Iran: Authorities confirm over 100 arrests during November 4 protests
Tehran’s Commander of Security Forces announced that 109 people were arrested during November 4 ceremonies. Security and police forces once more confronted peaceful protesters with violence and used batons, tear gas and plastic bullets to disperse them. In addition to Tehran numerous major cities such as Zahedan, Esfahan, Mashad, Tabriz, and Rasht staged similar demonstrations which met with the violent attacks of government forces. - 11/7/09
Iranian Publishers Hit by Government Curbs
Even the Tehran International Book Fair, one of the country’s most important cultural events, was not impervious to the election buzz. The fair, which took place about a month before the elections, became a venue for criticism of Ahmadinejad’s cultural policies. Renowned writers and publishers complained in interviews about the difficulty of obtaining publishing permits. They said that permission had been revoked for many books that had previously been allowed. -Pedram Fathi, Tehran - 11/7/09
Tehran police clashes with families of detainees
Reports from Tehran tell of clashes between families of yesterday’s detainees and security forces in Tehran in front of Vozara detention centre. Radio Zamaneh has been told that over 50 people, all families of the detainees who were arrested yesterday in the Novemeber 4th ceremonies, had gathered since this morning in front of the detention centre to follow up on the situation of their loved ones. - 11/5/09
Iran: Leaders of Advar Tahkim Student Group Arrested
At about 7pm on Tuesday night security agents in Tehran arrested three leadership members of the student alumni opposition group known as Advar Tahkim Vahdat. The three members of the organization’s central council, Hassan Assadi Zeidabadi, Mohammad Sadeghi and Ali Malihi were taken to prison on Tuesday night. - 11/5/09
US calls for end to violence in Iran
The international community reacted to clashes between Iranian people and security forces today on the anniversary of the occupation of the US embassy 30 years ago. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said: "We obviously have seen and are following the reports of this, and hope greatly that violence will not spread," according to Associated Press. - 11/5/09
Iran: Peaceful Demonstrators Faced Disproportionate Use of Force
Security forces and militia used brutal force to disperse thousands of protesters on the streets of Tehran and other cities today, resulting in a number of injuries and arrests, in violation of international standards regarding the proportionate use of force against peaceful demonstrations, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. - 11/5/09
Tension and Hope in the Streets of Tehran
This morning the sun was shining and mountains were covered by white beautiful snow; and the deep sense of tension was strongly at large. From every corner of town, but specially from central parts, people called to say that the spirit of opposition to demand change, to struggle for air of some kind of a civil society in 21st century, was high. -Citizen Journalist, Tehran - 11/4/09
Photos and Vidoes of November 4 Anti-Government Protests in Iran
Despite threats by police and revolutionary guards that any protests will be severely crushed, people today (the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran) took to the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities to continue their post-election protests against the government. Security forces clashed in the capital with opposition supporters. Videos show indiscriminate beating of defenseless protesters and bystanders. - 11/4/09
Opposition Leader Mehdi Karroubi Attacked During Protests In Tehran
During today’s November 4th ceremonies in Tehran, Mehdi Karroubi, disputing candidate of Iran’s presidential elections was target of a direct attack by government forces which injured two of his bodyguards. - 11/4/09
Hunger-Striking Iranian Journalist Released, A Second Remains In Prison
Journalist Fariba Pejoh is still being held in section 209 of the same prison. Her family, who visited her yesterday, said that she had ended her hunger strike, begun on 26 October, because of very serious health problems. One worried family member told Reporters Without Borders, “She is very weak and can no longer bear her prison conditions”. - 11/3/09
Iran's Opposition Leader Mousavi: Prisoners Have Challenged Their Keepers
Opposition leader, MirHosein Mousavi in a visit with the family of Feizollah Arabsorkhi, one of the post-election detainees, claimed the political prisoners have truly “challenged” their keepers. Feizollah Arabsorkhi is one of the prominent members of the reform group, Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution and has been in prison for over four months. - 11/3/09
Iran's Economic Daily Sarmayeh banned
