Iran-HRM – Political prisoners in Urmia Prison tortured to make confessions According to recent reports, political prisoners Ebrahim Khalil Sedighi Hamedani and his son, Salar Sedighi Hamedani, were taken to a the detention center of the Intelligence Department of Urmia on October 29, 2021. Several other prisoners were also in their group. The father and son were viciously beaten and …

CHRI – Defense Lawyers Blocked from Accessing Case Files The Two Brothers Were Arrested at Violently Repressed 2019 Protests News of a death sentence and life sentence against two brothers who were denied the ability to defend themselves in court recalls similarly unjust trials against the brothers of an executed champion wrestler. Abbas and Mohsen Deris, both members of Iran’s ethnic …

Al-Monitor – The secretary of Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council has said the United States is seeking to resurrect the Islamic State across Iraq and Syria. Ali Shamkhani gave credit for IS’ “defeat” to “the resistance front,” an umbrella term Iran applies to a network of proxies it funds and arms across the Middle East. “America is deeply infuriated” by such …

Al-Monitor – The fate of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, or Iran nuclear deal) hangs in the balance as negotiators gear up for another round of talks in Vienna on Thursday. How we got here: -The United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia, China and Iran agreed to the JCPOA in July 2015. UN Security …

mei.edu – For thousands of years, Iran has stood out as a culture that prized diversity and a place where religious minorities have flourished as independent communities. The Islamic Republic now seeks to change that, however, by implanting its own leaders inside different faith groups to protect and advance its interests. This approach could doom these ancient minorities to a …

Shabtabnews -Designations Across Three Countries Latest in Week of Actions Leading to Summit for Democracy Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is designating 15 actors across three countries in connection with serious human rights abuse and repressive acts targeting innocent civilians, political opponents, and peaceful protestors. As part of a whole-of-government commitment to …

Iranwire – Police units, IRGC commanders and local governors in Iran have been hit by a cascade of new sanctions from the US Treasury for the violent suppression of peaceful protests and mistreatment of political prisoners. In a dispatch on Tuesday, December 7, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced it was designating 15 individuals and entities in Iran, Syria …

Al-Monitor – In mid-November, Colombian Defence Minister Diego Molano startled the international community by declaring Iran and Hezbollah “enemies” of his country. Molano claimed that two months previously, “we had to deal with a situation in which we had to organize an operation to capture and expel two criminals commissioned by Hezbollah with the intention of committing a criminal act in Colombia.” …

Shabtabnews – The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) today applauded President Joseph R. Biden for implementing a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics given the Chinese government’s ongoing genocide and crimes against humanity in Xinjiang and other human rights abuses. USCIRF has publicly expressed concerns over the Beijing Olympics in its 2020 and 2021 Annual Reports and recommended that the United …

Iranwire – The seventh round of talks to revive the JCPOA nuclear deal already appear to have foundered. Renewed talks were held last week after five months in the long grass following Ebrahim Raisi assuming the presidency of Iran, and led on Iran’s side by Ali Bagheri-Kani, a JCPOA sceptic and relative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. The rescue of the JCPOA …