Iran’s Supreme Leader says the political upheaval in the Middle East is “an Islamic awakening,” and the unrest signals people’s anger that “their leaders have been U.S. puppets.” Speaking at the Friday Mass Prayers in Tehran, Ayatollah Khamenei told worshippers that Arab uprisings are “the voice of the Iranian people echoing in Northern Africa” — [...]
Iranian authorities have blocked access to Yahoo News and Reuters.com expanding their usual restrictions on foreign sites. Reuters reports that their site has been blocked since Monday and while there has been no official acknowledgement of the restrictions, an unidentified Iranian official contacted by Reuters told them that the government was looking into the problem [...]
Two UN Special Rapporteurs are requesting permission to visit the country in light of the alarming increase in executions. Christophe Heyns, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, and Gabriela Knaul, the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers are echoing the concerns and requests of other UN experts. The International [...]
Khalil Bahramian, defence attorney to several Iranian political prisoners was sentenced to 18 months in prison today and also banned from practicing law for ten years. “I am charged with propaganda against the regime, insulting the head of the judiciary and activity against national security but I have appealed the sentence they gave me;” Bahramian [...]
Three jailed student activists were summoned to court Tuesday to face further charges by the Iranian judiciary. Bahareh Hedayat, Majid Tavakoli and Mehdieh Golroo were summoned to branch 28 of the Islamic Revolutionary court to denounce statements attributed to them on websites and to press charges against the publishers of the material, Danehshjoo News reports. [...]
Two Kurd prisoners, Loghman Moradi and Zanyar Moradi have been sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary. They are accused of murdering the son of the Friday Mass Imam in Marivan and “enmity against God and corruption of the earth.” The sentence is noe being reviewed by the Iranian Supreme Court, the International Campaign for [...]
Nasrin Sotoudeh’s trial for not wearing the hijab (head covering) was postponed Tuesday after the detained human rights lawyer complained of insufficient notice. A new court date has been set for February 16. The news comes from Sotoudeh’s husband, Reza Khandan, who briefly met with her in the courthouse corridor. He told Zameneh that the [...]
Iranian opposition leaders have condemned the growing number of executions in Iran, while expressing support for the populist movements that are shaking up countries in the Arab world. MirHosein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi managed to organize a hasty meeting at Karroubi’s home when the security forces who normally stand guard there were briefly relieved. It [...]
The Iranian parliament dismissed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s transportation minister on Tuesday in response to several fatal plane crashes in the country. Hamid Behbahani was stripped of his office after he failed to attend his impeachment, Iranian media report. The impeachment vote against Behbahani passed 147 to 78 with nine abstentions. Behbahani’s critics cited repeated plane crashes, [...]
Iranian judiciary announced the issuance of five more death sentences for charges ranging from espionage to involvement in pyramid schemes and activities in the internet. Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, Iran’s prosecutor general told ISNA that two people identified and arrested by the Revolutionary Guards for involvement in “obscene” websites have been recognized as “corruptors of the [...]