Religious Freedom Advocate: “Iran’s Ruling Clerics are Followers of Machiavelli, Not the Mahdi”
Amir Soltani is the co-author of Zahra's Paradise, a NYT ...
Women's Rights
Outspoken Political Prisoner Maryam Akbari-Monfared Denied Medical Care and Furlough
Political prisoner Maryam Akbari-Monfared is being denied specialized medical care despite her worsening health, according to her husband, Hassan Jafari. “Thyroid disease is causing her a lot of suffering,” he told CHRI in an interview on September 25, 2017. “We also scheduled a gynecologist ...
Q&A: Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s Husband Speaks Out About Dual National’s Imprisonment in Iran
The husband of imprisoned Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe speaks to CHRI about her case and their lives since she was arrested by the Revolutionary Guards in April 2016. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe never imagined she would be arrested and ultimately sentenced to five years in prison when ...
Political Prisoner Atena Daemi Denied Major Surgery After Authorities Insist on Keeping Her Cuffed
Imprisoned children’s rights activist Atena Daemi has been denied a major operation after demanding that the authorities fulfill their promise to allow her to receive the surgery without handcuffs and with a family member in ...
Freed Iranian Baha’i Leader Mahvash Sabet Describes Unjust Trial, Prison Conditions
“We never betrayed our country and never will.” Mahvash Sabet, a leader of Iran’s persecuted Baha’i faith who was released from Evin Prison on September 18, 2017 after completing a 10-year sentence, said she was convicted of espionage charges despite non-existent evidence. “There were seven charges against us,” she ...
Wife of Man Imprisoned for Facebook Posts Loses Job After Pressure From IRGC
Every day something bad is happening to him.” Nastaran Naimi, the wife of Soheil Arabi, who was imprisoned in Iran for his Facebook ...
Free Iranian Dual National Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe
Iranian-British dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was sentenced to 5 YEARS in prison in Tehran in a secret trial without due process. This is her story....
Rouhani’s Broken Promises
Iranian President Rouhani is scheduled to speak this week at the 2017 UNGA in New York, but he won't mention his Broken Promises....
Maryam Akbari-Monfared: Political Prisoner and Mother in Evin Prison Iran
Maryam Akbari-Monfared was forced to spend her childhood visiting family members in state prisons and cemeteries. Her three brothers and sister, all political prisoners, were executed without trial in the 1980s, and now Maryam is a political prisoner herself. If her case were reviewed, she would be eligible ...
Iranian VP for Women’s Affairs Calls Ban on Females in Sports Stadiums “Discrimination”
Three days after Iranian women were barred from entering a stadium in Tehran to watch an international soccer match, President Hassan Rouhani’s top female adviser described the ban as discriminatory. ...
Iranian Women Banned From World Cup Stadium Game While Female Syrian Fans Allowed Entry
Syrian women (left) pictured inside Azadi Stadium ...
Iran Columnist Serving 10 Years Protests Illegal Prison Sentence Extension
Afarin Chitsaz’s Mother Also Receives Prison Sentence Imprisoned newspaper columnist Afarin Chitsaz has gone on hunger strike to protest the illegal extension of her two-year prison sentence that was scheduled to end ...
In Letter to Judge, Iranian-American Demands Freedom for Himself and Wife
Art Gallery Owners Karan Vafadari and Afarin Neyssari Held on Baseless Charges More Than One Year Without Trial Detained Iranian-American art dealer Karan Vafadari has written a letter ...
Judiciary Official Opposes New Proposal Against Domestic Violence
A senior Iranian judiciary official has voiced opposition to legislation against domestic violence which is being revived by President Hassan Rouhani’s government after its first unsuccessful draft in parliament five ...
Lawyer Accuses Intelligence Ministry in Kermanshah of Harassing Kurdish Civil Rights Activist
In the six months since she was released from a three-week detention, Iranian Kurdish children and women's rights activist Farzaneh Jalali has been repeatedly called in for questioning by the Intelligence Ministry. “My client has been ...
Christian Convert Released From Prison in Iran Slapped With Travel Ban
Zargaran Reports Being Given “Unnecessary” Anti-Psychotic Medication Maryam (Nasim) Naghash Zargaran, who was released from Evin Prison on August 1, 2017 after serving more than four years for allegedly engaging in Christian missionary activities, ...
Imprisoned Activist Atena Daemi Slapped With New Charge For Demanding Medical Care
Activist Denied Care Despite Medical Examiner’s Recommendation Already serving a seven-year prison sentence, imprisoned children’s rights activist Atena Daemi has been issued a new charge ...
800 Activists Urge Iranian Parliament to End Child Marriage
Hundreds of Iranian women and children’s rights advocates in Iran are urging Parliament to prohibit underage marriage in the country. “In defense of children’s human rights, we ...
Iranian Women’s Rights Activist to Serve Three Years in Prison For Attending Seminar
Women’s rights activist and photojournalist Alieh Matlabzadeh has been sentenced to three years in prison by a preliminary court in Tehran for participating in a women’s empowerment seminar. A legal source with knowledge about Matlabzadeh’s case told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) on August 14, 2017 that the prison sentence was issued by Branch 26 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court for the charge of “assembly and collusion against national security.” “The verdict was ...
Richard Ratcliffe Turns to UN and UK to Secure Wife’s Release From Iran
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe Diagnosed With Advanced Depression After exhausting all legal avenues in Iran to overturn the five-year prison sentence issued in a secret trial against his Iranian-British wife, Richard Ratcliffe is taking her case ...
Women’s Rights Activist Demands Rouhani Provide Reasons for His Exclusively Male Cabinet
Women’s rights advocate Nahid Tavasoli. President Hassan Rouhani must explain why he didn’t nominate women to serve in his new cabinet, feminist researcher ...
Political Prisoner Responds to “Dolled-Up” Evin Prison Visit by Foreign Ambassadors
A political prisoner held in Evin Prison since 2009 has harshly criticized a state-organized “dolled-up” tour of the facility by a group of foreign diplomats ...
Rouhani’s Lost Battle: UN 2030 Education Guidelines
In 2015, Iran adopted educational guidelines from the UN 2030 agenda that could substantially improve access to education throughout the country. Two years later, a vicious smear campaign and opposition by the supreme leader has resulted in President Hassan Rouhani scrapping the guidelines. Generations of Iranians stand to lose ...
Iran Should Immediately Release Critically Ill Opposition Leaders Under House Arrest
Karroubi and Mousavi’s Health in Peril After Six Years of Forced Isolation August 2, 2017—More than six years into their extrajudicial house arrest, the health of leading Iranian political opposition leaders is in grave danger, ...
Prominent Activists Defy State Ban on Visiting Hospitalized Opposition Leader Mehdi Karroubi
From right to left: Amin Ahmadian, Bahareh Hedayat, Mostafa Tajzadeh and Fakhrolsadat Mohtashamipour at the ...