Another Iranian newspaper was shut down by the order of Iran’s ministry of culture. ILNA reports that Sarmayeh (Capital) daily has lost its publishing privileges after “repeated violations” of specific media regulations. - 11/2/09
Iran shuts down major economic daily
An Iranian government-run press supervisory body shut down the country's major reformist and economic newspaper, Sarmayeh, ISNA news agency reported on Monday. -AFP - 11/2/09
Iran: Some Journalists Freed, Many Still In Prison
Maziar Bahari and Mohammad Ghouchani were released on bail on 17 and 29 October respectively. At least three other journalists are still detained in Evin prison, Tehran, where they are at risk of ill-treatment. They are prisoners of conscience. - 11/2/09
Iran: Mass Summons of Women Activists to Security Branch of the Revolutionary Courts
In a sweeping move, courts officials have summoned a number of Campaign activists to the Revolutionary Courts. Campaign activists began receiving telephone calls over the past weeks to appear in the third security branch of the Revolutionary Courts. -Change for Equality - 11/2/09
Open Letter to UN Secretary General by Group of Writers, Artists, Journalists, and Academicians about the Situation of Iranian Political Prisoners
Over the past months you have witnessed the Iranian people’s immense and awe-inspiring non-violent demonstrations, rejecting the results of a widely organized fraudulent presidential election. Iranian people expressed their demand for free elections deliberately and peacefully. However, the Islamic Republic responded to their legitimate demand for civil liberty and justice with the bloody attacks committed by its military and paramilitary forces. - 11/1/09
Iran: Sentences issued for 50 political detainees
The first deputy of the judiciary mentioned that Ayatollah Khamenei has announced that questioning the veracity of the elections is a “great crime;” therefore, “those who have proposed the elections were fraudulent and created doubt in the public’s mind have undoubtedly committed a grave crime and naturally will have to answer for the crime they have committed.” - 11/1/09
Iran: Two detained reformist leaders released
Two reformist prisoners Behzad Nabavi and Morteza Alviri were released today in Iran. Mehr news agency, citing an unidentified judiciary official, reported that Mr. Alviri has been released after putting up bail. Reportedly Tehran’s prosecutor’s office was not involved in the release. - 10/31/09
Families Of Iranian Political Prisoners To Go On Hunger Strike
Families of political detainees of the post-election events in Iran, in their thirteenth public statement announced that they will start a “political hunger strike” tomorrow, October 30, to protest the imprisonment of their loved ones. - 10/30/09
Prison Sentence For Hossein Ressam, British Embassy Employee In Tehran
Hossein Rassam, the 44-year-old employee of British Embassy who was arrested in the post-election events has been sentenced to four years in prison by Iranian judiciary. The Iranian national who worked at the embassy as a political analyst has been convicted of espionage and inciting unrest. - 10/30/09
Iran Culture Ministry comments on travel restrictions on cineastes
Managing Director of the Iranian House of Cinema Mohammad-Mehdi Asgarpur, House of Cinema Spokesman Amin Tarokh, and filmmaker Reza Mirkarimi recently asked the Culture Ministry for a response to the issue of the recent prohibition of cineastes from exiting the country. - 10/30/09
Photos: Families of Political Prisoners Rally in Tehran
Families of a number of post election detainees in Iran along with a group of social activists rallied in front of the judiciary building in Tehran holding placards demanding the release of their loved ones. Reports from Tehran say that security forces and plain clothes elements surrounded the group and impeded the public from joining the rally. - 10/29/09
Iran: Confidential Memo to Censor News
Through a circular send to the media, news agencies and news websites, the ninth administration in Iran had requested that news outlets not publish news related to the invitation that supporters of the country's Green Movement that opposes the administration have issued for a demonstration on November 4th. -Maysam Tavvab - 10/29/09
Britain Protests To Iran Over Reported Jailing
Britain said it was deeply concerned by reports that an Iranian employee at its embassy in Tehran had been sentenced to four years in jail after being put on trial for espionage. Calling Hossein Rassam's reported sentencing "an attack against the entire diplomatic community in Iran," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the Foreign Office had called in Iran's ambassador to London to protest. - 10/29/09
Iran criticizes UAE for not extending residence of some Iranian nationals
An Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman criticized the UAE for not extending residence of a number of Iranian nationals who have lived in the UAE for a long time. - 10/29/09
Iranian Reform Cleric: Give Permission For Peaceful Protest!
