Friday , 29 March 2024

Monthly Archives: February 2023

“Suffering And Nightmare:” Iranian Authorities Urged To Release Jailed Environmentalists

Iranwire – Twenty Iranian women incarcerated with eight environmental activists in Tehran’s Evin Prison have issued a joint statement calling the release of their fellow inmates, saying they have been subjected to numerous human rights violations and abuse. The statement released on February 27 said the environmentalists who worked at the Parsian Wildlife Institute to preserve the Asiatic cheetah and …

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Visiting Officials, Journalists And The Hijab Issue In Iran

Iranwire – Pictures of the Swiss ambassador to Tehran during a visit to the Shrine of Masoumeh in the central city of Qom last week was splashed in media outlets affiliated with the Islamic Republic, with captions and titles emphasizing that the European envoy was wearing a head-to-toe black outfit. The images of a smiling Nadine Olivieri Lozano next to …

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Shia Extremists Suspected In Schoolgirl Poisonings In Iran

Iranwire – Women’s right to education is still not fully recognized in Iran, where Shia fundamentalists continue to try and prevent girls from attending school, possibly by poisoning them. Hundreds of Iranian schoolgirls have fallen sick and scores have been hospitalized in the religious city of Qom over the past three months, triggering growing suspicion they had been poisoned. On …

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Iran’s Religious Freedom Worsened Last Year: An IranWire Special Report

Iranwire – Religious freedom in Iran worsened in 2022, as it does every year in the country, and affecting the lives of religious minorities of every background. The following special IranWire report looks at the situation facing members of each minority religious community – including groups recognized by the Islamic Republic, and those not considered to be legitimate religious communities …

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Iran Hands Over Afghan Embassy in Tehran to Taliban

VOA – Iran has handed the Afghan embassy in Tehran over to the Taliban, becoming the latest country to accept Taliban-appointed diplomats without recognizing their 18-month-old government in Kabul.The Taliban foreign ministry said Monday that it had dispatched a seven-member team of “experienced diplomats, led by a newly appointed chargé d’affaires” to the Iranian capital to formally assume the charge …

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Iraq’s religious authorities stay out of Shiite conflict

Al-Monitor – The top Shiite religious authority in the holy city of Najaf has remained silent despite increasing friction reported among Iraq’s Shiite political parties. Najaf has long avoided direct involvement in politics, but it is unprecedented for religious leaders to remain silent during a period of dangerous uncertainty.  Background Iraq has been experiencing political and societal division since the …

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Iran Forces Female Students To Attend Sessions On Wearing Hijab

RFL/RE – An Iranian academic group says dozens of female students have been forced to participate in “mandatory counseling sessions” for failing to “properly” observe the country’s mandatory hijab law. Anger over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on September 16 while in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly has prompted thousands of Iranians to take to the streets …

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Canada Slaps Sanctions On Dozen Iranian Officials Linked to IRGC, Law Enforcement

RFL/RE – The Canadian government has imposed sanctions on 12 senior officials from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) for “gross violations of human rights” in a deadly crackdown on protesters angered by the death of a young woman while in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly. Canada’s Foreign Affairs Ministry said …

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Iran Says UN Nuclear Watchdog Chief To Visit In ‘Coming Days’

RFL/RE – Iran says the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog agency, Rafael Grossi, will visit Tehran “in the coming days” amid a dispute over uranium enrichment levels in the Islamic republic. The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said earlier this month that it was in discussions with Tehran after Bloomberg News reported that the watchdog’s inspectors in Iran …

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Belgian Jailed In Iran “Forcibly Disappeared, Subjected To Torture”

Iranwire – Amnesty International says a Belgian aid worker imprisoned in Iran for more than a year is being held in solitary confinement in a windowless basement cell with bright lights turned on 24 hours a day and is denied access to adequate healthcare and fresh air, which the group said amounted to torture. Iranian authorities are subjecting Olivier Vandecasteele, …

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