22 August 2017, Amnesty international: More than a dozen political prisoners, including prisoners of conscience, have gone on hunger strike in protest at the cruel, inhuman and degrading conditions they have been forced to endure at a maximum-security prison in Karaj, Alborz province, Amnesty International said today.
Archive for Human Rights
Iran: Mass hunger strike by political prisoners in protest at inhumane conditions
Afghanistan surge is about regime change in Iran
August 22. 2017 The Baltimore Sun – By: Rachel Marsden
The Islamic State has taken another hostage — and he was reading to America from a teleprompter in an expensive suit and blue tie Monday evening at the Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall near Arlington National Cemetery. Apparently there are some things that simply are more powerful than the president of the United States — namely, the military-industrial complex, the original sponsor of the Islamic State and now the sponsor of U.S. President Donald Trump’s planned troop surge in Afghanistan.
Iran Denies Appeal of Jailed Princeton Student: University

Xiyue Wang, a naturalized American citizen from China, arrested in Iran last August while researching Persian history for his doctoral thesis at Princeton University, is shown with his wife and son in this family photo released in Princeton, New Jersey, U.S. on July 18, 2017. Courtesy Wang Family photo via Princeton University/Handout via REUTERS REUTERS
Aug. 17.2017 – USNews- By Yeganeh Torbati- WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iranian authorities have denied the appeal of a Princeton University student who had been convicted on espionage charges and sentenced to 10 years in prison, the university and his wife said on Thursday.
Rouhani Cabinet Pick Linked to Mass Surveillance of 2009 Protestors

Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi
August 17, 2017—President Hassan Rouhani’s pick to head the telecommunications ministry should publicly address concerns over his direct involvement with surveillance operations during the state crackdown on the peaceful protests in 2009 and allegations that he personally interrogated activists at the time, said the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) in a statement today.
11 Christian Converts Issued Long Prison Sentences in Iran in Less Than Two Months in Sham Trials

Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh on Sentencing Spree Since June 2017
July 20, 2017—The Iranian authorities must immediately halt the disturbing trend of arrests and imprisonment of Christians, the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) said in a statement today.
White House threatens Iran over detained Americans
07-21-2017 – The Washington Post – By Associated Press- WASHINGTON — The White House is threatening “new and serious consequences” for Iran unless it releases all U.S. citizens who are detained there. The White House says President Donald Trump is prepared to act in an attempt to end Iran’s practice of using detentions and hostage taking as state policy, but it provides no specifics about potential consequences.
Iran’s double standard of justice

Sadegh Larijani and Hassan Rouhani
20.07.2017-DW- President Hassan Rouhani’s brother was released from custody one day after he was arrested on corruption charges. And yet, Iranian journalists and activists spend months in solitary confinement without charges.
The Trump administration should read its own documents about regime change in Iran

At the end of last month, the U.S. State Department quietly published a trove of hundreds of documents detailing the American role in Iran’s 1953 coup.
07.11.2017 – Washington Post – In that year, a combined CIA and British plot deposed democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammed Mossadegh, an act fueled by Cold War geopolitics as well as Western indignation at Mossadegh’s nationalization of Iran’s oil assets. The coup may feel distant to Americans, but it lives long in the imagination of many in the Middle East. “This is still such an important, emotional benchmark for Iranians,” said Malcolm Byrne, the director of research of the nongovernmental National Security Archive at George Washington University, to the Associated Press. “Many people see it as the day that Iranian politics turned away from any hope of democracy.”
Education for all? Not in Iran
23.06.2017 – DW – Iran is refusing to implement UNESCO’s education agenda. The country’s religious leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, views it as a Western conspiracy. In doing so he’s discriminating against women and minorities like the Baha’i.
Beyond the Ban: Exhibition Spotlights Major Iranian-American Artists
June 21, 2017—Works by prominent Iranian-American artists were showcased to a packed house on June 14, the opening night of the “Beyond the Ban” art exhibition, a collaboration between the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) and the Susan Eley Fine Art gallery in New York City.