Environment

CHRI – Kavous Seyed-Emami’s widow, Maryam Mombeini, filed the suit on March 6, 2019, against Amir Nasseri, the judiciary’s security chief at Tehran’s Evin Prison where her husband died while held in solitary confinement there for interrogations in February 2018. “From now on, we are going to file objections everywhere we can against this unlawful travel ban so that eventually …

Amensty – Eight detained conservationists could face the death penalty or long prison sentences, following a grossly unfair trial in which they were accused of trumped-up spying charges. Their charges stem solely from their conservation activities including carrying out research into Iran’s endangered wildlife. They have said they were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment. View report in English https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1399782019ENGLISH.pdf

CHRI – To the editors at the National Geographic, March 8, 2019 National Geographic has failed to report on the death of a prominent wildlife conservationist in Iran in an article about wildlife conservation in Iran. The conservationist, Dr. Kavous Seyed-Emami, died in Iranian custody in Tehran’s Evin Prison in February 2018. I am writing to register my dismay over …

Radiofarda – The head of Iran’s Geological Agency says that in 300 plains in Iran the earth is sinking and huge sinkholes are appearing. A sinkhole in Iran. Undated Alireza Shahidi says that the capital city Tehran is sinking 35 centimeters (more than a foot) a year, ISNA reports. Shahidi compared Iran with the European Union and says that a …

Radiofarda – A highly controversial proposal to transfer water from the Caspian Sea to the parched inland province of Semnan has reportedly been approved by Iran’s parliament, much to the chagrin of environmentalists and coastal residents. Visiting Semnan in December, President Rouhani, who was born in the province, insisted the problems with the project had been addressed and it would …

Amnesty – Wildlife conservationists in Iran who have been accused of espionage after using cameras to track endangered species could face the death penalty or more than a decade in prison, said Amnesty International, ahead of a verdict in their case in the coming days. The eight scientists, who are linked to the Persian Wildlife Heritage Foundation, were arrested at …

CHRI – Following is the statement by the United Nations Environment Programme: UN Environment continues to be concerned by the on-going detentions, and reported trials, of eight environmental workers in Iran, and has shared its concerns with the authorities in Tehran. Information we have recently received that some detainees may not have adequate access to legal counsel and representation is deeply …

sciencemag – With the fates of eight conservationists jailed in Iran on espionage charges hanging in the balance, a campaign to win their freedom is picking up steam. For more than a year, colleagues and family members have been quietly lobbying Iran’s government and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for the detainees’ release. But now, with closed trials proceeding in Tehran, …

CHRI – Environmentalist Afshin Sheikholeslami Vatani, a US permanent resident, was arrested on February 17, 2019, at his father’s home in the city of Sanandaj, the capital of Iran’s Kurdistan Province, a month after returning to the country from the United States, his sister informed the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). “Our parents, uncle and some repairmen were …

PayvandNews – Two Persian leopard cubs have been found dead in Choram county located in the southwestern province of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, the provincial department of environment (DOE) chief has said. “A group of locals reported the department of environment that two carcasses of leopards with their hands cut off have been spotted,” Mehr quoted Mohsen Jafari Bastami as saying …