Iran

By Golnaz Esfandiari and Hamid Fatemi | – ( RFE/RL ) – Nationwide antiestablishment protests have raged across the Islamic republic since the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died on September 16 shortly after she was arrested for allegedly violating the hijab law on women’s dress. As the authorities have waged a […]

Authoritarianism

Iranian Women’s Demands for Freedom Must Be Heard

Human Rights Watch

By Rothna Begum, Senior Researcher, Women’s Rights Division | – ( Human Rights Watch ) – The current protests gripping Iran show no signs of abating. More than forty days since the death of Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini–who died after being arrested by Iran’s morality police for breach of the country’s strict dress code–the […]

censorship

Musk’s Twitter won’t Label as False the Whopper that Iran has Sentenced 15,000 Protesters to Die (It is so far 2)

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Maria Ramirez Uribe at Politifact explains that a wildly inaccurate Instagram post alleging that Iran’s parliament had sentenced 15,000 arrested demonstrators to death went viral. The allegation of 15,000 on death row was shared by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and other prominent figures and then went viral on Twitter. […]

Authoritarianism

The Veil in Iran has been an enduring Symbol of Patriarchal Norms – but its Use has Changed depending on Who is in Power

The Conversation

By Amy Motlagh, University of California, Davis | – In images of the uprising that followed the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on Sept. 16, 2022, perhaps the most iconic ones, aside from that of Amini herself, are those of unveiled Iranian women photographed from behind, facing police barricades or raising a fist at the […]

Authoritarianism

Protesting Rapper’s Video Foretelling Iranian Regime’s Future Leads To Arrest As Fans Fear For His Life

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

( RFE?RL ) – Toomaj Salehi’s lyrical support for protesters in Iran has landed him behind bars before, but this time the popular rapper’s fortune-telling has fans and family members fearing for his life. Just days before his September 30 arrest, the 32-year-old Salehi released his latest music video, in which he makes foreboding predictions […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: Thousands of Detained Protesters and Activists in Peril (HRW)

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have escalated their assault against widespread dissent and protests through dubious national security charges against detained activists and grossly unfair trials, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 31, 2022, the head of Tehran Province’s judiciary said that it had issued around 1,000 indictments against those arrested […]

Featured

Backlash in Iran against President Biden’s vow to “Free” the Country

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – At a campaign event in California late on Thursday, President Joe Biden said, “Don’t worry, we’re going to free Iran, they’re going to free themselves pretty soon.” Biden’s pledge drew a sharp rebuke from Iranian president Ibrahim Raisi, who said the Iranians had already freed themselves with their 1979 Islamic […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: hijab Protests reflect Society-wide Anger at Regime which trashes Rule of Law and Human Rights

The Conversation

By Saeed Bagheri, University of Reading | – The death of Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police in September for not wearing the hijab properly was a fracturing point, prompting Iranian women to come on to the streets en masse to protest the regime’s violence and injustice. But our understanding of these […]

Authoritarianism

‘Bloody Friday’ highlights the Plight of the Baloch in Iran

Middle East Monitor

By Samand Muhammad-Shahi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – A month after a brutal massacre, protests continue in Iran’s restive region of Balochistan, home to the Baloch-Sunni ethno-religious minority. Six more people, including three children, were reported to have been killed on Friday as Iranian security forces opened fire on the demonstrators in […]