Seven members of the Baha’i faith will stand trial in Iran on charges of “spying for Israel” and “desecrating Islam and campaigning against the Islamic Republic,” the official ISNA agency reports.
Amnesty International called for the release of Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, detained since June, and her husband Reza Khandan, who was arrested this week. Reza Khandan was charged with spreading propaganda against the system, colluding to commit crimes against national security, and promoting the practice of appearing in public without a veil. Her actual crime was representing women facing prison time for peacefully protesting against the Islamic Republic's compulsory hijab law. Khandan had raised concerns on Facebook about rights violations in Iran, and publicly campaigned for the release of his wife. Amnesty International director for the Middle East and North Africa, Philip Luther said, "These callous actions illustrate the lengths to which Iranian authorities will go to silence human rights lawyers, even targeting their families." (Photo: Center for Human Rights in Iran)
The US Treasury Department branded the PJAK guerillas of Iranian Kurdistan as a terrorist organization and front for the PKK. Simultaneously, Turkish warplanes again bombed PKK targets in Iraq.
A statement on Gaza by Iran’s besieged student opposition condemns Israeli war crimes—but also exploitation of the issue by the Tehran regime and Islamist groups in the region.
Tehran’s Revolutionary Court convicted four Iranians in an alleged CIA plot to overthrow the Iranian government. The court said the four had confessed; the US State Department called the claim “baseless.”
Militant attacks are reported from both the Pakistani and Iranian sides of the divided Baluchistan region. An armed attack on Pakistani police in Quetta follows a suicide attack on an Iranian police post in Saravan.
Jinous Sobhani, secretary of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Tehran, was one of six followers of the Baha’i faith detained by Iranian authorities. Computers, files and literature were confiscated in the raids.
From the International Transport Workers’ Federation, Dec. 28: Trade unionists and human rights activists are sending a strong warning signal to the international community following the detention of trade unionists by the Iranian secret police over the holiday period. The… Read moreIran: unionists arrested in new wave of repression
US President Donald Trump issued an executive order reimposing certain sanctions against Iran. In a press statement, the White House criticized the Iran nuclear deal, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) of July 2015, signed by Iran, Germany, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and the EU. The US withdrew from the JCPOA in May, prompting a legal challenge from Iran before the International Court of Justice. The White House stated that JCPOA "threw a lifeline of cash to a murderous dictatorship that has continued to spread bloodshed, violence, and chaos." The administration claims Iran used funds obtained from the JCPOA to fund nuclear-capable missiles, terrorism, and to support conflict abroad. (Map: Myket.ir)
Police in Tehran raided and shut down the office of the Center for Protecting Human Rights, led by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi Dec. 21. Dozens of uniformed police and plainclothes security officials sealed the office in the… Read moreIran: police shut independent human rights office
At least 32 Azeri activists were arrested in the lead-up to an annual July protest at Babak Fort in Iran's East Azerbaijan province against discrimination targeting the ethnic minority. The arrests took place in several citiese, including Tabriz and Ahar, usually following home raids. Dozens more were summoned and threatened with arrest if they attended the ceremony. Babak Fort, also known as the Immortal Castle or Republic Castle, is a mountaintop citadel said to have been the stronghold of Babak Khorramdin, the leader of the Khurramite rebellion who fought the Abbassid caliphate in the ninth century CE. Babak is revered as national hero by ethnic Azeris and Iranians alike. Azeris, also known as Azarbaijani Turks, have for several years gathered at the citadel each July for the annual ceremony. (Photo: AzerTurk)
Iranian students protested Dec. 7 at Tehran University, calling for political freedoms and denouncing President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The protest amid heavy security was called by the radical Office to Consolidate Unity (OCU) to mark National Student Day. The official news… Read moreStudents clash with police in Tehran
