Social and Political

CHRI – At the 11th annual session of the Conference of State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities held at the United Nations headquarters in New York (June 11-14, 2018), the head of the Welfare Organization of Iran (WOI), Anoushirvan Mohseni-Bandpey, gave a speech on Iran’s actions and achievements in defending the rights of persons with disabilities. 

CHRI – Human Rights Lawyer Threatens to Remove Hijab in Protest After Supporters Beaten Outside Prison Detained Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh is facing two national security charges for representing women facing prison time in Iran for peacefully protesting against the Islamic Republic’s compulsory hijab law. “During the interrogation, she was told that the charges against her are ‘propaganda …

l-Monitor – The former chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, Hassan Firouzabadi, is squatting in a mansion that belonged to the former Shah of Iran, according to a letter published by a conservative university group.

Payvandnews – Iran says it has launched a train service to Turkey’s Van after a hiatus of about three years with officials expressing hope that it would help increase the number of tourists travelling on either side of the border.

Iran-HRM – Despite a global campaign to save the life of Sufi bus driver Mohammad Salas, reports indicate this 51-year old member of Iran’s Sufi religious minority group has been executed early this morning in what Amnesty International called a “huge miscarriage of justice.” Salas’s family were instructed to receive the corpse from Behesht-e-Sakineh Cemetery of Karaj, west of Tehran.

Amnesty – Mohamed Salas was executed by the Iranian authorities at dawn on 18 June 2018. 

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have executed a man convicted of killing three police officers during clashes involving members of a Sufi order, despite calls to stop his execution.

Radiofarda – Two members of the Iranian Parliament (Majles) have responded to Mashad’s firebrand Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Alamolhoda’s accusation of treason, with counter-accusations implying the ayatollah was involved with threat messages sent to MPs.

Radiofarda – A member of the Islamic Republic’s Expediency Council, a body that advises the Supreme Leader, has cautioned about foreign intelligence services infiltrating state institutes in Iran.

Radiofarda – Security forces have arrested one of the men suspected of kidnapping dozens of girls and young women in the city of Iranshahr, southeast Iran, the local prosecutor has announced.