Iran’s Revolutionary Court sentenced two detainees of recent events to the death penalty. According to a report issued by the Freedom of Speech and Thought unit of Human Rights Activists in Iran, on December 28, 2009 at the 28th Branch of the Revolutionary Court, Judge Mogheisy sentenced Ahmad Karimi, one of the detainees arrested before [...]

Based on reports received by Human Rights and Democracy Activists in Iran, prisoner Ardeshir Keshavarz was sent to a solitary cell for execution. Ardeshir Keshavarz, 35, has been in prison for more than six years. Most of his time has been spent in section 1 of Gohardasht Prison in Karaj. Mr. Keshavarz was recently transferred [...]

Ervand Abrahamian is a historian of Middle Eastern and particularly Iranian history. An Armenian born in Iran and raised in England, he received his M.A. at Oxford University and his Ph.D. at Columbia University. He teaches at the City University of New York (CUNY) where he is Distinguished Professor of History at Baruch College and [...]

Qoba mosque in Shiraz under Basiji attack Raheh Sabz | Dec. 29, 2009 Militia forces that had been surrounding the Qoba Mosque in Shiraz since early Tuesday morning mounted attacks on the mosque where Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Mohammad Dastgheib delivers sermons. Basijis and plainclothes agents chanted slogans against Ayatollah Dastgheib, Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi [...]

(CNN) — The Iranian president on Tuesday likened the anti-government protests during Sunday’s observances of Ashura to “a theater play by the Zionists and the Americans,” the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said. “The Iranian nation has witnessed many plays of this kind: a play ordered by the Zionists and the Americans, who had purchased [...]

When you get lost in the commotion of the city, it is only the workers who can show you extreme pain and expose you to the unsavory smell of life. Believe me, this is true. Given the current Iranian economy, being a worker is very difficult. It permanently exposes you to the bitter taste of [...]

During Ashoura, widespread protests occurred in Gilan-e-Gharb, a small town in Kermanshah province, after the death of Mohammad Javad Parandakh. Internet has been shut down in this town during the past two days. Mohammad Javad Parandakh was a student of Isfahan University of Technology who was killed in the protests a few months ago. People protested [...]

WHAT more can Iran’s rulers do to squash their opponents? Since nationwide protests broke out in June over the disputed results of presidential elections, the ostensible winner of that poll, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has pulled few punches. His security apparatus has beaten and arrested hundreds, subjected scores of dissidents to show trials, chased others into exile, [...]