Social and Political

Iranwire – Iran experienced the most significant decline in internet freedom in 2023, driven by the authorities’ “disproportionate and violent” crackdown on the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement, according to Freedom House. In a bid to quell the nationwide anti-government protests sparked by the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, the authorities arrested thousands of demonstrators, …

Iranwire – France has joined the United Kingdom in condemning Iran’s recent launch of a military satellite into space, amid concerns that Tehran’s space technology could be used to develop nuclear weapons. The Islamic Republic proudly announced on September 27 it had used the Qased space launch vehicle to put the Noor-3 imaging satellite in an orbit 450 kilometers above …

Iran-HRM Detention of Shahin Ahmadi, Mother of Armita Gravand, by Security Forces Five days after Armita Goravand fell into a coma on the October 4, Shahin Ahmadi, Armita Goravand’s mother, was detained by the security forces of the Iranian regime on Wednesday afternoon, October 4 ,2023. She was taken to an undisclosed location after her arrest in the vicinity of …

Al-Arabia – The mother of Armita Geravand, Shahin Ahmadi, has been arrested by Iranian security forces, the Iranian-Kurdish rights group Hengaw said on X platform on Thursday. There has been no official confirmation yet of the arrest. Geravand is in critical condition in a coma in hospital, two prominent rights activists told Reuters on Wednesday, after what they said was a confrontation …

iranintl – Authorities have pressured a 16-year-old girl’s family and friends to deny the role of hijab patrols in an incident Sunday that led to her falling into a coma.  A source close to the family of Armita Geravand informed Iran international that the art student’s parents were summoned to an intelligence agency after their daughter was taken to a …

iranintl – Due to Iran’s raging inflation and stagnant economy, the minimum wage has fallen so far behind that tens of million have joined the ranks of “the working poor.” Etemad, a prominent reformist daily in Iran, published an article on Wednesday, highlighting the alarming growth of poverty affecting workers whose incomes have fallen below the poverty line. The paper …

iranintl – A new report by the World Bank has put Iran among the worst countries in the world in terms of Worldwide Governance Indicators.  The international financial institution collected data from over 30 think tanks, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and private firms worldwide to encompass a wide range of perspectives on governance. However, in Iran’s secretive regime, even its latest …

Iranwire – The incident involving Armita Geravand, a 16-year-old Iranian girl who fell into a coma on October 1, remains a top headline in Iran. Amid widespread reactions on social media to reports that the teenager fell victim of the brutal enforcement of Iran’s mandatory headscarf law, there has been a conspicuous absence of “morality” officers in Tehran’s metro network. The human rights organization …

Iranwire – Iranian authorities are subjecting teachers and pupils at Armita Geravand’s school to immense pressure as part of efforts to control the information surrounding the hospitalization of the 16-year-old girl. Armita has been in a coma at Fajr Air Force Hospital outside Tehran since October 1, when she sustained a “head trauma” in a Tehran subway station, according to …

Iranwire – More than 40 countries have expressed “serious concern” at the recent adoption of the Chastity and Hijab bill by the Iranian parliament, saying the proposed law “considerably aggravates” punishments for women and girls who do not wear a compulsory headscarf. The bill “also seeks to force non-complying women into an unprecedented social and economic siege, by imposing travel …