More Political Prisoners Hanged In Iran

Dec 1, 2023, 10:17 GMT

File photo of a public execution in Iran

Iran has executed two more political prisoners, one from a 1980s case and another detained during the mass protests in November 2019.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) identified the 2019 protester as Kamran Rezaei, who was hanged in Shiraz Central Prison (Adel Abad). The 32-year-old protester was arrested during the November 2019 nationwide protests and sentenced to ‘qisas’ (retribution-in-kind) for the murder of a Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) officer. It is not clear whether he had other charges like ‘moharebeh,’ an obscure Islamic term that means“war against God” that could potentially lead to the death penalty.

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Belgian Police Boost Security For Iranian-Born Lawmaker After Death Threats

Dec 1, 2023, 05:15 GMT

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Iran International Newsroom

The Belgian police are beefing up security measures to protect Darya Safai, an Iranian-born member of parliament, following death threats she received on social media.

In an interview with Iran International, Safai said that the death threats against her have increased following the Israel-Hamas conflict.

“I should be careful and report any suspicious events around me” to the police, the lawmaker wrote on X.

The police has launched a probe into the nature and sources of the threats.

Safai blamed Islamists for the threats, vowing that she will continue to stand up for freedom.

“It’s incomprehensible that people should make serious threats … instead of responding with substantive arguments. But that is just how Islamists operate,” read her post on X.

Speaking to Iran International, she accused the Iranian regime of orchestrating the threats by promoting Islamist extremism in Belgium and the whole of Europe.

Safai warned that Tehran is trying to target its opponents indirectly under the guise of backing the Palestinian cause.

The alarming rise of extremism and antisemitism have raised serious concerns among European countries, with many of them blaming the Islamic Republic for fostering such activities.

In October, The Times warned that Iranian agents are stirring up unrest in the UK through Gaza protests.

There is direct involvement of the Iranian regime through the physical presence of operatives at protests as well as through disinformation campaigns conducted online, the newspaper said.

Earlier in November, German authorities executed raids on 54 locations connected to the Islamic Center of Hamburg (IZH), suspected of supporting Iran-backed Hezbollah.

On November 4, Safai condemned attempts to silence her with the label of “Islamophobe,” especially since the current conflict began in the Middle East.

“What the world is experiencing today is much broader than a war between Israel and Hamas. It is a broad war that shows the direction for certain Muslims to ultimately achieve their goals,” she said earlier this month, highlighting the Muslims’ promised goal to conquer the world and establish an Islamic rule.

Last November, Iran International was warned by London Police that its journalists were under threat from Iranian agents and the police took measures to strengthen security around the network’s offices. A man was arrested in the vicinity of Iran International’s headquarters in February and charged with a terrorism offence.

Safai has been one of the most vocal European lawmakers critical of the Islamic Republic, advocating a tougher stance towards Tehran and its regional and international policies.

She is also one of the staunch supporters of listing Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.

Safai told Iran International on Thursday that she has been under police protection since June after she criticized a formal invitation extended to Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, to visit Belgium. Her criticism angered Iranian officials, with some reports saying that they might try to target anti-regime activists and figures who openly opposed Zakani’s visit.

Tehran’s mayor was a hardliner member of parliament before becoming a candidate in the 2021 presidential election and withdrawing in favor of the current president Ebrahim Raisi. He also served as the head of IRGC’s Student Basij paramilitary forces and had a prominent role in cracking down on students during popular protests in July 1999.

German Government Silences Iranian Dissidents, Says Masih Alinejad

Nov 30, 2023, 20:21 GMT

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Benjamin Weinthal

The prominent Iranian-American dissident Masih Alinejad on Thursday blasted the German government for seeking to impose a gag order on her meeting to discuss the repression of women in the Islamic Republic.

Alinejad took to X to slam the crackdown on the dissidents’ free speech, stating, “Today I walked out of a meeting with the German government because they tried to censor me. I had a meeting with officials in the German Foreign Ministry. But I was told the meeting had to be kept secret and I couldn't mention it in the media or write about it on my social media. I tried to convince the officials to publicly meet with Iranian delegation that included @simamoradb51053 young woman who had been shot during the Woman, Life, Freedom revolution last year.”

She added, “ When the ministry officials insisted on keeping the meeting a secret, I walked out. I am a women’s rights activist and I stand for transparency. How ironic that German government, with its feminist foreign policy, wants to meet with other feminists but only in secret. The German government is practicing victim blaming. I’ve heard some German officials say I’m too radical and meeting me publicly would be fatal to their Iran policy.”

According to Alinejad, “If standing up for women’s rights and wanting an end for gender apartheid regime in Iran is being radical, then I’m proud to be labeled as such. The German government is helping the Islamic Republic to silence dissidents. I refuse to play their game.

Earlier this week I had many constructive meetings with parliamentarians and ministers from different parties. I have high hope that they can be allies of Iranian women.”

The German MP Norbert Röttgen, who has been spearheading a campaign to sanction Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and secure the release of German hostages held in Iran, wrote on X about Alinejad. "While this woman is brave enough to take on the Islamic regime of Iran, the Foreign Office is too cowardly to publicly stand with her. Unbelievable and shameful!”

