Human rights

Iranwire – Authorities in Bushehr Province have detained seven women for their involvement in sharing social media content related to modeling.  According to the Rokna news agency, their Instagram posts have been removed, and their electronic devices confiscated. These arrests took place under the banner of a police initiative dubbed “Nour,” according to the police commander of Bushehr province.  The …

Iranwire – A young Iranian girl whose sister lost her life during the 2022 nationwide protests has been arrested for not wearing a headscarf.  Nasrin Shakarami, the mother of Nika Shakarami, whose name became widely known during the Woman, Life, Freedom protests, said that her other daughter, Aida, had been detained. Shakarami said, “My daughter Aida was arrested by Tehran’s morality …

VOA – Over last weekend, as Iran began its air assault against Israel, at home it announced new enforcement of the mandatory wearing of the hijab. The initiative is called the Nour (Light) Plan. The crackdown followed a statement by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who said that ignoring the hijab was a red line that should not be crossed. By …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities have handed prison sentences to prominent women journalists Saba Azarpeik and Kimia Fathizadeh. The Hamshahri newspaper reported on February 26 that Azarpeik was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and barred from using social media platforms on charges of “publishing lies, slander, defamation, threats.” A series of complaints had been lodged against Azarpeik in recent months, including …

Iranwire – Located 12 kilometers from the Ahvaz road to Masjed Soleyman city, next to to Shiban village, Shiban’s local prison stands as a grim symbol of Iran’s penal system.  Housing over 5,000 inmates, well past its designed capacity of 3,500, it has gained notoriety as one of the country’s most perilous prisons. Now an investigations by IranWire has unearthed …

Iranwire – Twelve Iranian women’s rights activists from the northern province of Gilan are to appear in court on February 29 to face charges, according to the Bidarzani legal group. The trial will be held in the Third Branch of the Rasht Revolutionary Court, presided over by Judge Mehdi Rasekhi, the group said on February 26.  The activists were arrested …

RFL/RE – The sister of Nika Shakarmi, a victim of the Women, Life, Freedom movement protests, has been detained by Tehran’s morality police for failing to adhere to the Iran’s mandatory hijab law. Aida Shakarmi, a university student, was arrested in the Iranian capital on April 17 and remains in custody, her father said on Instagram. Nika Shakarmi, a 16-year-old from Khorramabad …

iranhr – This is an extract from the 2023 Annual Report on the Death Penalty in Iran. To read the full report, please click here. Sustained domestic campaigning and international pressure The 2017 Amendments to the Anti-Narcotics Law, which was impelled by international pressure on the Islamic Republic to decrease drug-related executions, led to the most significant reduction in the number …

Iran Human Rights – April 18, 2024: Afshin Bagh Shirin, a man on death row for drug-related charges, was executed in Urmia Central Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Urmia Central Prison on 13 April. His identity has been established as 37-year-old Afshin Bagh Shirin who was sentenced to death for drug-related …

iranintl – Activist and Islamic scholar Sedigheh Vasmaghi, imprisoned for her opposition to the mandatory hijab in Iran, was sent to hospital from Tehran’s notorious Evin prison on Monday without a headscarf. It is an unprecedented move from Iran’s authorities who refuse treatment to prisoners unless they comply with compulsory hijab regulations. High profile cases such as Nobel Laureate Narges Mohammadi have been …