Shabtabnews – In a twitter statement the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large Rashad Hussain of USCRIF called on Iran to immediately honour its international obligations to respect the freedom of religion or belief of all Iranians and end its escalating campaign of raids, arrests, and unjust imprisonment of Baha’i. Iran must honor its international obligations to respect the freedom of religion or belief …

Following the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie last week international media has been reporting on his career, his character and the many restrictions he has had to endure because of the fatwa issued against him in 1989. Less has been focused around the reasons and those promoting these terrorist attacks. The 75-year old Rushdie was attacked while attending a literary …

Al-Arabia – Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid spoke to German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Thursday, pressing Israel’s position that efforts to revive a nuclear deal with Iran should end, a senior Israeli diplomatic official said. As well as speaking with Scholz, Lapid spoke to Ted Deutch, chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee’s Middle East Subcommittee and with the …

RFL/RE – Human right activists say Khadijeh Mehdipour, a political prisoner being held in Ilam prison in western Iran, has been beaten again by inmates who are serving time for violent crimes. The Hengaw Human Rights Organization says Mehdipour, who is in prison without being segregated from dangerous prisoners, was beaten by violent criminals at the instigation of the prison authorities and …

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have blocked cell phone users from receiving two-step verification codes on their devices in a move to further restrict access to social media and to filter access to information. Several social media users reported on August 17 that text messages containing login codes for the applications for Telegram, Twitter, and WhatsApp were filtered by cell phone operators in …

Iranwire – Four members of an Iranian women’s advocacy NGO have been summoned to Evin Prosecutor’s Office in Tehran to begin prison sentences. Nahid Shaghaghi, Akram Nasirian, Maryam Mohammadi and Esrin Derkale, active members of the grassroots Iranian Women’s Call Association, received the summons on Friday. Each was sentenced to four months and two years in prison after being convicted …

Iranwire – IranWire understands that Ataollah Mohajerani, an Iranian ex-Minister of Culture who wrote a book promoting the 1989 fatwa by Ayatollah Khomeini to murder Salman Rushdie, is looking for a lawyer after facing a torrent of accusations. Sources close to the former government official told IranWire that since the attack on Salman Rushdie in New York last Friday, Mohajerani has …

Iranwire – After the violent destruction and confiscation of Baha’i properties in villages of Roshankouh earlier this month, and previously in Ivel, both in the northern province of Mazandaran, it was reported that a court order has been issued for the confiscation of more Baha’i properties in The news was reported today, August 18, by Saeid Dehghan, an Iranian human rights lawyer. “In a …

VOA – The 24-year-old man accused of attacking author Salman Rushdie last week was indicted by a grand jury Thursday in Chautauqua County Court in New York state. Hadi Matar pleaded not guilty to second-degree attempted murder and second-degree assault charges and was held without bail. The 75-year-old Rushdie was attacked Friday as he prepared to speak in a lecture …

IranHRM – Kurdish Iranian woman Soada Khadirzadeh attempted suicide after being summoned and threatened by intelligence agents.She hanged herself in the women’s ward of Urmia prison and gave pills to her two-month-old child. According to the Hengaw Organization website, she hanged herself with a scarf on August 18. The other prisoners reacted in time, untied the scarf, and transferred the …