An appeals court in Tehran has confirmed the two-year prison sentence handed to activist Sepideh Gholian for chanting a slogan against Iran's supreme leader shortly after her recent release from detention.

Gholian's brother Mehdi announced the decision on July 11, adding the Islamic Revolutionary Court sentence includes two years of deprivation from using a smartphone, a two-year ban on residing in Tehran or neighboring provinces, and a two-year prohibition on membership in political or social groups.

"The sentence issued to Sepideh by Branch 26 of the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court for chanting slogans and 10 seconds of video at the door of Evin prison (after only a few seconds of freedom) was confirmed by the appeals court," he said.

Gholian was released from prison on March 15. As she left the notorious Evin prison in Tehran, she shouted, "Khamenei, the tyrant, we will bury you in the ground," a reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A video of her comments was circulated on social media, and four hours after her release she was rearrested.

She was originally arrested along with more than a dozen activists, protest organizers, and workers during the Haft Tappeh Sugar Factory strike in November 2018. While most were released on bond the next day, Gholian was imprisoned for a month.

Her release from prison in Ahvaz in December 2018 was short-lived as she was again arrested in January 2019 after Iranian state television aired footage in which it purported to show Gholian confessing to taking part in alleged Western-backed efforts to overthrow the government. She promptly countered those accusations on social media by saying she had been beaten and forced to make a false confession.

In March 2023, Gholian again gained her freedom when she was part of an amnesty granted by Khamenei to hundreds of prisoners.

Gholian declared during her incarceration that she does not recognize the legitimacy of the Islamic republic's "sham trials" and will not participate in any court proceedings as long as the government continues its oppressive policies against activists and dissenters.

Unrest has rattled Iran since last summer in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of insurance support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.

Adding to the dissent, the September death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly breathed new life into demonstrations, which officials across the country have since tried to quell with harsh measures.

The activist HRANA news agency said that more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Thousands have been arrested in the clampdown, with the judiciary handing down harsh sentences -- including the death penalty -- to protesters.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

For over 20 years, the Imam Ali's Popular Student Relief Society has worked on combating poverty and helping vulnerable children in Iran.

But the charity, which has over 10,000 volunteers across Iran, has come under mounting pressure from the authorities in recent years. In 2021, an Iranian court ordered the independent NGO be dissolved, a ruling that was upheld by an appeals court last year.

In July 2021, the charity's founder, Sharmin Meymandinejad, was arrested and charged with insulting Iran's leaders. He was kept in detention for months, during which he alleges he was tortured.

In an interview with RFE/RL's Radio Farda, Meymandinejad, who recently fled Iran, said the clerical establishment saw his grassroots organization as a threat.

He said his organization's interpretation of Islam clashed with what he called the intolerant and violent version promoted by the authorities.

"Our path was different than the one taken by the establishment, our reading of the religion was an attempt to promote self-sacrifice, mercy, and altruism," said the 53-year-old, who now resides in the United States with his wife and three children.

"But the reading promoted by the establishment is based on violence, which the authorities claim comes from above, they even say from God," he added.

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The crackdown on the charity, which is widely known as the Imam Ali's Society, came after years of state pressure and a smear campaign by hard-liners, who have branded the organization a cult, Meymandinejad said.

One of the NGO's biggest critics has been the ultra-hard-line daily Kayhan, whose editor in chief was appointed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"We didn't want to challenge the establishment. We were doing social work based on real [Islamic] principles," said Meymandinejad.

"They saw that a [nongovernmental] group was doing the work [of the government] and that comparisons could be made," he said.

The Imam Ali's Society has been credited with helping alleviate poverty and aiding marginalized Iranians. In comparison, large state charities with extensive funds are often seen as corrupt and ineffective.

The Imam Ali's Society, one of the largest NGOs in the Islamic republic, was launched in 1999 by a group of students led by Meymandinejad at Tehran's Sharif University of Technology. The organization originally focused on poverty alleviation but has since expanded its activities to include providing education, medical care, and social and cultural events for vulnerable children and campaigning against the death penalty for offenders who committed crimes as minors. The group has been credited with saving around 50 minors on death row.

Rights groups criticized the 2021 court order to disband the Imam's Ali Society as an assault on independent NGOs and said the ruling had been "made in apparent coordination with Iran's abusive intelligence and security apparatus."

It is unclear if the charity is still active or has been dissolved.

The original court order was issued following a complaint by the Interior Ministry, which said the Imam Ali's Society had "deviated" from its mission. As evidence, the court cited the group's "questioning of Islamic rulings," including the principle of qisas, or retributive justice, as well as "promoting falsehood by publishing statements against the Islamic republic of Iran."

