Photo: Essam al-Sudani/Reuters

Iran Audio: From Executions to Shootings of Female Protesters

UPDATES: Iran Protests — Regime Executes 2nd Demonstrator

UPDATE 1116 GMT:

Another prominent Iranian woman has defied the regime in an international competition.

UPDATE 1012 GMT:

Leading sociologist Saeed Madani has been given a 9-year prison sentence by a Revolutionary Court in Tehran.

Madani was arrested in May. He was accused of “formation and management of anti-government groups”, “holding gathering and conspiring to commit crimes against the country’s security” and “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Madani has published analysis of poverty, drug addiction, child abuse, and prostitution. He belongs to the banned Nationalist-Religious Alliance, a religious opposition group that calls for political reform and welfare economics.

The sociologist has been sentenced and imprisoned several times for membership in the group and for “propaganda against the state”. In 2016, he was exiled to the southern port city of Bandar Abbas after he served four years of an eight-year prison sentence in Tehran’s Evin Prison.

The daily Shargh reports that, despite Madani’s imprisonment, he has been visited “several times” by senior officials from an unnamed ministry about how to end the protests.

Madani responded that State violence must first end.

UPDATE 0955 GMT:

One of Iran’s leading digital technologists, Jadi Mirmirani, has been sentenced to six years in prison over his comments on social media.

Mirmirani announced the sentence in a video on his Twitter account, saying he hopes the setenced will be overturned on appeal.

The digital rights activists was detained in October on charges of illegal assembly and collusion against national security. He received an additional year in prison for propaganda against the State.

UPDATE 0945 GMT:

Iran Chief Prosecutor Mohammad Jafar Montazeri has warned women to abide by the law for compulsory hijab “for their own safety and health”.

Montazeri added, “We cannot say that the hijab is a personal matter.”

He denied that Iranian women had chosen to protest over hijab and the death of Masha Amini — seized and reportedly beaten by “morality police” for “inappropriate attire” — in police custody.

He claimed that the propaganda of “enemies of the country” had led the women to commit an “obvious crime”.

UPDATE 0908 GMT:

Iranian authorities have effectively detained the wife and daughter of one of Iran’s leading football stars, Ali Daei, punishing him for support of the 15-week national protests.

Officials rerouted a flight bound for Dubai on Monday, forcing it to land on Iran’s Kish Island, so they could prevent Mona Farrokhazari and her daughter from joining former national football team captain Daei in the UAE.

Current and former football players have been among the high-profile cultural figures who have been arrested and imprisoned by the Iranian regime, as it tries to crush support for the protests for rights, justice, and gender equality.

Amir Nasr-Azadani, who was a defender for the Iranian professional team Tractor, has been sentenced to death.

Officials had already shut Daei’s jewellery shop and restaurant in Tehran.

Responding to the news about his wife and daughter, he said, “I really don’t know the reason for this. Did they want to arrest a terrorist?”

UPDATE, DEC 27:

The Iranian currency has sunk another 0.5% so far on Tuesday.

The rial’s historic low is now 417,800:1 v. the US dollar
.

UPDATE 1623 GMT:

Iranian police have killed a 12-year-old girl when they fired on a family car in Hormozgan Province in southern Iran.

Soha Praveri died from gunshot wounds on Sunday night.

The deputy chief of Hormozgan, Mehrdad Mashuq, maintained that the killing occurred “the disobedience of the driver of a Peugeot Pars car with tinted windows to obey the order of the officers to stop”.

Mashuq claimed that the officers were implementing “containment” measures over the transportation and handling of a drug shipment by a Peugeot Pars car.

UPDATE, DEC. 26:

For the third trading day in a row, The Iranian currency has lost about 1.25% of value.

The rial’s historic low is now 415,600:1 v. the US dollar, a fall of almost 25% this month.

In January 2018, the rial stood at 45,000:1 v. the dollar.

UPDATE 1318 GMT:

Iran’s regime has imposed another lengthy sentence on a protester over her call for women’s rights.

Mehsa Peyravi was seized over her public defiance of compulsory hijab, days after Mahsa Amini — detained and reportedly beaten by “morality police” — died in police custody.

Peyravi was released on bail three days later.

