Human rights

Radiofarda – On Monday students in several universities in Tehran and Isfahan held rallies and chanted slogans against the Basij militia and the clerical regime for a third day. In a video showing a rally at Isfahan Industrial University students chant: “Execution and imprisonment no longer scare us” and “Get lost Basiji”. Referring to the many highly-educated passengers who were …

CHRI – Iranian security forces used what appeared to be live ammunition and tear gas to repress protests in Tehran on January 12, 2019, over the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) “unintentional” downing of a Ukrainian passenger plane, according to video footage sent to the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) and later verified by the AP. Protesters mainly in the capital and …

Guardian – One of Iran’s most popular female actors has bluntly criticised the government in Tehran in a post on Instagram, telling her almost 6 million followers that “we are not citizens” but “captives”. Taraneh Alidoosti – who has appeared in an Oscar-nominated film and acclaimed TV dramas – made her comments on Sunday, as Iranians took to the streets in a series of …

Al-Arabia – Several people were injured after protests in Iran’s capital city Tehran turned violent on Sunday night, with security forces arresting demonstrators who had taken to the streets to protest against the Iranian regime. Demonstrations erupted across the country after the Iranian regime admitted a civilian airplane was accidentally hit by a missile, killing all 176 people on board. Iran had initially …

PayvandNews – Protesters outside a university in Tehran have called for justice after Iran admitted it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane on January 8. “Resignation is not enough,” protesters chanted outside Amirkabir university on January 11 while demanding a trial for those responsible for the downing of the plane that killed all 176 people on board. Protesters gathering …

CHRI – The Iranian people should be allowed to exercise their constitutional right to peaceful assembly without the threat of violence, said the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) after crowds that had gathered in Tehran following the government’s announcement that it had “unintentionally” shot down a Ukrainian passenger plane were met with armed state forces and tear gas. …

Shabtabnews – Ambassador Sam Brownback , the US Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom , yesterday expressed in a formal letter his condolences on the passing of the Gonabadi Sufi’s spiritual leader, Dr Noor Ali Tabandeh and the plight of the Sufis in Iran. In the latter he stated “Nobody should suffer abuse because of their faith. Dr Tabandeh’s steadfast advocacy …

RFL/RE – Iranian students have protested outside several universities for a second day amid mounting outrage over officials’ admission that an Iranian antiaircraft battery was responsible for downing a Ukrainian passenger jet. Videos circulating on social media on January 12 showed protesters gathering outside Beheshti University in Tehran, chanting “the students are vigilant and are fed up with that Ali” …

CHRI – Iran’s judiciary should free all women and men who were arbitrarily detained as state forces violently repressed street protests this past November, said a group of UN human rights experts* on December 20, 2019. UN Experts Call on Iran to Release Detained ProtestersIran's judiciary should free all women and men who were arbitrarily detained as state forces violently …

Iran-HRM – A man convicted of theft was publicly flogged today in the central city of Shahreza, according to a local website. The state-run Shahreza News website quoted the city’s Revolutionary and Public Prosecutor as saying that the man was sentenced to public flogging for robbery. Amir Hossein Razazadeh said, “According to a sentence by the Branch 103 of the …