Social and Political

Iranwire.com – During the past week, several Iranians active in cultural affairs, women’s and children’s rights, and voluntary social activities, were arrested in various cities of Khuzestan province and transferred to unknown locations. Fatemeh Tamimi, Maryam Ameri, Azhar Alboghbish and her two brothers, Reza and Abbas, Zeinab Savari, her brother Hamzeh and her niece Fatemeh, were among those arrested. All the detainees were involved in …

Iranwire.com – In a newly published study, a journal affiliated with the National Defense University examines the views held by Iran’s senior intelligence and security experts regarding social media. According to these officials, social media has an impact on national security in 15 distinct areas. Almost all of this impact is negative. Overall, these officials believe that social media threatens, …

Iranwire.com – Prison Narratives is a collection of reports narrated by prisoners – sometimes famous and sometimes unknown. The narrators, political and ideological prisoners as well as convicts of ordinary crimes, tell us about their lives in prison. Our latest report will address the issue of sexual behavior in prisons; from exchanging pictures of women, to instances of rape. Power relations …

Al-Arabia – Radoslaw Sikorski, a former Polish foreign minister, has described Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif as a “Ribbentrop,” referring to Joachim von Ribbentrop who was minister of foreign affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. “I have a request to the diplomats from our nation states and from our [European External Action Service]. Next time you meet with …

Radiofarda -In Ebrahim Zalzadeh’s last editorial, addressed to the Iranian regime’s strong man, Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, he declared, “Dictatorship will not last.” In response, regime forces broke his fingers and, after stabbing him 17 times, cut his artery and dumped his body in the deserts of Yaft Abad, a poverty-stricken district southwest of the Iranian capital city, Tehran. Iranian …

Iran Human Rights (IHR) – A prisoner sentenced to qisas (retribution-in-kind) for murder, was executed at Boroujerd Central Prison. According to Iran Human Rights, a male prisoner was executed at Boroujerd Central Prison on the morning of Thursday, December 18. His identity has been established as Rasoul Ferdows, a 34 year-old Maragheb native, who was on death row for murder. …

Iran Human Rights (IHR)- A new wave of executions has commenced in Iranian prisons after several Baluch prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for their executions. Historically, there has been an increase in executions over the Christmas and New Year period when most international organisations and civil society are closed for the holidays. Iran Human Rights warns of …

Amnesty – Responding to the Iranian authorities’ plans to execute a 30-year-old man, Mohammad Hassan Rezaiee, for a crime that took place when he was 16 years old and following a conviction based on “confessions” extracted under torture, Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International, Diana Eltahawy, said:  “After more than 12 years on death row, …

Pen.org – To mark the theatrical release of the documentary NASRIN, join PEN America and Ms. Magazine for a special online conversation on Monday, December 21 at 3pm ET featuring an introduction by Margaret Atwood and opening remarks by PEN America’s Karin Deutsch Karlekar; followed by a discussion moderated by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof with human rights advocate Kerry Kennedy, Iranian artist and activist Parastou Forouhar, Nasrin filmmakers Jeff …

Shabtabnews – In an open letter to Josep Borrell Fontelles, a number of MEPs expressed alarm in regards to the Iranian Regime’s execution of Mr Roullah Zam and the regime’s continued complete disregard for the most basic human rights. The letter also expressed concern about the death sentence given to the Swedish-Iranian citizen, Dr. Ahmad Reza Djalali whose execution sentence …