Iranwire – The Iranian judiciary says five people have been sentenced to death for allegedly killing a member of the paramilitary Basij force during a demonstration near Tehran last month. The Basij has had a key role in the bloody crackdown unleashed by Iranian security forces on 12 weeks of nationwide demonstrations triggered by the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa …

Iranwire – Protesters seeking the downfall of Iran’s clerical regime took to the streets of dozens of cities on December 5, eyewitness reports and videos published on social media show, as many shops shut their doors following calls for a three-day nationwide strike. Iran has been rocked by unrest following the September 16 death of a 22-year-old Kurdish woman, Mahsa …

Iranwire – Veran Matic co-founded Serbia’s independent news outlet B92 in 1989, ahead of the 1990s Balkan Wars. He also chairs the Commission for Investigating Killings of Journalists in Sebia, established in 2013 on his initiative, and leads the B92 Fund, which is engaged in social and humanitarian activities. Over the span of three decades, he has received numerous prestigious …

Iranwire – Pouya Sarraf, an Iranian Baha’i, aged 33, was arrested in the city of Karaj a month ago, on November 2, and later transferred to a detention facility in Shiraz. Sarraf, who has been held for more than 30 days, was arrested in front of his four-year-old child by agents of the Ministry of Intelligence. His detention comes as part of …

Iranwire – Iran’s Union of Cinema Screenwriters says it has suspended its activities to protest the government’s continued denial of the people’s demand for change, amid protests that have convulsed the country for 12 weeks. “Until the end of the current situation, union members are free to write for others or for themselves or stop their professional activities”, the association’s …

VOA – The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has again emphasized her opposition to Iran’s participation on the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. In a post on Twitter on Sunday, Linda Thomas-Greenfield said, “The Iranian government should not be on the @UN_CSW – an international body dedicated to promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. Removing Iran from the …

gatestoneinstitute.org – In one demonstration at Beijing’s Tsinghua University earlier this week, students were recorded chanting the slogan “Democracy, rule of law and freedom of speech.” Yet, rather than supporting the brave protesters who are defying the tyranny of their Communist masters, the Biden administration appears reluctant to comment on the turmoil. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken …

Amnesty – The Iranian authorities’ vague and conflicting statements on the supposed disbanding of Iran’s so-called “morality police” must not deceive the international community about the continuing violence against women and girls embedded in compulsory veiling laws and fuelled by ongoing impunity for those violently enforcing them, said Amnesty International today. During a press conference on 3 December 2022, Iran’s …

Al-Monitor – The Islamic Republic of Iran has been a state based on the revolutionary ideals of social justice, freedom and independence. Throughout the first two decades of its existence, the regime managed to generate considerable social capital by lifting the lower-income classes out of poverty and urbanizing a large section of the country’s rural areas. In fact, the urban population that …

Shabtabnews – In a twitter statement USCIRF expressed grave concerns for peaceful protestors against mandatory hijab laws facing execution on religiously-grounded charges. USCIRF Cmmr @RealEU4U: "USCIRF has grave concerns for peaceful protestors against mandatory hijab laws facing execution on religiously-grounded charges. The US must use all available tools to elevate Iranians at risk for asserting their religious freedom." https://t.co/ZG5QxVdKPA— USCIRF …