Human rights

Iranwire – The Islamic Republic of Iran was born in 1979 following a wave of popular uprisings against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah’s policies were modernizing yet his regime was repressive; many Iranians felt his reforms were failing to reach them or were disrupting life for the worse. The Revolution was led by Muslim clerics and the founder of …

Iran-HRM – Five Arab political prisoners have started a hunger strike in Shaiban Prison of Ahvaz, capital of southwestern Iranian Province of Khuzestan. Jasem Heydari, Ali Khasraji, Hossein Seilavi, Ali Motiri, and Ali Mojaddam sewed their lips and started a hunger strike on Saturday, January 23, 2021. The Arab political prisoners are refusing food to protest mistreatment of inmates by …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Akbar Bagheri is detained in the Great Tehran Penitentiary (GTP). He is in dire health condition and needs to be treated at a civic hospital, but the GTP warden, Asghar Fat’hi, has prevented his hospitalization. The life and health of this prisoner is in danger. Akbar Bagheri has a gastrointestinal illness and his physical condition is …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, has been transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution in Qom Central Prison. According to Iran Human Rights, a male prisoner was transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for his execution this afternoon in Qom Central Prison. The prisoner who was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder) has been …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – There has been a dramatic rise in the execution of Baluch citizens over the last five weeks, with 19 Baluch prisoners being executed in Mashhad and Zahedan Central Prisons. Of those, four were executed on political and security charges. The arbitrary arrests of Kurdish activists which began on January 9 has also continued. Around 70 …

Al-Monitor – An Iranian American man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison on spying charges, even though his family says his trial took place without him. The family said Emad Shargi was cleared of the charges in December 2019, but then was informed he was guilty by a court in November, The Associated Press reported. A judicial official told the news agency …

RFL/RE – Baluchi activists say Iranian authorities have demolished the foundations of a Sunni mosque in the city of Iranshahr in the Sistan-Baluchistan Province in order “to pressure” the Sunni minority in the region. According to the Europe-based Campaign Of Baluch Activists, the demolition took place on January 23, while all the necessary permits had been obtained by the municipality …

Iranwire – The Iranian monthly Peivast is reporting that Iran has blocked the private encrypted messaging application Signal, ordering mobile operators to filter it from their networks. The report comes after the Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI) said on Twitter earlier on January 25 that “Iran seems to have started blocking” the application. The move follows the January 14 removal of Signal from …

Iranwire – ISNA news agency reports that Aso Javaheri, an international Iranian women’s football referee, has been banned from the sport due to what it called “research in the field of sociology of sports” and “gender studies and political economy in sports”. Alireza Sohrabi, head of the refereeing section of the Soccer Federation, was the one to inform Javaheri about the decision. …

Iranwire – Religious minorities in Iran have been deprived of many of their citizenship rights for many years. The rights to education, employment and government work are among the most obvious, but in addition to codified legal restrictions, there are a number of unwritten rules which create obstacles for them. This is the story of one of the Mandaeans of …