Human rights

Iranwire – Iranian-Canadian activist Hamed Esmaeilion emerged as a key opposition figure to the Islamic Republic following the eruption of nationwide protests sparked by the September 2022 death in police custody of Mahsa Amini. In October last year, he co-organized a rally in Berlin that was joined by up to 100,000 Iranian exiles, in a formidable show of solidarity with …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – A Baluch woman named Zarkhatoun Mazarzehi was executed for drug-related charges in Kerman Central Prison. According to Haal Vsh, a Baluch woman was executed in Kerman Central Prison on 15 November. Her identity has been reported as Zarkhatoun Mazarzehi, a 46-year-old widow and mother of a daughter. She was sentenced to death for drug-related charges by Branch …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – Arman Babazadeh Ayan, a man sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed in Salmas Prison. According to information obtained by Iran Human Rights, a man was executed in Salmas Prison on 14 November. His identity has been established Arman Babazadeh Ayan who was sentenced to qisas for murder. At the time of writing, his execution has not …

Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) – State media have reported the execution of an unidentified man who had spent 17 years on death row for murder in Bandarabbas Central Prison. According to Hamshahri Online, a man was executed in Bandarabbas Central Prison. The unidentified man was sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder by the Criminal Court. The date of his execution has not …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court has charged journalist Zeinab Rahimi of “spreading lies and violating public decency” after she commented on the death of 17-year-old Armita Garavand, who died last month after a confrontation with morality police. Rahimi said in a social media post on November 12 that she and her lawyer attended a hearing on her case and that she was free …

RFL/RE – Iran’s education minister has announced plans for a fundamental transformation of the country’s educational system with the introduction of gender-specific textbooks for male and female students, suggesting a deeper ideological shift in the Islamic leadership’s governance. Rezamorad Sahraei, speaking at the Behindokht festival’s closing ceremony on November 12, said the initiative signifies a significant change in Iran’s approach …

Iranwire – Prominent Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was among dozens of people arrested during the October 29 funeral of Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old girl who was fatally assaulted at a Tehran metro station for not wearing a headscarf. In a letter written from behind the walls of Qarchak prison on October 30, Sotoudeh described her violent arrest at …

Iranwire – Fariba Kamalabadi, a 62-year-old Baha’i citizen, is presently serving a prison sentence in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison. In a letter disclosed to IranWire by one of her relatives, she condemned the persecution of Baha’is in Iran. Kamalabadi was arrested in May 2022 after having served a previous 10-year jail sentence, just for her Baha’i beliefs, between 2008 and …

Iranwire – Iran’s Supreme Court has confirmed the death sentence of a protester convicted over the killing of a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) during nationwide protests last year, a prosecutor says.  The prosecutor in the central city of Hamadan did not disclose the defendant’s name, but the activist Telegram channel 1500 Tasvir identified the man as …

Iranwire – He was born in the city of Sardasht in West Azerbaijan province and grew up in Mahabad. He felt destined to follow his dreams abroad, but to get a passport, he had no other choice but to complete his mandatory military service. However, when protests suddenly swept Iran last year, he took a leave of absence while he …