RFL/RE – When Iranian women recently tried to enter a soccer match between Iran and Lebanon in Mashhad on March 29, they were violently beaten by guards at the stadium, despite holding tickets. The decision to again exclude female fans has caused widespread anger in Iran. https://www.rferl.org/a/iran-female-soccer-mashhad-violence-human-rights/31814616.html

gatestoneinstitute.org – The new agreement with Iran, then, is based on an imaginary assistance from Russia and China, when all three countries are committed to unseating America as the world’s leading superpower and evading US sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The US, in short, is sacrificing significant progress in the Middle East to help the three greatest …

VOA —Iranian intelligence officers arrested three people belonging to a group linked to Israel’s Mossad agency and charged with involvement in releasing classified information, state TV reported Thursday. The report said they were arrested in the southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchistan but didn’t identify them or how they had access to classified information. Iran and Israel have long accused …

amnesty – This briefing documents how Iranian officials are committing shocking violations of the right to life by deliberately denying ailing prisoners lifesaving healthcare and refusing to investigate and ensure accountability for unlawful deaths in custody. The briefing details the circumstances surrounding the deaths in custody of 92 men and four women in 30 prisons in 18 provinces across Iran …

Al-Monitor – Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf faces calls for his resignation after photos that went viral show his family members returning from a trip to neighboring Turkey.   Drawing a wave of rage from Iranians, the pictures were initially posted in a chain on Twitter by well-known whistleblower Vahid Ashtari, who said he had confirmed the identities of Ghalibaf’s wife, daughter and …

Al-Monitor – With talks over the Iran nuclear agreement at an impasse, a group of nuclear nonproliferation experts and former government officials warned Thursday that failure to revive the deal would raise the likelihood of Iran becoming a threshold nuclear-weapon state. The original accord, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), “dramatically reduces the risk posed by Iran’s nuclear program,” read the …

RFL/RE – Teachers have taken to the streets of several cities in Iran, including the capital, Tehran, to demand fair wages, better working conditions, and the release of their jailed colleagues.Reports suggest that the protests on April 21 were held under tight security. Amateur video posted online showed protesters in Shiraz chanting: “Imprisoned teachers must be released.” هم اکنون تجمع معلمان در …

Iranwire – The Iranian children’s rights advocate Atena Daemi was released from prison on January 24, 2022, after five years of arbitrary detention. The 34-year-old has spoken to IranWire about her ordeal and that of others in Qarchak Women’s Prison, where inmates are stripped of their humanity and dignity, seemingly by design. In this Varamin jail, she said, even the clothes the women arrive …

Iranwire – “The confiscation of Baha’i properties has been one of the main features of the persecution of the Baha’is in Iran,” said Simin Fahandej, Representative of the Baha’i International Community (BIC) to the United Nations in Geneva, during IranWire’s April 20 online international event on religious minorities, adding that such confiscations have “not stopped” in the past couple of …

Iranwire – The International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance – a network of 35 like-minded countries created to promote Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states that all peoples have freedom to believe or not believe, to change faith, to meet alone for prayer or together for worship – issued a new statement today noting “with …