Social and Political

Iranwire – Many questions have arisen regarding the Islamic Republic’s involvement in the October 7 attack on Israel by the Hamas terrorist group. Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, evidently concerned about potential Israeli and US reactions, initially denied any involvement of the Iranian government. However, he later threatened other governments of continued actions by militia groups supported by Iran. This article …

RFL/RE – In a major show of defiance, Iranians have staged new anti-government demonstrations in several cities to protest the death of Armita Garavand, who succumbed over the weekend to injuries suffered in an alleged confrontation with Iran’s morality police in the Tehran subway over a head-scarf violation. Hours after the student’s funeral on October 29, which was marked by …

VOA – Hundreds of billboards featuring evocative poems that have been installed around the Iranian capital are contributing to an increase in road accidents, police were cited on Monday as saying. Tehran municipality has put up some 600 billboards displaying excerpts from the work of contemporary Iranian poets on overhead pedestrian bridges and flyovers across the city. The neat calligraphy …

VOA – Iranian authorities have arrested a prominent lawyer and human rights defender as she attended the funeral of a teenage girl who died after a disputed metro incident, her husband said Monday. The arrest of 60-year-old Nasrin Sotoudeh took place Sunday in Tehran during the funeral of 17-year-old Armita Garawand, who died a day earlier after nearly a month …

CHRI – Following the beating and arrest of peaceful activists detained at the funeral yesterday of Armita Geravand, a 16-year-old who died last week after a reported violent assault by the Iranian government’s forced-hijab enforcers, the international community must urgently demand the immediate release of all those detained, as well as accountability for this outrageous violence. Among those detained is …

iranintl – Israeli forces carried out airstrikes on targets in Syria and Lebanon Sunday evening, affiliated with the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran’s IRGC forces. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed the operations through posts on X, claiming that they had struck Hezbollah facilities in Lebanon. The attacks came only hours after Hezbollah announced that its Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah would deliver a …

Iranwire – Mahsa Yazdani, the mother of a young man killed in Iran during last year’s nationwide protests, has been sentenced to 13 years in prison on charges of “insulting sacred entities” and “defaming the leader of the Islamic Republic.” “What will happen to my three-year-old brother? Who is accountable for all this cruelty?” Yazdani’s daughter, Mitra Zahedi, asked in …

iranwire – IranWire has launched a new series of podcasts, Under the Sky, about members of the LGBTQ community in Iran. The podcast series, hosted by Shaya Goldoust, focuses on issues related to sexual and gender identity.  It has already published five episodes – titled Unrequited Love, Cancer, Hossein’s Love, Relationship and Acceptance – which are available on IranWire’s website, social …

Iranwire – Armita Garavand, a 16-year-old Iranian girl who was fatally assaulted at a Tehran metro station nearly a month ago for not wearing a headscarf, was buried amid tight security on October 29. The number of plainclothes officers and police forces deployed at Tehran’s Behesht-e Zahra cemetery outnumbered the mourners, the Hengaw human rights website reported.  Two of Armita’s …

Iranwire – US national-security advisor Jake Sullivan has spoken of his deep sadness over the death of a 16-year-old Iranian girl who fell into a coma early this month after being assaulted at a Tehran metro station for not wearing a headscarf. “I am deeply saddened to learn that Armita Geravand has died after being beaten by Iran’s morality police …