‘Exhausting and extremely dangerous’: Mohammad Rasoulof on his escape from Iran

Exclusive: The director of The Seed of the Sacred Fig details how he discarded electronic devices and fled over the mountains on foot after authorities sentenced him to eight years in prison and flogging Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof escaped imminent imprisonment […]

‘I am ready to return whenever they say’: Nasrin Sotoudeh on prison, the hijab, and violence in Iran

Exclusive: the human rights lawyer, temporarily released from jail on medical grounds, describes her love for her family, and why she keeps going despite brutal treatment at the hands of the regime Iran’s Qarchak jail has been called many things: […]

Director Mohammad Rasoulof flees Iran ahead of Cannes premiere

CANNES (Reuters) – Mohammad Rasoulof, a celebrated Iranian director whose latest film is competing in the Cannes Film Festival, has fled Iran after being sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging. In a statement dated Sunday, Rasoulof said he […]

Iranian filmmaker flees to Europe after prison sentence ahead of his Cannes premiere

Story by JAKE COYLE, AP Film Writer CANNES, France (AP) — After being sentenced to eight years in prison, the award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof says he’s fled to Europe shortly ahead of the Cannes Film Festival premiere of his latest film. “I arrived […]

NEU General Secretary calls on the Islamic Republic of Iran to save musician Toomaj Salehi from execution!

His Excellency Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran By email: contact@leader.ir 30 April 2024 Your Excellency, Tomaj Salehi I write as General Secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), the largest education trade union […]

 

Workers’ representatives were summarily dismissed! 

The state-run Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) has reported that four worker representatives, covering some 200 Tehran Metro ticket sales employees, who were invited to a meeting by their employer’s contractor to discuss the workers’ wage arrears, have been summarily […]

Call for urgent action to free women journalists

10th April 2023 Press release – For immediate use The Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People’s Rights (CODIR) have issued an urgent call for the immediate and unconditional release of journalists, Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi.  The two […]

CODIR Calls for Urgent Solidarity with Iran’s Teachers Union!

Mohammad Habibi, the official spokesperson of the Iranian Teachers Trade Association (ITTA) in Tehran, has been arrested by agents of the [Islamic Republic] security forces at his workplace today (Wednesday 5 April 2023) and taken to Ward 209 of Evin […]

The “Woman, Life, Freedom” Protests… The Situation Going Forward

The occurrence of the vernal equinox (on Monday 20 March or Tuesday 21 March 2023, depending on time zone) marked the beginning of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year, an ancient festival observed in one form or another by an estimated […]

Rebellion in Iran: how far will the regime go?

Hardliners strike a defiant tone in public, but behind the scenes there is debate about how to respond to demands for change Andrew England and Najmeh Bozorgmehr in Tehran YESTERDAY When the Islamic regime called, hundreds of thousands rallied. In cities across Iran, women, […]

Happy Nowruz!

What is Nowruz? How and when is the festival celebrated by Iranian people around the world? Story by Charlie Duffield – Evening Standard Whilst in the Northern Hemisphere, as March bows out and heralds the first day of spring during […]

Professor Ervand Abrahamian on the recent developments in Iran: “A deepening crisis of legitimacy or revolution?”

Ervand Abrahamian (born 1940) is an Iranian-American eminent historian of Iran and the Middle East, based in New York. He is Distinguished Professor of History at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and is widely regarded as […]

Iran: Child detainees subjected to flogging, electric shocks and sexual violence in brutal protest crackdown

Iran’s intelligence and security forces have been committing horrific acts of torture, including beatings, flogging, electric shocks, rape and other sexual violence against child protesters as young as 12 to quell their involvement in nationwide protests, said Amnesty International today. […]

IAEA’s Grossi expects Iran’s cooperation as technical team readies visit

Plus, US senators take aim at Saudi Arabia’s rights record and the administration proposes cutting Tunisia’s economic aid. March 15, 2023 WASHINGTON — The United Nations’ atomic watchdog chief voiced cautious optimism on Wednesday that Iran will boost inspector access and restore monitoring […]

Analysis: Iran eases its regional isolation with Saudi deal

Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic relations last week, but Tehran is likely to keep its foreign policy pillars. By Giorgio Cafiero Published On 14 Mar 2023 Since becoming Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi has promised to improve Tehran’s relations […]