UPDATE, DEC 25:

The sinking Iranian rial has fallen another 1.25% on Sunday.

The currency now stands at 410,600:1 v. the US dollar. It has lost almost 30% of value in the last two weeks.

UPDATE 1923 GMT:

Iran’s authorities have reportedly executed another protester, with unconfirmed reports that a second has been hanged.

Elias Raisi was killed on Saturday morning, said his godmother Silvia Gosewinkel. He is the third demonstrator executed during the 14-week nationwide protests for rights, justice, and gender equality.

Claims are circulating that Ayoub Rigi has also been put to death.

Both men are from Sistan and Baluchistan Province in southeast Iran, a center of the demonstrations.

UPDATE 1520 GMT:

Iran’s Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence on 22-year-old Mohammad Ghobadlou.

The Supreme Court accepted an appeal by rapper Saman Seydi Yasin against his death sentence on charges of attempting to kill security forces, setting a garbage bin on fire, and shooting three times into the air.

Yasin’s mother pleaded last week in a video on social media, “Where in the world have you seen a loved one’s life is taken for a trash bin?”

The Court initially said the appeals of both Ghobadlou and Yasin had been upheld before Mizan, the site of Iran’s judiciary, issued a correction.

UPDATE 1508 GMT:

Human rights activist and political prisoner Narges Mohammadi has written of the sexual and physical abuse of women in detention in Iran.

Mohammadi, the Vice President of the Center of Defenders of Human Rights, has been recurrently imprisoned since 1998. She was seized again in mid-September as nationwide protests spread over compulsory hijab and the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Mohammadi said women in Tehran’s Evin Prison spoke of having their hands and legs tied to hooks above their heads and then being sexually assaulted by security personnel.

Another woman was taken away on a motorbike by two security officers and repeatedly assaulted.

Mohammadi says that despite the sexual violence to stop protests, Iran’s “brave, resilient, lively and hopeful women” would attain the victory of “establishing democracy, peace, and human rights and ending tyranny”.

“We will not back down,” she assures.

UPDATE 1453 GMT:

Up to 50 cement factories in Iran are shutting down because of a lack of natural gas, says the Secretary of the Cement Producers Asso ciation.

Ali-Akbar Alvandian told the Iranian Labor News Agency that with natural gas flows reduced, many factories are using mazut, which is a “dirty” variety of diesel.

However, with Iranian cities blanketed by pollution in recent weeks, the Government has restricted mazut shipments to factories.

UPDATE 1445 GMT:

Germany has suspended export credits and investment guarantees for German businesses dealing with Iran.

The Economics Ministry announced the measures in light of “the very serious situation in Iran”. It added, “Exceptions can only be made for reliable humanitarian reasons.”

UPDATE 1441 GMT:

The sinking Iranian currency has set a new all-time low of 405,000:1 v. the US dollar.

The rial lost about 1.25% on Saturday, after breaking the 400,000:1 mark v. the dollar on Thursday.

UPDATE, DEC 24:

A woman dares to dance without hijab underneath the iconic arch in Tehran’s Azadi Square….

UPDATE, DEC 23:

Residents of Zahedan in southeast Iran, a center of the 14-week protests over rights and justice, have again marched after Friday prayers.

The Iranian regime is cracking down on the Internet in the hope that it can restrict news of the protests and prevent gatherings.

Last week Iranian authorities filtered Instagram and WhatsApp, the last major foreign social media platforms to escape permanent restrictions. Business owners have protested the filtering, as they rely on the platforms to generate revenue.

Abolhassan Firouzabadi, head of the National Center for Cyberspace, said that if Meta — the parent company of Instagram and WhatsApp — does not name an official representative to Iran, it could face a permanent ban.

UPDATE 1600 GMT:

Actor Hossein Mohammadi is among five protesters sentenced to death by Iranian authorities.

Mohammadi and the other defendants were convicted over the death of a Basij militia member during protests. The cases were decided after just three court hearings over six days.

Mohammadi’s name was not among the defendants at the beginning of the trial, but he was brought to court during the final session on December 8 where the death sentences were imposed.

The actor was arrested on November 5 at his home. That night he called his family and said that he would be released soon after “the misunderstanding is resolved”.

