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CHRI – Religious leaders of the Sunni Muslim communities in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province and in the Kurdish provinces of the country are being increasingly targeted by Islamic Republic authorities for persecution, arrest, and imprisonment because of their peaceful criticism of the state’s violent repression. “Iranian authorities are jailing and defrocking religious leaders of the Sunni communities for speaking …

Iranwire – It has been almost a year since the murder of Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police and the outbreak of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests, the biggest anti-government movement in Iran since the 1979 revolution. To put down this formidable wave of protests, the Islamic Republic has resorted to actions that, for all practical purposes, have …

Iranwire – The jarring sounds of an elevator or a doorbell send them into a state of panic, solitude serves as a stark reminder of their loneliness, and the cacophony triggers haunting memories of their days of interrogation. By Sara Rasouli, citizen journalist Long-lasting psychological effects accompany many individuals who have experienced imprisonment in the islamic Republic’s dungeons. “The duration …

CHRI – In the wake of the “Woman Life Freedom” movement that ignited nine months ago, a new parliamentary bill has emerged, intensifying discrimination against women who choose not to wear the hijab in Iran, while also undermining fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, belief, religion, and association. “Women in Iran have long endured a status as second-class citizens, …

Iranwire – In a powerful statement from behind bars, Bahareh Hedayat, a prominent political prisoner, has addressed recent disagreements within the Iranian opposition through an exclusive letter to IranWire.  The letter strongly criticizes certain political factions, accusing them of fueling “pointless conflicts” with their “reckless” behavior. Hedayat, who was arrested at the beginning of the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement and …

gatestoneinstitute.org – In the past two decades, that is to say since the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in Baghdad, a new discourse has developed in which post-Saddam Iraq is depicted as part of an empire being built by the Khomeinist regime in Tehran. [T]he Khomeinist empire-building scheme in Iraq has failed. To be sure, Iraq is now slated as …

Iranwire – Psychological warfare, known by a number of names including psychological operations and “psy ops,” is one of the oldest tactics employed in wars. Such tactics are aimed at undermining the enemy’s morale and its will to fight or resist and, sometimes, at persuading the enemy to change its position. Another kind of psy-ops is propaganda aimed at strengthening …

Shabtabnews – In an open letter to Volker Türk and Václav Bálek – IOPHR condemned the recent appointment of Ali Bahreini as head of the Social Forum in the Human Rights Council. The letter stated that “this appointment stands to undermine the years of effort by the Council to highlight human violations of the Iranian regime and the efforts of …

gatestoneinstitute.org – “It is unacceptable that a U.S. government program, which makes the United States and its allies safer, provides funds to remediate the victims of terrorism, and generates income for the United States in a cost-effective manner has been allowed to languish. United States sanctions should be enforced to the fullest extent of the law. As Iranian oil sales …

Iranwire – During at least three months after the nationwide protests started with the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police, international media outlets published pictures of women who cut off their hair and threw it to the ground or hanged their headscarves on sticks and burned them as a symbol of subjugation and misogyny. From the …