The Persecution of Teacher Activists in Iran: A Report on Sacking and Disciplinary Actions, Including the Forced Exile of Esmail Abdi

A recent report by prominent labour union the Coordinating Council of Iranian Teachers’ Trade Associations (CCITTA) has drawn attention to the continuing disturbing, indeed escalating, trend of teachers and education workers being targeted for persecution by the authorities in Iran […]

Fire at Rajaee Quay; Completely Charred Bodies Retrieved

CODIR: Thousands of port workers were victims of a catastrophe waiting to happen… Last week, CODIR published a detailed account of the catastrophe that hit Rajaee Quay, the Iran’s principal national seaport for international trade in the vicinity of Bandar […]

Labour activists have been arrested! Prison is Not a Place for Labour Activists!

CODIR has received verified reports and information from inside Iran that May Day and events to mark International Workers’ Day have yet again served as the precursor to the arrest of scores of labour activists and a wider clampdown by […]

CODIR demands justice for Iranian workers following the deadly blast at Bandar Abbas!

On this International Workers’ Memorial Day, Iran is reeling in the immediate aftermath of the latest in an all too long line of disasters to have befallen its long-beleaguered working people. Over the weekend just passed, international news outlets have […]

CODIR welcomes initial signals from US/Iran talks

23rd April 2025 Press release The Committee for the Defence of Iranian People’s Rights (CODIR) has welcomed the progress made so far in talks between the United States and Iran as a step towards limiting the possibility of a military […]

 

Iran: Scores injured as security forces use unlawful force to crush protests

15 January 2020, 13:18 UTC Verified video footage, photographs and testimonies from victims and eyewitnesses on the ground obtained by Amnesty International confirm that Iranian security forces used unlawful force against peaceful protesters who gathered across Iran following the authorities’ […]

Iran warns Europe as diplomat says officials ‘lied’ on crash

By NASSER KARMI, JON GAMBRELL and EMILY SCHMALL, Associated Press Provided by Associated Press In this photograph taken Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, protesters hold flowers as tear gas fired by police rises at a demonstration in front of Amir Kabir University […]

Yes, Iranians can protest against both US intervention and their government – Reza H Akbari

Anti-regime unrest doesn’t mean everyone has suddenly switched sides. US officials’ simplistic view of Iran is dangerous Some argue that today’s protests are the “real Iran” and represent the authentic face of the country.’ Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency via Getty […]

Middle East – political uncertainty continues

12th January 2020 The assassination of the commander of the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, Qasem Soleimani, has sparked a further round of uncertainty in the Middle East and brought the danger of increased conflict closer.  Jane Green assesses the current […]

UNESCO Responds to Trump’s Threat To Destroy Iran Cultural Site

Published 7 January 2020 In October 2017, the U.S. announced its withdrawal from UNESCO, claiming it needed to be reformed and was dominated by an alleged anti-Israeli trend. UNESCO’s director-general Audrey Azoulay recalled U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday that […]

Ervand Abrahamian speech on the U.S. assassination of Iranian commander Major General Qassem Soleimani

Ervand Abrahamian is a historian of Middle Eastern and particularly Iranian history. Born in Tehran to Persian-Armenian parents and raised in England, he received his M.A. at Oxford University and his Ph.D. at Columbia University. He teaches at the City University of New York (CUNY) where he is Distinguished […]

CODIR greeting 2020

Sit-in protest of education workers in Iran

Barely five weeks after the latest popular uprising in Iran was brutally suppressed by the security forces, the education workers in Iran staged an active sit-in on Monday 23rd December 2019 to once again voice their hitherto unmet demands.  These […]

Special Report: Iran’s leader ordered crackdown on unrest – ‘Do whatever it takes to end it’

(Reuters) – After days of protests across Iran last month, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei appeared impatient. Gathering his top security and government officials together, he issued an order: Do whatever it takes to stop them. That order, confirmed by […]

Shoot to kill outrage in Iran

17th December 2019 As the reports about a wide spread clamp-down in Iran continue to leak out of the country, following widespread protests at increases in the price of petrol, Jane Green reports on developments and the growing outrage at […]