UPDATE 1547 GMT:

The US has added more Iranian officials, including the Prosecutor General, and senior military personnel to its sanctions blacklist.

The Treasury named Prosecutor General Mohammad Montazeri over his direction of courts in September to issue harsh sentences on protesters. Two senior officials of the Revolutionary Guards, including Tehran force commander Hassan Hassanzadeh, are cited as are the deputy coordination and the head of cyber-operations of the Basij paramilitary force.

The company Imen Sanat Zaman Fara, which manufactures equipment for Iran’s Law Enforcement Forces including armored vehicles used to suppress protests, is also sanctioned.

UPDATE 1331 GMT:

The family of an Iranian political activist imprisoned in the western city of Bukan and subsequently transferred to hospital after falling into a coma died on December 18.

Hengaw, a Norway-based group that monitors rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish regions, said Mohammad Haji Rasoulpour was arrested in October during antiestablishment protests in Bukan.

After being rearrested in November, Rasoulpour fell into a coma and later died due to severe injuries he suffered as a result of being tortured, his family said.

UPDATE 1311 GMT:

Iran’s sinking currency has broken the 400,000:1 mark v. the US dollar for the first time.

The rial now stands at 400,300:1 v. the dollar, having lost more than 25% of its value in the past month.

In January 2018, the rial was at 45,000:1. It plunged sharply amid mounting economic problems and comprehensive US sanctions, reaching a historic low of 322,000:1 in October 2020.

The currency recovered with the advent of the Biden Administration and renewed nuclear talks. However, in March the discussions stalled, primarily because of Iranian demands over the status of the Revolutionary Guards and for strict limits on inspections of nuclear facilities.

UPDATE, DEC 22:

Asghar Farhadi, the Oscar-winning Iranian film director, has issued a strong statement of support for the detained actor Taraneh Alidoosti.

Alidoosti has been a leading presence in Farhadi’s films, including The Salesman, awarded the Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2016. She is among a series of directors, actors, and other members of the film industry imprisoned by the regime this year.

Farhadi wrote on Telegram:

I have worked with Taraneh on four films and now she is in prison for her rightful support of her fellow countrymen and her opposition to the unjust sentences being issued.

If showing such support is a crime, then tens of millions of people of this land are criminals.

Renowned actor Hamid Farrokhnezhad defied the regime’s crackdown with an open message to the Supreme Leader. Farrokhnezad, who has 2.6 million followers, wrote:

You are the cause and the culprit of all the recent events, you are the culprit of all the blood that is being spilled on the ground from both sides, the people and the security forces. You are to blame for closing your ears to every peaceful protest and hearing nothing but your own voice … You are cruel and cruelty is doomed.

UPDATE 1750 GMT:

Human rights activist Majid Tavakoli has been released on bail from Tehran’s Evin Prison after 89 days.

Tavakoli was arrested a few days after the start of protests over compulsory hijab and the death of Mahsa Amini, detained and reportedly beaten by “morality police”, in police custody.

Announcing his brother’s release, Mohsen Tavakoli said, “We are happy about this news, but our happiness will be complete when all the dear ones who are in prison are released.”

Former political prisoner Hassan Asadi Zeidabadi was also released today, after spending 35 days behind bars.

Photojournalist Yalda Moayeri, detained for 92 days, was also freed on bail. She is one of more than 60 journalists arrested during the protests.

UPDATE 1733 GMT:

Culture and Islamic Guidance Minister Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili says security services have asked for “normalization” of artistic activities.

During the 13 1/2 weeks of nationwide protests, more than 100 Iranian artists have been arrested, summoned, or banned from leaving the country, according to the Khaneh Cinema Committee.

UPDATE 1728 GMT:

A 14-year-old from a poor district of Tehran has reportedly been raped and killed by Iranian security forces.

The girl was seized by regime forces because she took off her hijab at school. Raped until her vaginal muscle was torn, she subsequently died.

UPDATE 1726 GMT:

Despite the regime’s clampdown on the Internet, restricting news of protests and strikes, demonstrations continue in parts of Iran on Monday night.

