HRW – Armita Garawand, a 17-year-old high school student, was reported dead on October 28 by Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) and multiple independent news outlets. On October 1, several media outlets reported that Armita fell, unconscious, on the platform of Tehran’s Shohada metro station after being assaulted for not wearing a headscarf by an enforcer of compulsory hijab laws. She was …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Maryam Foroughmanesh, a woman sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Yasuj Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a woman was executed in Yasuj Central Prison on 1 November. Her identity has been established as Maryam Foroughmanesh who was sentenced to qisas for the murder of her husband. A man was reportedly executed …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Branch 5 of the Tehran Criminal Court has sentenced Leila Kholghi Sakachayi and Abolfazl Barat Vakili to hanging for adultery charges. Branch 12 of the Tehran Criminal Court has also sentenced another woman, Mitra to death for the same charges and the man in the case, Khosro, to lashes. Sex outside of marriage is criminalised …

iranintl – The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, says the Israel-Gaza War bolsters “repression” inside Iran by deflecting attention from internal criticism of the regime.  The comments come as Iran prepares to chair the UN Human Rights Council Social Forum which will come into effect today, a move which has garnered global outrage. “Given the current …

iranintl – FBI director Christopher Wray told US lawmakers on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic has tried to kill American officials, even within the United States. Testifying in front of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, Wray said the regime in Iran has “mounted assassination attempts against dissidents and high-ranking current and former US government officials” either …

RFL/RE – Renowned Iranian actress Hengameh Ghaziani, known for her public opposition to the mandatory hijab, says she has been summoned to appear in court for her stance against the mandatory hijab law, compounding fears for her freedom after she was arrested last year for participating in a women’s rights protest. In a series of Instagram stories, Ghaziani said she will appear …

RFL/RE – Iranian security officials are reportedly exerting significant pressure on the family of Armita Garavand to change the date of a memorial ceremony for the teen, who died over the weekend due to injuries suffered in an alleged confrontation with Tehran’s morality police. A source from the Garavand family told RFERL’s Radio Farda on October 31 that while the family intends …

Iranwire – Eighty Iranian political and civil activists have called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and warned Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei against dragging Iran into the abyss of war. “First and foremost, as concerned Iranian citizens, we feel a compelling duty to issue a stern warning to the leadership of our country,” the activists wrote in a joint …

Iramwire – A US government commission has condemned a recent series of arrests and prosecutions of members of the Baha’i faith in Iran, whom it said have been “relentlessly repressed” for decades. Susie Gelman, a commissioner at the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), made the comments in a post on the social media platform X, after the Baha’i …

Iranwire – IranWire interviewed Professor Anthony Feinstein about the psychological impact of eye injuries and other wounds sustained by anti-establishment protesters in Iran. A psychiatrist at the University of Toronto, Prof. Feinstein has ample experience in studying the effects of trauma on mental health. He previously worked with IranWire to research the impact of trauma on Iranian journalists who face …