Social and Political

RFL/RE – Iran says it is closing the French Institute for Research in Tehran “as a first step” against “insulting” cartoons of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that were published by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The controversial weekly published dozens of cartoons mocking Khamenei, the highest religious and political figure in Iran, as part of a competition launched …

IranWire – received a video on November 21 that showed the body of a teenage boy lying on the ground covered in blood and a crowd around him calling for an ambulance. The person who sent the video said that Reza Kazemi,16, was hit by several bullets fired by members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). Reza, who was …

Iranwire – Schoolgirls across Iran have joined the nationwide unrest by defiantly posting pictures of themselves without their headscarves, writing “Woman, Life, Freedom” on the walls, singing the anthem of the protest movement “For” and ripping portraits of Ruhullah Khomeini and Ali Khamenei, the former and current leaders of the Islamic Republic. The crackdown on under-18s has been brutal, with …

Iranwire – The Iranian authorities released prominent actress Taraneh Alidoosti on bail nearly three weeks after she was incarcerated for expressing support for the nationwide protest movement. Alidoosti’s mother posted a picture of the 38-year-old actress outside Tehran’s Evin prison on January 4, along with a message calling for the release of those thrown behind bars since the ongoing wave …

VOA – Negotiations to return to the international agreement that limited Iran’s nuclear program is not a current priority for the United States, the U.S. State Department said Wednesday. Spokesman Ned Price told reporters the 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, “hasn’t been on the agenda for some months now.” The United States left the …

CHRI – The Islamic Republic’s persecution of athletes for peacefully supporting anti-state protests that have been ongoing throughout the country since September 2022 should be publicly condemned by sports federations and the international community, said the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). Women and male athletes have been shot and killed, sentenced to death by kangaroo courts, disappeared and …

Al-Monitor – After nearly four months of protests in the country that were sparked over hijab laws, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei expressed a conciliatory message for the first time Wednesday. Speaking to pro-government women’s activists Wednesday morning, Khamenei said, “The hijab is a religious and inviolable necessity, but this inviolable necessity should not mean that someone with not a …

Al-Arabia – Iran warned France on Wednesday it would respond after “insulting” cartoons depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei were published in the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The weekly had published dozens of cartoons on the same day ridiculing the highest religious and political figure in the Islamic Republic. The magazine said the cartoons were part of a competition it …

RFL/RE – Iran’s top Sunni cleric, Molavi Abdolhamid, denounced the deadly government crackdown on months-long anti-establishment protests during a December 30 sermon in Sistan-Baluchistan Province. The outspoken cleric said Iranians want “freedom and justice,” saying demonstrators were protesting against “discrimination, corruption, and lack of freedom.” Abdolhamid also criticized the repression of Iran’s ethnic and religious minorities, including Baha’is, who have …

RFL/RE – An Islamic revolutionary court in Tehran has sentenced civil and labor activist Neda Naji to a prison term and flogging for attending a protest in support of Mahsa Amini, who died while in police custody in September. Naji’s mother, Mehraneh Ghasemi, wrote on her Instagram account on January 3 that her daughter was sentenced to eight months in prison, 60 …