Reformist cleric, Abdollah Nuri proposed that by issuing election protesters legal permission for peaceful demonstrations, the government can weigh the extent of support for MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. According to Mr. Nuri, if the protesters discover that they are "a minority," they will voluntarily "close shop." - 10/28/09
Relatives of Iran vote detainees hold rally
Dozens of relatives of prominent reformers and other people detained after Iran's disputed election gathered outside the prosecutor's office in Tehran on Wednesday to call for their release, a witness said. -Reuters - 10/28/09
Families of Iranian detainees to stage protests
Families of Iranian political prisoners who have been detained since the protests against the outcome of the June presidential elections in Iran have announced that they will stage a peaceful protest on October 28 to demand the freedom of their loved ones. - 10/27/09
Fears for life of detained Iranian Scholar
Dr Mohammad Maleki, a 76-year old Iranian scholar and former Chancellor of Tehran University, has been incommunicado in Tehran's Evin prison for 40 days. He is suffering from prostate cancer and other illnesses, and Amnesty International fears that his life is in danger. - 10/27/09
Freedom to Create Prize announces finalists
Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the celebrated filmmaker and official overseas spokesman for 2009 Iranian presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, is today revealed as one of the shortlisted finalists for the 2009 Freedom to Create Prize. - 10/27/09
Iran: Overturn Death Sentences, Other Unfair Convictions
The Iranian Judiciary should immediately quash the convictions that have been handed down by the Revolutionary Court in Tehran since the end of September against defendants accused of inciting post-election unrest, Human Rights Watch said today. The convictions all stem from unfair trials in which the accused were denied access to lawyers. - 10/27/09
International Religious Freedom Report 2009: Iran
The Constitution states that Islam is the official state religion, and the doctrine followed is that of Ja'afari (Twelver) Shi'ism. The Constitution provides that "other Islamic denominations are to be accorded full respect," while the country's pre-Islamic religious groups--Zoroastrians, Christians, and Jews--are recognized as "protected" religious minorities. However, Article 4 of the Constitution states that all laws and regulations must be based on Islamic criteria. - 10/27/09
Iran: Student Activist on Trial
Mohammad Pour Abdollah, a male student arrested in February in Iran's capital, Tehran, is now on trial, apparently on charges related to national security for his activities in an Iranian student organization. He is still detained in Qezel Hesar Prison near Tehran and is likely to be a prisoner of conscience. Two other members of the same organization arrested in March have been released. - 10/26/09
Statement of Kian Tajbakhsh's family
Family and friends of Iranian American detainee Kian Tajbakhsh are shocked and outraged by the news that he has been unjustly sentenced in an extra-judicial proceeding to more than 12 years in prison and are demanding his immediate release. - 10/25/09
Iran universities target of conservative attacks
Tehran's Friday prayers, led by Kazem Seddighi, focused on "cleansing" the universities as a means of putting an end to the recent unrest. Mr. Seddighi claimed: "There is need for another revolution in the universities, like the first one." - 10/24/09
Cineastes: Even Without Passport, We Are Iranians
Actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya and documentarian Mojtaba Mirtahmasb, both members of the delegation, were prevented from traveling to the U.S. at Tehran�s Imam Khomeini Airport. In addition, world-renowned Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi�s passport was confiscated at Tehran�s Imam Khomeini Airport just as he was departing for France on October 15. Motamed-Arya, Mirtahmasb, and Panahi sent a joint letter to the Iranian media on Friday, saying they will always remain independent Iranian cineastes. - 10/24/09
Iran: Reformist Clerics Condemn Recent Arrests
The arrest of over 30 people at a prayers ceremony last night in Tehran has caused outrage amongst the families of the detainees as well as reformist clerics. Ayatollah Montazeri and Ayatollah Sanei condemned the arrests and expressed their regrets that a sacred event like the "Comeil" prayer is no longer respected in the Islamic Republic and described the arrests as an act of weakness on the part of the authorities. - 10/24/09
