Human rights

Iranwire – A Baha’i resident of the central Iranian city of Semnan has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for alleged “propaganda activity” against the Islamic Republic and leading a group aimed at “destabilizing the country’s security.” According to a report received by Iranwire, Branch 1 of the Semnan Revolutionary Court also fined Shahdaokht Khanjani 50 million tomans ($1,000) …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have transferred civil activist and political prisoner Reza Ramezanzadeh to the ward housing dangerous criminals in Tehran’s Greater Tehran Prison, IranWire has learned.  The transfer took place on September 5, one week after he presented himself at the prison to start a one-year prison sentence.  Ramezanzadeh was arrested during street demonstrations in Tehran in October 2022 …

Iranwire – “I cannot remember the exact moment when the idea of launching a school with a new system first took root in my mind; perhaps it began to start towards the end of my time in traditional schooling. By my second year of high school, I started feeling that attending school was nothing more than a waste of time …

Iran-HRM – On Monday, September 4, 2023, Azam Gholami Zahab, a resident of Mashhad and one of the detainees of the nationwide uprising, was sentenced to 16 years and 4 months of imprisonment by Judge Hossein Yazdankhah from Branch 5 of the Revolutionary Court of Mashhad. She has been charged with “gathering and collusion with the intent to disrupt national …

CHRI – A new report just released by the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) and the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) reveals shocking state violence by Islamic Republic security forces against unarmed civilians in the predominantly Kurdish city of Javanrud, which occurred during the protests that shook Iran in the fall of 2022. The 100-page report, “Massacre in Javanrud: State Atrocities Against …

Al-Monitor – Iranian authorities closed down the pro-reform news agency Entekhab late Monday after it published a video clip criticizing the foreign policy agenda of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi.    The decision was announced by the state regulatory body, known as the Press Supervisory Board, after it found the news agency to be “acting against Iran’s national interests and the Islamic Republic’s …

RFL/RE – Behrouz Chamanara, a professor at Kurdistan University in western Iran, has been dismissed following a directive from the Ministry of Intelligence as officials continue to attack academics for their support of protests over the death of a young woman in police custody for allegedly wearing her head scarf improperly. The Student Guild Councils of Iran said on its Telegram channel …

Iranwire – Iranian security forces have arrested an uncle of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman whose death in police custody nearly a year ago led to months of nationwide anti-establishment protests. Security agents raided on September 5 the private residence of Safa Aeli in the western city of Saqqez and took him to an undisclosed location. The Iranian authorities, fearing …

Iranwire – Uniting the Democratic Opposition to the Islamic Republic is a Riddle that has Evaded Us for 44 Years A year after the murder in custody of Mahsa Jina Amini – arrested by the Islamic Republic’s morality police for inappropriate hijab – it seems the world has moved on. But the fire of the revolutionary protests that broke out …

Iranwire – In the lead-up to the first anniversary of Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody, Iranian authorities are increasing security measures in her hometown of Saqqez, western Kurdisatn province. Security forces have installed cameras in the streets, squares and even at, Amini’s last resting place, in an attempt to deter residents from returning to the streets and participating in …