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
Ayatollah Hossein Kazemeyni Boroujerdi, a dissident cleric imprisoned since October 2006 for criticizing the Islamic Republic’s system and advocating separation of religion and state in Iran, was “exiled” from Tehran’s Evin Prison to another facility in the city of Yazd… Read moreIran: dissident cleric “exiled” from Tehran’s central prison
Farzad Kamangar, a teacher, trade unionist and rights activist from Iran’s Kordistan province, sentenced to death on what his attorney calls “absolutely zero evidence,” could be hanged today, his supporters say. Sources report that he has been taken from his… Read moreIranian trade unionist to be hanged today?
Iran’s judiciary has sentenced a Sufi leader to five years in prison, flogging and exile on charges of spreading lies, the moderate Kargozaran newspaper reported Nov. 15. The report identified the man as Amir Ali Mohammad Labaf, of the Nematollahis… Read moreIran condemns Sufi to prison, flogging, exile
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a letter congratulating US president-elect Barack Obama, said his nation and the world expect “fundamental” changes to US policy, and “welcomed” the prospect for “justice, respect for human rights, friendship, and non-interference in other countries’… Read moreIran: Ahmadinejad “welcomes” Obama, appeals for “friendship”
In response to Iranian threats to close the Strait of Hormuz in the event of a military attack, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is planing to build an inland canal to bring Persian Gulf oil to world markets. “Our oil… Read moreUAE plans Hormuz bypass canal in event of war
The International Alliance in Support of Workers in Iran (IASWI) has called for an international campaign on behalf of several labor activists in Iran who have been sentenced to public whipping, prison terms and even death—mostly for participating in a… Read moreIran: labor activists sentenced to lashes, prison, death