When asked about Alinejad’s criticism of the German government, a spokesperson for Germany’s foreign ministry sent Iran International a statement from Luise Amtsberg, the Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Assistance.

The Green party politician Amtsberg, said “I was looking forward to an open and honest exchange with Masih Alinejad today. I invited her to the Foreign Office. Confidentiality was agreed upon in advance. Both sides have agreed to this framework.

In my experience, conversations that take place confidentially are more substantive - especially when it comes to individual fates. This also encourages people to contact me confidentially.”

Amtsberg added “I very much regret that Ms. Alinejad linked a conversation to the publication of the content of the conversation and broke off the discussion at the beginning. I'm sure we would have had a good conversation.”

The commissioner continued that “My door is always open to activists and civil society. I would have loved to know more about Sima Moradbeigi's story, who accompanied Ms. Alinejad. I will continue to call out the Iranian regime’s serious human rights violations and support Iranian civil society.”

Iranian dissidents have accused Germany’s government of a soggy appeasement policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Germany refuses to sanction the IRGC as a terrorist movement. The Wall Street Journal famously wrote a series of editorials in 2008 titled “Germany loves Iran” about Berlin’s efforts to enable trade with Iran. Germany continues to retain a flourishing trade relationship with Iran, permitting its banks to make vital transactions to Iran. In 2022, German companies earned over $1billion in trade from Iran.

Iran International reported in August that the giant German engineering multinational Bosch sold 8,000 surveillance cameras to Iran.

Iranian Authorities Impound Cars Over Hijab Violations

Nov 30, 2023, 15:58 GMT

Police in Tehran have been impounding cars in the latest crackdown against ongoing hijab violations.

Iranian officials confirmed the issuance of police warnings through text messages, alerting citizens to the imminent seizure of vehicles for failing to adhere to compulsory hijab rules. The police directive reportedly extends to over a million citizens, with hundreds of cars confiscated and temporarily prohibited from use.

Amidst a growing crackdown on hijab defiance, Iranian parliamentarians have expanded the government's Hijab and Chastity bill. The proposed legislation, seeking stricter penalties for hijab infractions, faces widespread criticism from human rights groups.

The intensified enforcement of hijab regulations follows protests that have swept across Iran since the death of Iranian-Kurd Mahsa Amini last year. Amini's arrest in Tehran, allegedly for breaching the Islamic republic’s mandatory hijab, ignited the worst uprising of recent history.

Women across the country have been defying the mandatory hijab which has been met with a heavier presence of hijab enforcers in public spaces such as subway stations. Additionally, surveillance cameras have been installed to identify and apprehend individuals violating hijab regulations.

Iranian Rapper Beaten, Kidnapped, Two Weeks After Prison Release

Nov 30, 2023, 15:00 GMT

Toomaj Salehi, the Iranian rapper who was recently released from prison, has been rearrested, according to his page on X.

“The regime’s armed plainclothes agents abducted and detained” Salehi in the northern city of Babol in Mazandaran province, an update read, the page run by an appointed manager.

The 33-year-old rapper has been taken to an undisclosed location in the city.

According to the report, the regime agents refused to show any warrant and arrested Salehi without identifying themselves.

“He was beaten severely by plainclothes agents – which included beating Toomaj with the butt of Kalashnikov rifles,” the post said.

It also stressed that “the Islamic Republic bears the responsibility for his life.”

Less than two weeks ago, the popular figure was released from prison after over a year of imprisonment, including 252 days in solitary confinement, upon posting bail.

During his incarceration, he sustained injuries from torture, including severe swelling and bleeding in his eyes, a fractured tooth, and injured fingers.

In July, the rapper dodged a death sentence and was instead sentenced to over six years in prison. He was convicted of offenses related to “corruption on earth,” which includes violations of religious morality.

Salehi was arrested in November amid uprisings against the regime, during which he used his social media platforms to support popular protests.

Throughout his career, he has addressed critical issues such as corruption in the Islamic Republic, workers’ strikes, and the execution and imprisonment of regime opponents through his musical works.

Iranian Journalist Faces Legal Action Over Reporting Teenager’s Death

Nov 30, 2023, 12:59 GMT

Iran's Shargh newspaper's economic editor, Maryam Shokrani, is set to appear in court in December following her coverage on the death of a teenage girl in the Tehran subway.

Shokrani revealed the legal summons via X, citing allegations of "spreading lies and propaganda against the system” after the story broke of Armita Geravand, 16, dying after being in a violent incident with morality police.

Like Mahsa Amini, the cause of her death while in morality police custody was never revealed by authorities though it is believed she fell into a coma after falling during the clash on the subway.

In a recent Instagram post on November 22, Shokrani expressed her dismay, stating that the case was forwarded to Branch 1058 of the Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office without proper investigation, and she had not been given an opportunity to present her defense.

This marks the second legal case filed against Shokrani in the past few weeks. Initially, she had been summoned to Branch 16 of the Tehran Culture and Media Prosecutor's Office, unaware of the complaint's subject matter.

The two journalists who reported the death of Amini were also imprisoned last month as the regime continues its crackdown on dissident voices.

Iran has arrested at least 79 journalists since the uprising of September last year, according to Reporters Without Borders.