RFL/RE – An Iranian female teacher who was dismissed after appearing in a video online while not wearing the mandatory hijab has slammed the Education Ministry as a “misanthropic institution.” In a message published by the Coordinating Council of Teachers Syndicates (CCTS) on Telegram, Atekeh Rajabi wrote that while the ministry considers her dismissed, she said she looks at the situation the …

RFL/RE – Fifteen Iranian women incarcerated in the Kachoui prison near Tehran have gone on a hunger strike to protest the conditions of their imprisonment and the lack of medical attention at the facility. Among those on the hunger strike is 22-year-old Armita Abbasi, who was arrested on October 10 in Karaj by security forces amid nationwide protests triggered by …

RFL/RE – Iran has foiled a cyberattack on its central bank, the country’s telecommunications infrastructure company said on January 6. Anonymous and other global hacking groups threatened in October to launch cyberattacks on Iranian institutions and officials in support of anti-government protests and to bypass Internet censorship there. Amir Mohammadzadeh Lajevardi, head of the Infrastructure Communications Company, said the central …

Iranwire – Iran’s most prominent Sunni cleric has been under intense pressure from the country’s security forces to stop using his Friday sermons to criticize the Islamic Republic, human rights activists say. “By putting pressure on Molavi Abdolhamid, the security and military institutions have asked him to end the Friday protests in Baluchistan and to stop delivering critical sermons. He …

Iranwire – In the early years of the 2000s, several Iranian footballers who played for Pas FC claimed they had been forced to sign up with the club after being arrested in police raids on parties and other gatherings. At that time, the club’s chairman, Mostafa Ajorlou, who serves as a commander in the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), …

Iranwire – An Iranian court in the eastern city of Zahedan has sentenced a 22-year-old disabled protester to death on the charge of corruption on Earth,” human rights activists say, amid a brutal state crackdown on nationwide anti-government protests. Mansour Dehmordeh, an ethnic Baluch, went on trial on January 3 and was informed of his sentence by the judge two …

Iranwire – An Iranian journalist was hospitalized for a few hours after she fainted during a court hearing in which the charges against her were being heard, IranWire reports.   Nazila Maroufian fell unconscious on January 4 in the courtroom in the city of Varamin, near Tehran, according to sources with knowledge of the matter. The sources said Maroufian was transferred …

CHRI – Since anti-state protests broke out across Iran in September 2022, following the killing in state custody of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini, hundreds of peaceful protesters have been killed by state security forces and thousands arrested. Two young men have also been executed, and at least 15 have been sentenced to death while at least 43 are facing charges that could carry …

Al-Monitor – Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council again brought up an arrest warrant for former US President Donald Trump on Thursday in connection to the 2020 assassination of the Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani and the leader of the Iraqi militia.  The council’s president, Faiq Zidan, said that Trump is wanted for his “crime” in relation to the assassination of the “leaders of …

Al-Arabia – Iran has sentenced another man to death over involvement in anti-regime protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, state media reported on Thursday. A man identified as Arshia Takdastan was sentenced to death after being convicted of the capital charges of “corruption on earth” and “waging war against God,” the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. ISNA described …