Human rights

Iranwire – Nearly a month after the arrest of prominent religious scholar and university professor Sedigheh Vasmaghi, a group of 320 Iranian political and civil activists has issued a statement demanding her immediate release. Vasmaghi was arrested on March 16 on a charge of “opposition to the mandatory hijab.” She is currently being held in Evin prison and has been …

Iranwire – Osman Ismaili, a prominent 67-year-old labor activist in Kurdistan, is at risk of permanent spinal cord injury and paralysis due to a lack of medical attention in prison. According to a statement from his defense committee, Ismaili suffers from a severe narrowing of the spinal canal and urgently requires surgery. The committee also warned that his condition could …

RFL/RE – Tehran police said they will launch a new phase of enforcement of the mandatory hijab law from April 13 even though the new “hijab and chastity” bill has yet to be approved by the country’s Guardian Council. Police Chief Abbasali Mohammadian announced the new phase of tightened enforcement ahead of a similar declaration made by the police chief of the …

Iranwire – Law enforcement officials in various Iranian cities have indicated a planned crackdown on citizens protesting the mandatory hijab starting Saturday. This escalation comes just a day after Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei delivered a speech where he emphasized the importance of fulfilling the hijab enforcers’ duty “faithfully.”  The exact nature of this duty was not specified. On Thursday, …

Iranwire – Iranian security forces detained writer and translator Loghman Ghanbari in western Kermanshah province. According to a report by Kurdpa news agency, around 20 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence agents searched his home and seized some belongings on April 7.  Ghanbari is known for translating “The Kurds in a Volatile Middle East,” a book published in Sweden after …

Iranwire – Imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has described the case against Iranian environmental activists as one of the “most baseless and deceptive” fabricated by Iranian security forces against civil society. Niloofar Bayani, Homan Jokar, Sepideh Kashani, and Taher Ghadirian, environmental activists, were released after seven years in prison this week. Mohammadi, in a note posted on her Instagram page, …

Iranwire – Kamal Lotfi, a 46-year-old resident of Dehgolan in Kurdistan province, was again detained by Iranian security forces. Lotfi’s son, Reza, lost his life to gunfire from Iranian security forces during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in 2022.  According to the Hengaw Organization for Human Rights, Lotfi was arrested on April 9 after being summoned to the Revolutionary Court …

Iranwire – Iranian security forces have again detained Mustafa Hamdi, a Kurdish journalist and social media activist from Saqqez. Hamdi, who administers the “Porsman” Telegram channel in Saqqez, has a history of facing detention and interrogation for his journalistic and activist work. According to the Hengaw Human Rights Organization, Hamdi was arrested on April 7 by state intelligence forces at …

Iranwire – The special forces of the Islamic Republic have raided the political inmates’ ward at a prison in southern Iran. Human rights groups in Iran report that on Tuesday, April 10, special forces raided Ward 5 of Ahvaz Central Prison, also known as Shiban Prison. The ward is designated for political prisoners. The raid involved violent destruction of personal …

RFL/RE – An Iranian political activist who was granted medical leave from Tehran’s Evin prison last year has been sentenced to 74 lashes for what authorities termed “absence and failure to report to prison,” even though he was actually in prison when the case was filed against him. Hossein Razzagh was arrested in July 2022 in the northern Iranian city …