April 12, 2018

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 ...

December 22, 2017

Guardian Council Rejects Parliament’s Amended Law Allowing Religious Minorities to Run in Local Elections

Six days after Iran’s Parliament passed an amendment reaffirming the right of minorities to run in local council elections, the Guardian ...

November 15, 2017

Supreme Administrative Court Blocks Judicial-Parliamentary Agreement to Reinstate Zoroastrian City Council Member

The Supreme Administrative Court in Tehran has blocked an agreement by the speaker of Parliament and the head of the judiciary to reinstate Sepanta Niknam, a member of the Zoroastrian faith, to the Yazd City Council ...

November 6, 2017

Iran’s Rouhani Writes to Supreme Leader On Dispute Over Suspended Zoroastrian Council Member

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has condemned the recent suspension of a Zoroastrian member of a city council as “illegal” and asked the supreme leader to intervene in the growing dispute that has highlighted divisions within the state ...

November 3, 2017

Iranian State Officials Clash Over Allowing Religious Minorities in Local Elections

Suspended Zoroastrian Councilman at Center of Debate The head of Iran’s judiciary has sided with proponents of banning religious minorities from local elections while ...

October 30, 2017