10 Years Later, This Baha’i Manufacturer is Still Fighting to Claim His Business in Iran
Payam Vali’s manufacturing business was shuttered in Iran in 2008 because of his religious beliefs. ...
Unfair Trials
Iranian Cleric Under Seven-Year House Arrest Says Only Death Will Bring Him Freedom
Former Presidential Candidate Mehdi Karroubi Detained in His Home Without Trial Since 2011 An Iranian cleric and former presidential candidate who has been restricted to his home under state surveillance since February 2011 without ...
Wave of Baha’i Arrests in Iran Raises Alarm at Faith’s UN Office
The Baha'i International Community (BIC) at the United Nations has expressed alarm over a spate of arrests of Baha’i faith members in three Iranian provinces by agents of the ...
Sufi Bus Driver Sentenced to Death in Iran Says He Confessed to Killing Policemen While Under Torture
A Sufi bus driver who was sentenced to death in Iran for running over three policeman says he was forced to confess after being tortured while ...
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Case Re-Opened Ahead of UK Foreign Secretary’s Meeting With Iranian Officials
The Mother of a Toddler Has Been Serving a Five-Year Prison Sentence Since 2016 Already serving a five-year prison sentence on trumped-up espionage charges in Tehran’s Evin Prison, Iranian ...
Baha’i Leader’s 10-Year Prison Sentence Extended Despite Judicial Ruling That He Is Too Ill to Be Incarcerated
Afif Naeimi, the seventh and last imprisoned member of Baha’i leaders in Iran known as the Yaran, returned to Rajaee Shahr Prison near Tehran on April 23, 2018, at the end of his medical leave despite suffering from life-threatening ailments. His wife Shahla Khalaji informed the Center for ...
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 bars in Iran for publicly arguing ...
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 detainee deaths in Iran has produced no results ...
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 southern Iranian harbor city of Bandar Lengeh and surrounding towns ...
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 of Tehran, could be hanged in a “few days” despite ...
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 letter by 800 Iranian environmentalists demanding clarification ...
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 who has been under house arrest since February 2011, has ...
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 Ministry and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Young Woman Takes Her Own ...
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 haggard has raised concerns for the health and medical condition ...
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 prison sentence for reading a satirical poem...
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 is being processed against ethical standards and existing laws. We ...
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 Iranian Kurd Ramin Hossein Panahi amid reports he will be ...
Indictments Issued Against Dozens in Connection With December 2017 Unrest in Iran
Students protesting in front of entrance to Tehran University. Some Charged with “Crimes Against ...
13 Labor Activists Summoned in Iran Ahead of International Labor Day
A week before International Labor Day, when labor rights groups typically hold demonstrations around the world, at least 13 labor activists have been summoned in Iran’s Western provinces of ...
Lawyer Who Exposed Cover Up of Client’s Death in Custody Could Be Imprisoned For Years in Iran
Human rights attorney Mohammad Najafi is facing charges from three different courts and years of imprisonment in Iran for publicly arguing that local police concealed the true ...
Former Iranian Environmental Official Reveals He Was Spied on Since Returning to Iran
Kaveh Madani: State Supporters “Created Many Problems For Me” In a resignation letter posted on his Twitter account, the former deputy head of Iran’s Department of Environment (DOE) Kaveh Madani revealed that he ...
UN Rights Experts Call on Iran to Annul Death Sentence Against Ramin Hossein Panahi
GENEVA (19 April 2018) – United Nations human rights experts* have called for Iran to annul the death sentence against an Iranian Kurdish prisoner, Ramin Hossein Panahi, amid serious concerns that he has not received a fair trial and has been mistreated and tortured in ...
Growing Demands For Apology From Iranian State TV Over Discriminatory Kids Show
At Least 100 People Remain Detained After March 2018 Protests Lawmakers in Iran’s mostly Arab-populated Khuzestan Province have demanded a meeting with the head of the state-run Islamic ...
Teachers’ Rights Advocate Writes Scathing Letter From Prison on Revolutionary Iran’s Failed Promises
Esmail Abdi Warns Judiciary of the Consequences of Its “Illegal Rulings” Ahead of Hunger Strike Prominent teachers’ rights advocate Esmail Abdi has written a letter from Evin Prison strongly criticizing Iranian officials’ ...
Iran’s Expediency Council Dragging Its Feet Over Fate of Religious Minority Candidates in Local Elections
Six months have passed and the Iranian government has still not resolved the dispute over the suspension of a Yazd City Council member, Sepanta Niknam...