Archive for IranSOS

Voices from Iran: Protesters describe unrest and crackdown

A fire breaks out during a demonstration in Tehran against an increase in petrol prices © AFP via Getty Images

Details start to emerge as information blackout is finally lifted

Dec.06.2019 –FINANCIAL TIMES –  Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran – Please use the sharing tools found via the share button at the top or side of articles. Copying articles to share with others is a breach of FT.com T&Cs and Copyright Policy. Email licensing@ft.com to buy additional rights. Subscribers may share up to 10 or 20 articles per month using the gift article service. More information can be found here.
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Iran’s Protests Are Not Just About Gas Prices

A protester in Shiraz, November 2019Middle East Images / Redux

Repression Won’t Solve the Deeper Problems Bringing Iranians to the Streets

December 5, 2019 -Foreign Affairs -By Mohammad Ali KadivarSaber Khani, and Abolfazl Sotoudeh

A wave of protest swept across Iran last week. The government had abruptly hiked gas prices in order to offset its budget deficit at a time of high inflation and negative economic growth. Angry protesters clashed with security forces, set government buildings and banks on fire, and blocked roads. The government responded with an iron fist, killing more than 200 protesters, arresting thousands, and shutting down the Internet across the country for about a week.

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U.S. says Iranian forces may have killed more than 1,000 protesters

People walk near a bank in Tehran that was burned down during protests last month. (Wana News Agency/Via Reuters)

Dec. 5, 2019  – Washington Post – By Carol Morello and Missy Ryan       A State Department official said Thursday that 1,000 or more protesters may have been killed during weeks of unrest in Iran and that the United States has received video that shows troops firing machine guns mounted on trucks at protesters in one incident.

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With Brutal Crackdown, Iran Is Convulsed by Worst Unrest in 40 Years

A burned bank after protests against increased fuel prices in Tehran last month.Credit…Nazanin Tabatabaee West Asia News Agency, via Reuters

What started as a protest over a surprise increase in gasoline prices turned into widespread demonstrations met with a systematic repression that left at least 180 people dead.

Dec. 1. 2019- The New York Times – By Farnaz Fassihi and Rick Gladstone

Iran is experiencing its deadliest political unrest since the Islamic Revolution 40 years ago, with at least 180 people killed — and possibly hundreds more — as angry protests have been smothered in a government crackdown of unbridled force.

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Iranian Government Dictated to Local Media How to Cover Protests, New Documents Reveal

Journalists Will Be Charged with “Crimes” if Coverage Diverges from Official Line

Officials Expected Protests, Dictated Instructions to Media Before Price Hike Was Announced

November 25, 2019—While Iran is still reeling from the recent protests that have left scores injured, more than a hundred dead, and thousands arrested, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) has learned that two main government ministries have silenced the domestic media by issuing directives dictating coverage of the unrest, in a blatant violation of freedom of the press. Intelligence ministry officials have also threatened journalists that they will be charged with “crimes” if their reporting of events does not hew to the official narrative of events.

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Six Conservationists Sentenced to Long Prison Terms in Iran After Two Years Behind Bars

Preliminary Sentences Range Between 6 and 10 Years, Two Still Awaiting Ruling

November 20, 2019 – Six of the eight wildlife conservationists who have been detained in Iran since their arrest in January 2018 have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from six to ten years for espionage, a lawyer with knowledge of the cases told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). CHRI has confirmed these sentences with several people with direct knowledge of the court announcements.

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UN expert: Iran executes children in violation of rights law

Javaid Rehman

Javaid Rehman

OCT. 23, 2019- The san Diego Union Tribune-UNITED NATIONS- By EDITH M. LEDERERASSOCIATED PRESS – Iran executed seven child offenders last year and two so far this year even though human rights law prohibits the death penalty for anyone under age 18, a U.N. independent human rights expert said Wednesday.

Javaid Rehman also told the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee that he has “credible information” there are at least 90 child offenders currently on death row in Iran.

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Iranian Women Attend Football Match in Major Challenge to Stadium Ban, But Discriminatory Restrictions Persist

October 9, 2019 – Nearly four decades after women were banned from sports stadiums in Iran, a few thousand tickets were sold to female fans ahead of an October 10, 2019, World Cup qualifier match between the Iranian and Cambodian national teams.

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Children With Disabilities in Iran Denied Access to Inclusive Education

Iran’s Government Should Allow Kids With Disabilities to Be Educated Alongside Their Peers 

The 52-page report “‘Just Like Other Kids’: Lack of Access to Inclusive Quality Education for Children with Disabilities in Iran” documents discrimination and barriers to education in the country’s public school system for most children with disabilities.

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Iran Arrests Activist Masih Alinejad’s Brother Amid Crusade to Silence Citizens Abroad

September 25.2019 – Against a backdrop of an ongoing campaign aimed at silencing foreign-based activists, agents of Iran’s Intelligence Ministry arrested the brother of prominent U.S.-based activist Masih Alinejad, she announced on Twitter.

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