Shirin Ebadi: I Will Return to Iran
The winner of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize and president of the Iran based Center for Defenders of Human Rights discusses the pressure and intimidation tactics imposed on her family and colleagues by Iranian intelligence officers in the past few months in an interview with Rooz. - 10/24/09
Iran: Arrest of participants at reform group gathering
The majority of participants in a prayers ceremony for the release of an executive member of the reform group, Islamic Iran Participation Front were arrested today. - 10/23/09
Iran Lawyer Seeks Cash To Spare Young On Death Row
An Iranian human rights lawyer has launched an appeal for money to help avert the executions of juvenile offenders in the Islamic republic, saying $200,000 could spare the lives of four young people now on death row. -Reuters - 10/22/09
Shadi Sadr wins 2009 Human Rights Defenders Tulip Award
The Iranian human rights lawyer Shadi Sadr has won the 2009 Human Rights Defenders Tulip for her courage in championing the human rights of her fellow citizens. Foreign minister Maxime Verhagen will present the award in The Hague on Monday 9 November. - 10/21/09
Press Freedom Index 2009: Obama effect in US, while Europe continues to recede, Israel in free fall, Iran at gates of infernal trio
"Press freedom must be defended everywhere in the world with the same energy and the same insistence," Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Jean-Franois Julliard said today as his organisation issued its eighth annual world press freedom index. - 10/21/09
Iranian-American academic gets 12 years for unrest
Kian Tajbakhsh was the only American in an ongoing mass trial of alleged Iranian opposition members and reportedly faced charges including espionage, contacting foreign agents and acting against Iran's national security. -AP - 10/20/09
Newsweek journalist, Maziar Bahari released on bail
Newsweek journalist, Maziar Bahari who was arrested and tried in Iran following the disputed presidential elections in June, was released on bail on Saturday. Iran news agencies reported the release of the journalist and filmmaker from Evin prison after posting a bail for 3 billion rials ($300,000). - 10/18/09
New Details Emerges About Election Protests Detainees Sentenced to Death
Last week, the Iranian judiciary announced that three detainees, identified only by their initials, had been sentenced to death for their roles in the postelection unrest. Sources tell RFE/RL that a fourth detainee also received a death sentence relating to what is considered the country's most serious political crisis since the Iranian Revolution - 10/17/09
Mothers Call for Release of Hikers Detained by Iran
Two mothers of U.S. citizens detained in Iran for more than two months have called on Iranian authorities to release them. - 10/17/09
Endorsing Gaza war report, UN Human Rights Council condemns Israel
The Human Rights Council today strongly condemned a host of Israeli measures in the occupied Palestinian territory and called on both sides to implement the recommendations of a United Nations commission that found evidence that Israel and the Palestinians committed serious war crimes in the three-week Gaza war nine months ago. - 10/17/09
Iran: Concern about exodus of journalists, as regime steps up suppression of news
Reporters Without Borders keeps on getting requests for help from terrified Iranian journalists who have been forced to flee their country after receiving summonses from the authorities. With 32 of their colleagues now detained in Iran and with a president and a Supreme Leader bent on suppressing all criticism, around 30 journalists have fled since last June's disputed elections. - 10/16/09
Their children in Iran, 3 U.S. moms swing into action
Laura, Nora Shourd and Cindy Hickey have been brought together because their children have been held in Iran since July 31. They have had no contact with their families. -CNN - 10/16/09
Iranian bloggers win major press award
Iranian journalist Delbar Tavakoli, who fled the country after losing her job, received Friday the 2009 Mohamed Amin Award on behalf of the bloggers "for their commitment, bravery and dedication under harrowing conditions and extraordinary pressure while covering the presidential election." -Reuters - 10/16/09
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