The Shahrak-e Naf area of Tehran:

On the streets in Tehran:

UPDATE, DEC 20:

Responding to criticism of the regime’s imposition of death penalties — including from senior clerics and religious scholars — Iran’s judiciary head Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei has urged officials to ignore “different opinions of some individuals” and to carry out sentences “without any delay”.

UPDATE 1217 GMT:

The parents of Mohammad Mehdi Karami, condemned to death amid Iran’s nationwide protests, spent hours practicing to record a 47-second message to officials, “We ask you to lift the death sentence.”

UPDATE 0833 GMT:

Artist Vajiheh Parizangeneh has been sentenced to six years in prison.

Parizanganeh’s “crime” was the embroidery of a sentence by Ayatollah Khamenei — in 1989 before he became Supreme Leader — on her clothing: “We should shed tears of blood for a society where the possibility of leadership by someone like me is raised.”

UPDATE, DEC 19:

Allameh Tabataba’i University has banned 20 students from entering classes after they participated in rallies on National Students’ Day on December 7.

“Around 20 people were banned from entering after holding rallies. These students are people who insisted on continuing their path and did not appreciate our tolerant behaviour,” said Mehdi Vahedi, deputy head of the university.

UPDATE 0827 GMT:

Press photographer Aria Jafari has been sentenced to 7 years in prison and 74 lashes and banned from leaving the country for two years.

Jafari was charged with participation in rallies and propaganda against the regime.

He was previously arrested in November 2014 for photographing protests in Isfahan against acid attacks and social insecurity.

UPDATE 0819 GMT:

Mohammad Ali Kamfirouzi is the latest attorney detained by Iranian authorities.

Kamfirouzi is the lawyer of journalists Niloofar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who face the death penalty over their reporting.

Hamedi and Mohammadi broke the news on September 16 of the hospitalization, coma, and death of Mahsa Amini, who was seized and reportedly beaten by “morality police” three days earlier. The news galvanized demonstrations across Iran.

Kamfirouzi’s lawyer, Mohammad Ali Bagherpour, said his client had not received a summons, was unaware of any charges, and was imprisoned without any legal procedure.

UPDATE, DEC 18:

Award-winning Iranian actor Taraneh Alidoosti has been detained over her criticism of executions.

Alidoosti’s “crime” was to post on Instagram about the December 8 hanging of Mohsen Shekari:

His name was Mohsen Shekari. Every international organization who is watching this bloodshed and not taking action, is a disgrace to humanity.

Alidoosti had escaped arrest — unlike a series of colleagues seized by authorities — over a photo of herself on her Instagram page without compulsory hijab. She held the slogan of Iran’s protests, now in their 14th week, “Women, Life, Freedom”. The post was liked more than 1 million times.

But her challenge to the hasty executions of Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard, the first two protesters put to death by the regime, crossed the line for Iranian authorities. Her house was raided, and she was taken to an unknown location.

Mizan, the website of Iran’s judiciary, later confirmed her detention. The office of the Tehran Prosecutor said Alidoosti had failed to provide documentation to justify her criticism. Tasnim, linked to Iranian security agencies, said she had published false and distorted content that incited “riots” and supported anti-Iranian movements.

Alidoosti is one of the most influential Iranian actors of her generation. Her multiple awards include a leading role in Asghar Farhadi’s The Salesman, which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 2016.

The actor has vowed that she will not leave Iran, whatever the consequences.

I’ll stay and look you straight in the eyes like all these normal people when I scream for my rights.

I’ve inherited this courage from the women of my land, who for years have been living their lives, every day with resistance….

I will stay, I will not quit, I will stand with the families of the prisoners and murdered and demand their rights. I will fight for my home, I will pay whatever it takes to stand up for my rights, and most importantly: I believe in what we are building together today.

UPDATE 1042 GMT:

Sources say doctor Aida Rostami has been tortured to death by Iran’s security forces.

Rostami, 36, was treating protesters in Ekbatan and other western suburgs of Tehran. She disappeared on Monday as she was seeking medical items such as sterile gas.

Rostami’s tortured body was handed to her family a day later. Police officers said that she had died in a car crash.

A source explained, “The medical examiner told her family that they were ordered not to reveal the true cause of Aida’s death. They said that she did not die in a car accident, they killed her.”

