media Posts Critical of State Policy
“They told me, ‘If you want to live in peace, stop writing, stop your activities.’” Amir Chamani Taken to Tabriz Prison, Lawyer Not Notified In a continuing assault on freedom of speech—particularly the peaceful ...
Iranian MP Calls Arrests of Protesting Ahvaz Workers “Violation of the Constitution”
At Least 31 Steel Workers Remain Detained Eleven workers detained during protests by employees of the Iran National Steel Industrial Group (INSIG) in southwestern Iran between December 17-18, 2018, were released on bail December 19, but at least 31 others remain behind ...
Dual National Imprisoned in Iran, Kamran Ghaderi, Struggling to Access Medical Treatment for Untreated Tumor
“He’s Just a Businessman Who Has Done Nothing Wrong” Kamran Ghaderi, an Iranian-Austrian dual national imprisoned in Iran since January 2016, is the latest in a ...
Open Letter From Evin Prison: Narges Mohammadi Calls on Tehran Prosecutor to Stop Denying Her Medical Treatment
Iranian political prisoner Narges Mohammadi has written an open letter calling on Jafari Dowlatabadi, the prosecutor general of Tehran, to stop denying her medical treatment. ...
NASA Director Firouz Naderi Calls For Release of Iran’s Political Prisoners
The former director of NASA's Solar System Exploration program, Dr. Firouz Naderi, has joined the international call for Iran to release all political prisoners including Nasrin Sotoudeh, Farhad Meysami and Reza Khandan, who were all imprisoned this year in Iran for peacefully advocating human and women's rights. ...