Stories from Quick Reads and Iran
Azerbaijan evacuates its embassy staff after deadly attack in Tehran
A gunman stormed the Azerbaijani embassy in Tehran, Iran's capital city. This is the latest attack on the country's diplomatic missions abroad.
Tensions between Azerbaijan and Iran peak again
Azerbaijan and Iran have been saber-rattling and exchanging hostile rhetoric in weeks of heightened tensions.
Women in Turkey stand in solidarity with women of Iran
In Turkey where women’s rights keep deteriorating, the murder of Mahsa Amini hits close to home. Women from across all walks of life express solidarity with the protests in Iran.
Roundup of Shia figures continues in Azerbaijan
Rustamov is the latest Shia figure targeted by the authorities in an apparent roundup of prominent Shia figures in the country.
Could Using a Cell Phone in Iran Put You in Business with “Terrorists”?
Could using a cell phone in Iran entangle you with ”terrorists”? This might be the case if Iran's Revolutionary Guards who control the country's telecommunications monopoly are designated as “terrorists”. This is a possibility being discussed as U.S. politicians and lawmakers consider how stringently to impose economic sanctions on Iran once the sanctions related to the...
Protesters Rally Against Iranian Nuclear Deal in Times Square
This past Wednesday a rally gathered in New York's Time Square to oppose the nuclear deal reached between Iran and the P5+1 countries (the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Russia, and China). The effort was meant to send a message to the U.S. congress to veto the deal. The...
Disappeared Juvenile Iranian-Kurdish Activist Resurfaces Months After Scheduled Execution
Saman Naseem, a juvenile Kurdish activist who went through a five month period of disappearance since his scheduled execution in February was able to call his relatives from prison this past weekend, according to Amnesty International. The day before he was due to be executed, he was transferred to an unknown...
New Report Details Unanimous Support Amongst Iran's Civil Society for the Iran Deal
Global Voices collaborators the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran released a newly written report yesterday entitled “High Hopes, Tempered Expectations: Views from Iran on the Nuclear Negotiations.” The report engaged with 28 members of Iranian civil society including former members of the Iranian Parliament, journalists, academics, lawyers,...
Jailed Cartoonist Atena Faraghdani's Lawyer is Arrested for Shaking Her Hand
Mohammad Moghimi, the attorney of the Iranian activist and cartoonist Atena Faraghdani was arrested on 10 June following a visit to his client in jail. His charges are based on the fact that he shook Faraghdani's hand. Faraghdani was recently sentenced to 12.5 years in prison for posting drawings and content critical...
Iran Increases Internet Surveillance Ahead of Parliamentary Elections
Iran's Deputy Interior Minister Zolfaghari announces heightened security in anticipation of upcoming elections.
Iran's Evin Prison to Become a Park
This post first appeared on iranhumanrights.org and is published here in collaboration with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said last week that the Tehran Municipality is prepared to enter negotiations with the Iranian Judiciary to convert the Evin Prison complex in northwestern Tehran into a...
Amid “Intelligent” Censorship Discussions, Iran Affirms Facebook Will Remain Blocked
Discussions regarding the implementation of “intelligent” filtering have proliferated Internet policy discussions within Iran. “Intelligent” filtering is a process whereby they filter select content on a social media platform, rather than the entire site. Our recent research covered the extent of this program on Instagram. In response to “intelligent’ filtering...
Khamenei's #Letter4U Bots Still Active Four Months After Its Launch
On January 21, during the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attacks in France, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei penned an open letter to the 'youth in Europe and North America' defending Islam, and the Western world's skewed reception of the religion. He also started tweeting the sentiments of the letter on his @khamenei_ir twitter account, starting the hashtag #Letter4U. A closer look of this hashtag indicates it remains active through bots, which are still crawling through Twitter four months after the launch of the campaign.
Iran's Minister of ICT Suggests Instagram Will Not Be (Completely) Blocked Until an Alternative Is Found
Iran's leading reformist newspaper, Shargh, ran an article this past Sunday entitled: “The promises of the Minister of ICT to clear the problems of mobile social media.” The focus of Iran's Minister of Information and Communication Technology Mahmoud Vaezi was the filtering status of popular mobile applications, with a particular...
Iran Releases British-Iranian Goncheh Ghavami After Arrested for Attending a Volleyball Match
26 year old British-Iranian Goncheh Ghavami was arrested in Iran on June 2014 for protesting for equal access for women during sporting events. She was arrested after she attempted to attend a men-only volleyball match at Azadi Indoor Stadium in Tehran. International petitions have been ongoing for her release, until...
Iran's Foreign Minister Responds to Letter from Republican Senators
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif penned a response to the letter 47 Republican U.S. Senators sent to Iranian leaders. The letter was in opposition to nuclear negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program. Zarif was quick to pen the response, and tweet back to the Republican Senator Tom Cotton who...
Facebook Campaign Garners Iranian Journalist Masih Alinejad Women's Rights Award
Iranian journalist wins Women's Rights Award for her Facebook page "My Stealthy Freedom."
Iranian Facebook User Sentenced to Death
Soheil Arabi was sentenced to death for insulting the Prophet Mohammad on the Facebook.The Revolutionary Guards arrested Soheil Arabi on November 2013. Iranian Twitter user Velgard tweeted below about this, explaining that Arabi is only a 30 year old Iranian who is not a political activist, but merely “one of...
Hossein Derakhshan Released from Prison
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, on Thursday pardoned the jailed blogger Hossein Derakhshan after his six years.Derakhshan thanked God, Khamenei and his family on his Google Plus page.
Iranians protest in solidarity with Kobane
Iranians held several protest rallies in different cities including Tehran,Tabriz and Mehabad to support Kobane‘s people on Tuesday.Fighting continues to rage in the Syria-Turkey border town of Kobane Iran protest in solidarity with #Kobane Photos: @NasimMohammadi_ pic.twitter.com/QHu1k1szxB — Negar Mortazavi (@NegarMortazavi) October 7, 2014
Iranian Judiciary Sets 1-Month Deadline to Block Viber
Iranian judiciary has set a one-month deadline for Hassan Rohani's government to block or to control messaging applications Viber, WhatsApp and TangoMe. Iran judiciary sets 1-month deadline for communications ministry to block messaging apps @Viber, @WhatsApp & @TangoMe — Sobhan Hassanvand (@Hassanvand) September 20, 2014