Both of Rostami’s hands were broken, her lower torso was bruised, and one eye was out of its socket.

The police refused to show the doctor’s family her vehicle and the located of the alleged crash.

UPDATE 1028 GMT:

The collapsing Iranian currency has lost almost 2% in value on Saturday.

The rial’s new historic low is 392,100:1 v. the US dollar, a decline of about 22% in value within a month.

UPDATE 1007 GMT:

The scene after another killing by Iran’s security forces….

UPDATE, DEC 17:

Iran’s leading Sunni cleric, Moulavi Abdul Hamid, has again challenged the regime, calling for a halt to executions and the release of thousands of detained protesters.

After the sermon by Abdul Hamid, the Friday Prayers leader in Zahedan, worshippers and protesters again took to the streets of the city in southeast Iran. They chanted, “This nation wants freedom, it wants a prosperous country!”

Security forces have killed more than 100 people in and near Zahedan, but have failed to quell the demonstrations. Abdul Hamid has said that the Supreme Leader and other Iranian officials are responsible for the killings, and has called for an independent referendum on the future of the Islamic Republic.

UPDATE 1050 GMT:

Iranian authorities reportedly pressured the family of Darya Nazmdeh, killed by security forces on November 3 in Karaj, to lie about the circumstances of her death.

Nazmdeh, 27, was among the crowd who gathered in Karaj to mark the 40th day since Hadis Najafi, 20, was shot dead in the city by security personnel. Witnesses says Nazmdeh was “beaten and violently put into a car and taken away”.

Nazmdeh’s family found her in the morgue two weeks later. A morgue said her unidentified body had been there for several days.

A source close to the family said, “Her mother saw Darya’s body with bruises and injuries and identified her. Her face and cheeks were bruised but she was recognizable, and she didn’t have any other injuries like broken bones or anything like that.”

Security agencies told the family that theyshould say on State TV that Darya was killed in a car crash. Otherwise, “they would face the same fate as Darya and they would not see her body again”.

To obtain the body for burial, the family recorded a video saying Nazmdeh had an accident.

UPDATE 1009 GMT:

Iran’s Central Bank has denied that governor Ali Salehabadi has been fired over the collapsing Iranian currency.

The Bank said Salehabadi still has the full confidence of its General Assembly and of the Government.

Ham-Mihan newspaper reported on Monday that Salehabadi had cancelled meetings in Bank headquarters over the previous three days.

The repTheort noted Salehabadi’s failure to the halt the devaluation of the rial and liquidity that has exacerbated inflation.

The rial is currently at a historic low of 385,100:1 v. the US dollar, having lost more than 20% in value in less than a month.

UPDATE 0953 GMT:

In an open letter, 235 Iranian civil activists, writers, and family members of victims have called for a campaign to stop executions by the regime.

The signatories said they were motivated by the hasty killings of Mohsen Shekari and Majidreza Rahnavard in the past eight days.

They noted that despite the threat by officials of more death penalties:

People come to the streets every day with empty hands and become more united against the oppression of the regime.

These executions, which are often carried out following unfair trials and in violation of the most basic human rights, are examples of clear discrimination against the most helpless, deprived, and vulnerable people, including immigrants, religious minorities, people with a low socioeconomic base, women, and gender minorities.

UPDATE, DEC 16:

Iranian authorities have released 15-year-old Amirhossein Rahimi after an interview with his mother went viral on social media.

Rahimi’s mother told the newspaper Etemad that Amirhossein had been imprisoned since October 13 in Karaj, even though he has pellets in his head and chest after being shot by security forces.

“I did not know his whereabouts for a week. Finally, I found him in a juvenile detention center,” she said. Despite her pleas, a judge would not reduce bail to an amount she could afford. A public defender did not respond to her requests for a meeting.

Amirhossein was released from detention on Thursday on reduced bail.

Etemad’s political editor tweeted, “The people’s reactions caused the judge to back down and immediately issue the release order. This shows the power of the people. I hope the rest of the prisoners will be released.”

In many cases, authorities threaten families of slain or detain protesters with retribution — including detention of relatives and/or seizure of property — if they speak out.

