Iranwire – Saba Kord Afshari, a civil activist imprisoned in Qarchak prison in Varamin, launched a hunger strike on Saturday, May 8 to protest against her mother’s treatment. HRANA News Agency reports that the young women’s rights campaigner wants to highlight the worsening pressure on her family and those of other political prisoners. Kord Afshari’s mother, Raheleh Ahmadi, was sentenced …

Iranwire – In the wake of a violent crackdown by law enforcement officials on Iranian students who protested against in-person final exams, the Teachers’ Union of Iran has issued a statement supporting the young demonstrators. Students in various Iranian cities have held rallies in recent weeks calling for ninth- and twelfth-grade final exams not to be held in person as …

Iran-HRM – Parents and sons sentenced to 34 years in jail, 6 years in exile The Revolutionary Court of Kashan has sentenced the Shab Zendedar family to a total of 34 years in jail and six years in exile. If the Revision Court upholds their sentences, Akbar Shab Zendedar, 65, will be sentenced to 9 years and 8 months imprisonment, …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – Vahid and Habib Afkari were transferred to solitary confinement days prior to the execution of their brother Navid Afkari in September 2020, and have since been denied telephone contact with their family, access to their lawyer and medical care. Iran Human Rights reiterates its call for the immediate release of the Afkari brothers who are …

Al-Arabia – A US civil rights group called on Twitter to permanently shut down the accounts of Iran’s supreme leader on the social media platform, citing a flurry of posts on Iran’s annual Quds (Jerusalem) Day on Friday that it said were anti-Semitic. For the latest headlines, follow our Google News channel online or via the app. Citing several tweets …

gatestoneinstitute.org – The real bad news, however, is that the London conference failed to develop a coherent and mutually agreed analysis of the international situation, without which no serious policy-making is possible. The Americans came to London with a set of clichés used during their presidential campaign last year, notably the catch-all “America is back!”, but were unable to say …

Iran-HRM – On Tuesday, May 4, a young ethnic Arab man in Ahvaz was murdered because of his sexual orientation. Shortly afterwards, the Iranian lesbian and transgender network 6Rang (Six Colours) named the victim as 20-year-old Ali Fazeli Monfared, known as Alireza. The young native of Khuzestan’s provincial capital was reportedly taken by members of his own family to the …

Iran-HRM – Dangerous inmates in the political prisoners’ ward in the Central Prison of Urmia beat up and brutalized political prisoners Ebrahim Khalil Sedighi Hamedi and his son, Salar, on May 5, 2021, reports from this prison say. Prison authorities in the Central Prison of Urmia forcibly transferred this father and son to the political prisoners’ ward where, six months …

Reuters – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday he was optimistic over talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers and suggested a deal had been reached to lift the main sanctions on Tehran, state media reported. Only the details remained to be agreed, Rouhani said, though there was no immediate confirmation from U.S. officials or from …

Shabtabnews – Since 1979 Iran’s government has shown a consistent disregard for the rights of religious minority communities who  run afoul of the government’s narrow interpretation of Shi’a Islam. Even the majority Shi’a Muslim population must adhere to the government’s religious doctrine of Leadership of the Jurist (vilayt e-faqih). Those with alternative or differing opinions have suffered harassment, surveillance, arrest, …