Social and Political

RFL/RE – Iran’s political turmoil cast a shadow over Iran’s second match in the World Cup on November 25, with pro-government fans harassing anti-government fans outside the stadium in Qatar. Unlike in their first match against England, the Iran players sang along to their national anthem before the match against Wales as some fans in the stadium wept. Some Iran …

Iranwire – Iran’s national football team sang along to their national anthem at their second World Cup match in Qatar, after remaining silent in their opening game earlier this week in an apparent sign of support of anti-government protesters back home. Loud jeers were heard from Iranian supporters as the anthem played before the match kick-off against Wales on November …

Iranwire – School students have played a prominent role in the ongoing nationwide demonstrations sparked by the September 16 death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police. They have joined the protest movement by removing their hijab at school, by writing “Woman, Life, Freedom” on blackboards, by pulling down pictures of Supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the …

Iranwire – The United Nations’ top human rights body has voted to establish an independent fact-finding mission to investigate abuses committed by Iranian security forces in their brutal crackdown on nationwide protests that have gripped the country for weeks. During a November 24 session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva, 25 council members backed a resolution put forward by Germany and …

VOA – Iran arrested a prominent former member of its national soccer team on Thursday over his criticism of the government as authorities grapple with nationwide protests that have cast a shadow over its competition at the World Cup. The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported that Voria Ghafouri was arrested for “insulting the national soccer team and propagandizing …

Amnesty – Responding to today’s announcement that the UN Human Rights Council has passed a landmark resolution to establish a fact-finding mission to investigate human rights violations in Iran related to the protests that began on 16 September 2022, especially with respect to women and children, Agnès Callamard, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said:  “This important and long overdue step shows …

RFL/RE – Australia and the Netherlands have confirmed the arrests of dual nationals in Iran and say the detainees have been denied consular access. A spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs on November 24 said an Iranian-Australian had been detained, though not for participating in protests over the death of a young woman while in police custody for allegedly …

RFL/RE – A prominent Iranian human rights advocate incarcerated in the notorious Evin prison has published a letter saying that Iran’s authoritarian theocracy has prevented people from achieving their rights, including democracy and freedom, and a normal relationship with the world. Narges Mohammadi sent the letter on November 23 to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), whose mission is to …

Iranwire – Two members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) were killed in the northwestern province of Kurdistan overnight, activists say, amid a brutal crackdown on anti-government protests. According to the Norway-based Human Rights Organization, unidentified armed men killed one IRGC member in the city of Marivan. The Kurdish human rights organization Hengaw said another member of the …

VOA – U.N. human rights chief Volker Turk urged Iranian authorities to halt “unnecessary and disproportionate” use of force against protesters. Speaking at a session of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva on Thursday, Turk said Iran was in a “full-fledged human rights crisis.” Turk expressed his support for an investigation into Iran’s crackdown against protests that began two …