Category: Features

US Sanctions on Iran Are Increasing Coronavirus Deaths BY SARAH LAZARE

Iran is ravaged by coronavirus — and US sanctions are making the pandemic even more deadly. ust as the global coronavirus pandemic is escalating profound injustices within the United States, it is also intensifying the brutality of the sanction regimes the United […]

Iran: Prisoner pardons welcome, but hundreds more who should be free remain jailed

18 March 2020 Responding to the announcement by the Iranian authorities that pardons will be granted to prisoners convicted of “security” offences who have a five-year prison sentence or less, and that those who have been granted leave in recent weeks […]

Iran: At least 23 children killed by security forces in November protests – new evidence

4 March 2020, 00:00 UTC An investigation by Amnesty International has uncovered evidence that at least 23 children were killed by Iranian security forces in the nationwide protests in November last year. At least 22 of the children were shot […]

Jailed Iranian Activist Nasrin Sotoudeh Writes a Plea for Peace on International Women’s Day

BY NASRIN SOTOUDEH MARCH 6, 2020 One afternoon, on a late spring day in 2018, a group of officers from the Iranian Prosecutor’s Office and the Ministry of Intelligence came and arrested me while I was home alone. They took me […]

Experts fear coronavirus cover up in Iran

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread, there is growing evidence of an extremely serious and growing impact in Iran.  It is feared that sanctions imposed by the US may have weakened the capacity of the country’s medical sector to […]

“Torture” and “Sexual Threats” Detailed in Letters by Jailed Former UN Environment Consultant

Conservation Scientist Niloufar Bayani: “Every time I… sought help from the authorities, the pressures, threats, and acts of torture increased.” Appeals Court Upheld Prison Sentences Against Conservationists on Baseless Charges and Coerced “Confessions” February 20, 2020 – A female former UN […]

Fears mount as coronavirus outbreak worsens in sanctions-hit Iran

Local official says death toll stands at 50, raising concerns of a cover-up and whether the country will be able to cope with the crisis Calls for US to ease restrictions to allow China and other Tehran-friendly countries to provide […]

Iran elections: people stay away from polling stations

Likely outcome reflects popular opposition to the continuation of theocratic rule and increasingly frustration at collapsing living standards, corruption and the regime’s adventurous and ineffective foreign policy. Published official results of the Friday parliamentary elections in Iran indicate that only […]

Iran conservatives hope to harness popular anger to win elections

Hardliners aiming to take advantage of fury over corruption to take power and keep President Rouhani on a tight leash by Patrick Wintour Diplomatic editor “They’ve been stealing the money. Cut off their hands, make them pay and answer,” shouted an elderly […]

IRAN: HUMAN RIGHTS IN IRAN: REVIEW OF 2019

Iranian security forces firing tear gas to disperse a protest in the city of Bushehr, Bushehr province, south-west Iran, on 16 November 2019. Verified video footage from this protest showed that security forces used excessive force against peaceful protesters. © Private

This is Amnesty International’s annual report on the state of human rights in Iran during 2019, subdivided by key human rights themes. It is part of a regional review of the state of human rights in the Middle East and […]