Conservative Clerics, IRGC Pressured Court to Convict Rouhani Campaigner
Ali Mohammad Mohammadi, a former local chief campaigner for President ...
Prisoners / Arrests
Swedish Resident Facing Death Penalty: I Was Imprisoned For Refusing to Spy For Iran’s Intelligence Ministry
Ahmadreza Djalali poses for a picture with his wife, Vida Mehran-nia. Ahmadreza Djajali, an Iranian-born Swedish resident who was sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in ...
Iranian-Born Swedish Resident Sentenced to Death Based on Forced Confession
Ahmadreza Djalali, an Iranian-born Swedish resident who has been imprisoned in Iran since April 2016, was sentenced to death for “moharebeh” (enmity with God) based on ...
After Years of International Condemnation, Iran Revises Death Penalty Policy
Amendment to Drug Law Could Result in Drastically Reduced Execution Rate After years of being pressured by the UN and other rights groups to reduce the country’s high execution rate, Iran’s Parliament has passed ...
“Help Me Gain the Freedom I am Legally Entitled To,” Pleads Hunger-Striking Political Prisoner
Mohammad Nazari has been imprisoned in Iran since 1994 for his membership in a separatist group. The life of one of Iran’s longest serving political prisoners, ...
Photo of Smiling Political Prisoners in Iran’s Evin Prison Lands One in Prison Known For Harsh Conditions
Arash Sadeghi (right) and Soheil Arabi in the courtyard of Evin Prison. Lawyer: Arash Sadeghi’s transfer was ...
Mousavi’s Daughters: Officials “Hoping and Planning” for Death of Opposition Leaders Under House Arrest
Former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavian addresses a cheering crowd during the protests following Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election. In an open ...
Husband: Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Jobs and Britishness “Exaggerated” to Use Her as “Bargaining Chip”
Iranian judicial officials are misrepresenting Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s past jobs and her British citizenship to persuade the UK government to negotiate with the Iranian government for her release, her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, told the ...
Reformist Political Activist Turned Refugee Briefly Arrested Upon Return to Iran
A reformist political activist who fled Iran in 2011 after years of being harassed by the Intelligence Ministry was summoned to the Revolutionary Court in Evin Prison upon returning to the country. A source close to ...
Iran’s Intelligence Minister Forcefully Rejects Espionage Charges Against Nuclear Team Aide
A few days after an Iranian Appeals Court upheld a five-year prison sentence against a member of Iran’s nuclear deal-negotiating team, Intelligence Minister Mahmoud Alavi insisted that the defendant, Abdolrasoul Dorri Esfahani, was ...
Reformist Journalist Sasan Aghaei in Prolonged Solitary Confinement Despite Calls for His Release by MPs
The Iranian judiciary is refusing to release reformist journalist Sasan Aghaei, who has been detained for more than two months in solitary confinement despite calls ...
Narges Mohammadi Calls on MPs to End the “Illegal” Torture of Solitary Confinement in Iran’s Prisons
Imprisoned prominent human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has called on members of Iran’s Parliament to investigate and end the “illegal” practice of solitary confinement of prisoners. “As a defender of human rights who has been tortured by this practice, I consider it my duty to take every opportunity to express ...
Tehran Prosecutor: Streaming TinyMoviez Website Shut Down For “Indecent” Content
Case Highlights State Sanctioning of Copyright Infringement in Iran The popular Iranian streaming movies website, TinyMoviez, which featured pirated material, was shut down for distributing “indecent” foreign films, announced Tehran Prosecutor Abbas Jafari ...
Family of Late Iranian President Rafsanjani Banned From Traveling Abroad
Four family members of the late Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani have been banned from traveling abroad by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), while one ...
Leftist Poet Missing in Tabriz Two Days After Intelligence Ministry Raided His Home
Children’s rights advocate and leftist poet Omid Aghdami has been missing since October 5, 2017, two days after he tweeted that Intelligence Ministry agents had searched his home in ...
Imprisoned Editor Ehsan Mazandarani Told to File for Temporary Release With One Month Left on Sentence
A reformist journalist imprisoned in Iran who is due to be freed in less than a month has gone on a hunger strike to protest his continued incarceration. “Ehsan Mazandarani...
Labor Activist Dies From Cancer Left Untreated in Iranian Prison
A photo of Mohammad ...
Iranian Baha’i Singer Facing Prison Time After European Concert Tour
Behnam Rohani-Fard Interrogated “20 Times” in Solitary Confinement After being repeatedly interrogated while spending a month in solitary confinement, Iranian singer Behnam Rohani-Fard was released on 100 million tomans bail (approximately ...
Imprisoned Iranian-British Citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Threatened With 16 More Years Behind Bars
Revolutionary Guards Bring New Charges Against Young Mother Who Was Eligible for Release in November 2017 October 9, 2017—Iranian-British dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, imprisoned in Iran since April 2016 on trumped up and unspecified national security charges, is now facing up to 16 more years in prison based on ...
Imprisoned Teachers’ Rights Advocate Esmail Abdi Denied Sentence Review
Esmail Abdi is serving a six-year prison sentence for peacefully advocating for teachers' rights in Iran. Iran’s judiciary has denied a request for a review of the heavy prison sentence issued ...
Iran’s Ex-Reformist President Banned From Public Appearances Week After Seven MPs Sentenced to Prison
Former President Mohammad Khatami. Iran’s former reformist President Mohammad Khatami has been banned from making public appearances and receiving political guests for three months. The ban, first reported on October 5, 2017, was issued by the Special Court for the ...
Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri: Arrest of My Brother Was “Expected”
Photo of Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri's brother, Mehdi Jahangiri. First Vice President of Iran, Eshaq Jahangiri, has confirmed the arrest of his brother, Mehdi ...
Senior Reformist Politicians Sentenced to Prison, Banned From Political Activities
Seven prominent Iranian reformist politicians who wrote in an open letter that the judiciary has been given an “open hand” to prosecute legal political activities with “security crimes” have been handed one-year prison ...
Rights Activist Barred from University Under Ahmadinejad Faces Same Roadblocks Under Rouhani
Mahdieh Golru: “I have lost hope along with the years of my youth.” Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has blocked formerly imprisoned civil rights activist Mahdieh Golru from attending ...
Exiled Members of Sufi Gonabadi Dervish Order Told to “Repent” or Serve Life in Prison
The sentences of a lifetime in exile issued against Mohammad Ali Shamshirzan and Hamid Arayesh of the Sufi order in Iran known as Gonabadi Dervishes ...