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The move came amid a wider crackdown on civil society and dissent. Scores of activists, lawyers, and journalists have been arrested in recent years.

The Oslo-based Iran Human Rights reported last year that two other NGOs, including the Society For the Protection of Children, have also come under pressure by the authorities.

'I Broke'

In his interview with Radio Farda, Meymandinejad also accused the authorities of sending children from poor Iranian families to fight in the war in Syria, where Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) deployed military advisers and fighters to prop up the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Meymandinejad also accused the authorities of using minors to help crush nationwide antiestablishment protests that erupted in September.

Photos appeared on social media in October that purportedly showed children and adolescent boys wearing uniforms and holding batons. They appeared to be wearing the uniforms of the Basij paramilitary forces, a branch of the IRGC.

Members and supporters of the Imam Ali's Society said the authorities had recruited children from impoverished families to help "suppress" the street protests. In exchange, the minors received a "few bags of food," the charity said.

The Imam Ali's Society was among several groups that warned that the use of child soldiers was against international law.

Meymandinejad said he will continue to hold Iran's clerical establishment accountable for its actions even from exile.

He said state pressure and the alleged torture he suffered during his time in detention forced him to leave his homeland.

"I was weak, I wasn't strong like [prominent jailed rights activist] Narges Mohammadi. I was concerned that my children will pay the price for my activities," he said.

"After four months of torture I broke and signed whatever they wanted. I broke because of my children," he added.

A former official from Iran's Ministry of Social Welfare has issued a stark warning about a looming "humanitarian catastrophe" after fresh data showed more than half of all Iranians are suffering from malnutrition.

Hadi Mousavi Nik, the former director-general of the Social Welfare Studies Department at the ministry, said that 57 percent of Iran's population is malnourished and does not receive at least 2,100 calories per day, the amount set by the World Bank as the minimum daily requirement for refugees in camps.

Among the malnourished population, 14.5 million are children, including 10 million under the age of 12, she said, far above previous official estimates that said the figure for children was less than 1 million.

Iran's economy has been wracked by Western sanctions over its human rights record and nuclear program, along with a lack of rainfall that has hit the agriculture sector hard.

That combination of factors has driven up prices, especially on protein-rich foods such as red meat.

A report from the Labor Ministry indicated a significant increase in Iran's poverty rate to around 50 percent in 2021 compared with the previous year.

Unrest has rattled Iran since last summer in response to declining living standards, wage arrears, and a lack of welfare support. Labor law in Iran does not recognize the right of workers to form independent unions.

Adding to the dissent, the death in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody for allegedly wearing a head scarf improperly breathed new life into the demonstrations, which officials across the country have tried to quell with harsh measures.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Human rights advocates have warned that the execution of Abbas Deris, an Iranian protester imprisoned after unrest in 2019 over a hike in gas prices, may be imminent after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court.

Fereshteh Tabanian, a lawyer for Deris, said Branch 39 of the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence without giving any regard to objections she filed in the case on July 5. Deris and his brother, Moshen, were accused of "waging war against God, disrupting order, and participating in the murder of Reza Sayadi," a member of the special police forces.

“Abbas Deris is at serious risk of being executed in the very near future and the only way to save his life is to raise the political cost of his execution," said Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, director of Iran Human Rights.

"There’s no evidence against him but torture-tainted forced confessions. His sentence is unlawful not only according to international laws but even according to the Islamic republic’s own laws.”

Tabanian said Deris has rejected accusations he was involved in the shooting, while the family of the deceased special force officer had given their consent to a pardon.

The November 2019 protests saw thousands of citizens in more than 100 Iranian cities and towns protesting the government's sudden decision to raise gas prices. The protests quickly turned political, with many chanting against the Iranian regime and its leaders.

Iranian Human Rights has confirmed the death of 324 citizens, including 14 children, in the protests, but the Reuters news agency has estimated through its research that the actual number of people killed was around 1,500.

In an interview with the website Iran Watch, Tabanian outlined the flaws in her client's case, saying no weapon was found in Deris's possession and that a neighbor who was arrested with a weapon claimed it belonged to Deris. The court based its verdict on the neighbor's confession.

Tabanian added that Deris, who has poor eyesight, was well away from where Sayadi was killed.

"We have obtained the consent of Reza Sayadi's family, and the family of this special police force member said that they do not even want blood money," Tabanian said, adding "the principle is that the death sentence should be canceled and the charge of waging war should be acquitted."

Iran, which has been rocked over the past year by demonstrations over deteriorating living conditions coupled with discontent over a lack of freedoms, especially women's rights, has been sharply criticized for a jump in executions as it tries to quell the unrest.