UPDATE 1301 GMT:

A juvenile is reportedly facing the death penalty in northwest Iran.

The Kurdistan Human Rights Network says Sonia Sharifi, 16, is charged with “waging war against God” after she was arrested in October. She did not have access to a lawyer and was forced to confess under duress.

UPDATE 1258 GMT:

Lawyer Mohammad Ali Kamifirouzi, who represented a number of detained protesters, has been arrested, according to his brother.

Kamifirouzi joins more than a dozen attorneys seized by security forces during the 13 weeks of demonstrations.

UPDATE 1226 GMT:

Among Iranian detainees facing the death penalty is a young man who distributed chocolates and “free hugs” in solidarity with the nationwide protests for rights, justice, and gender equality.

Mohammad Nasiri, 21, was one of four men who gave the chocolates and offers of hugs to passers-by in Qazvin in northwestern Iran.

Security forces accosted the men and captured Nasiri. He is now charged with “waging war against God”, an allegation which carries the death penalty.

Vahid, a member of the group, said, “On November 12, we were on Khayyam Street for 15 minutes when a motorbike approached us and a person said we should be cautious because he had seen plainclothes officers watching us”.

As the men ran, Nasiri was apprehended by a police officer, hit with an electric shocker, and beaten by two or three personnel: “Then they dragged his half-dead body on the ground and took him with them to the parking lot.”

Nasiri subsequently “confessed” on State TV to attacking a Basij militiaman with a knife. A picture of a man with bandaged legs was portrayed as Nasiri’s victim.

Vahid counters, “I was just five meters away. I saw Mohammad until the last moment when they put him in the police car. This claim is completely false.”

Hadi, another member of the group, confirms, “When Mohammad was taken from the street, there was no injured person there….The Basij forces and plainclothes officers were completely healthy and none of them had been injured.”

And a witness to Nasiri’s interrogation say he was beaten so badly on his first day in prison that his face was unrecognizable.

UPDATE 1103 GMT:

The plummeting Iran currency has sunk to a new all-time low of 385,500:1 v. the US dollar.

The rial has lost another 2% since Tuesday and more than 20% since the start of nationwide protests on September 16.

UPDATE 1059 GMT:

Kayhan newspaper, whose editor is selected by the Supreme Leader, has suggested that the regime close a crucial waterway through which about 20% of the world’s oil passes.

Editor Hossein Shariatmadari wrote, “Closing the Strait of Hormuz to Western countries’ oil tankers and commercial vessels is Iran’s legal right. We can even seize a part of their commercial cargo as compensation for the financial damage they have done to our country.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Amid its crackdown on nationwide protests, Iran’s regime has been expelled from the UN Commission on the Status of Women.

The 54-member UN Economic and Social Council voted 29-8, with 16 abstentions, for the expulsion.

The decision followed the regime’s crackdown on 13-week nationwide protests, sparked by the issue of compulsory hijab and the death of Mahsa Amini — detained and reportedly beaten by “morality police” for “inappropriate attire” — in police custody. Iranian security forces have killed and injured female demonstrators through gunfire and beatings, carried out mass detentions of women, and imprisoned female journalists and threatened two of them with the death penalty.

Iran Audio: From Executions to Shootings of Female Protesters

The US introduced the resolution to “remove with immediate effect the Islamic Republic of Iran from the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) for the remainder of its 2022-2026 term”.

The 45-member Commission meets every March, with the aim of promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women.

The US Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said after the vote:

It’s hugely important for the women of Iran. They got a strong message from the United Nations that we will support them and we will condemn Iran and we will not let them sit on the Commission for the Status of Women and continue to attack women in their own country.

Iran failed in a pre-vote campaign to mobilize a majority against expulsion. With 17 other states and Palestine, it had urged members to avoid a “new trend for expelling sovereign and rightfully-elected States from any given body of the international system, if ever perceived as inconvenient”.

Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani declared before the vote that the US was a bully: “This illegal conduct might also create a dangerous precedent with far-reaching consequences.”

Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan’ani fumed about the “US-led non-consensus resolution”: “Despite the hypocrisy and continuous lies of the American statesmen, the world public opinion is well aware of the black human rights record of this regime and will not be deceived by their rhetoric and political shows.