The wave of executions has sparked outrage among rights activists and many Western governments, who have called the legal proceedings against the accused "sham" trials where proper representation is not always granted and decisions are rushed behind closed doors.

Norway-based Iran Human Rights said on June 1 at least 307 people have been executed in 2023, a 76 percent rise compared with the same period last year.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Human rights activists say Peyman Golvani, a Kurdish political activist, has died while in custody at the Intelligence Detention Center at the northwestern Iranian city of Urmia, where another political prisoner, Mousa Esmaili, died less than 24 hours earlier.

The human rights group Hengaw said Golvani died on July 9 after being transferred from the detention center to the Khomeini Hospital in Urmia.

Golvani was arrested on June 25 when security forces apprehended him at his home in Mahabad. Despite his family's attempts to ascertain the reasons for his arrest and possible charges, officials have not commented. The Kurdpa news agency reported that Golvani had joined a Kurdish opposition party.

Hengaw quoted sources as saying Golvani was admitted to the hospital in a coma from what security forces said was a "fall from height." But Golvani's sister, the only relative who was able to gain access to see the activist, told the group her brother had extensive bruising on his body, face, and head, raising speculation that he had been tortured.

The announcement of Golvani's death comes a day after human rights activists reported the death of Esmaili, a Kurdish political prisoner from Piranshahr, at the same detention center, which has long faced allegations of torture and inhumane treatment of its prisoners.

Esmaili, 35, was arrested on May 7 after intelligence agents confiscated his car. Rights groups say he was held for 62 days "without explanation."

Hengaw says a source close to Ismaili's family told it security officers said Esmaili "has been executed without presenting any justification or documentation connected to going through any legal process and trial."

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Prominent Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, considered by many as the voice of the unrest that has rocked the country's Islamic leadership for almost a year, has been sentenced to six years and three months in prison on charges of "corruption on Earth" over tweets he posted supporting protesters.

Rosa Etemad Ansari, one of Salehi's lawyers, disclosed on July 10 that Salehi had been sentenced on the "corruption on Earth" charge, while he was acquitted of the charges of "insulting the founder of the Islamic revolution and leadership and communicating with hostile governments."

Salehi, who was previously held in solitary confinement, has been moved to a general prison ward, Ansari said.

Ye-One Rhie, a member of Germany's parliament and one of Salehi's political sponsors, confirmed the sentencing, adding that she was still demanding to see Salehi "to know how he is doing."

"If there is anything positive about this prison sentence: Toomaj Salehi has been transferred out of solitary confinement," she said.

Ansari said that in addition to the prison sentence, Salehi's passport has been revoked and he will be banned from leaving the country for two years and his passport will be revoked. He has also been deprived of any music production or singing for two years.

Salehi's trial was held in two closed-door sessions.

Amir Reissian, another lawyer for Salehi, noted that "third parties, reporters, representatives of civil society, and even the client's family were not allowed to attend the hearings," and that his lawyers had only been able to meet with their client for half an hour during the eight months he has been in detention.

Salehi, 33, has gained prominence for his lyrics that rail against corruption, widespread poverty, state executions, and the killing of protesters in Iran. His songs also point to a widening gap between ordinary Iranians and the country’s leadership, accusing authorities of “suffocating” the people without regard for their well-being.

He was arrested on November 30 amid protests that erupted following the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for an alleged head-scarf violation. In the days leading up to his arrest, Salehi was living clandestinely, releasing numerous messages in support of the protests.

Human rights sources say they have yet to obtain accurate statistics on the number of detainees in the protests, but the head of Iran's judiciary announced on May 17 that about 90,000 protesters were pardoned by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The activist HRANA news agency says that more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Iran hanged two men in public on July 8 in front of the site of a shooting attack they were convicted of carrying out at the Shah Cheragh mausoleum in Shiraz in October 2022, Iran state media reported. The attack on the Shi’ite shrine killed 13 people and left dozens injured. The Iran Human Rights group said that "the sentences issued for these two defendants are not legally valid" and are based on "forced confessions." The two, identified as Afghan citizens Mohammad Ramez Rashidi and Naeem Hashem Qatali, were among 26 people arrested following the attack. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, click here.

Two officers and all four attackers were killed in an assault on a police station in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan, state media reported on July 8. Zahedan, the capital of Iran’s Sistan-Baluchistan Province, has been the epicenter of anti-government protests over the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by a local police commander before direct gunfire from security forces mowed down dozens of people. Sunni Muslims make up a majority in Sistan-Baluchistan but are only about 10 percent of the population in Shi'a-dominated Iran overall. The province borders Pakistan and Afghanistan. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda, click here.

The United States and its Western allies clashed with Russia and Iran at the UN Security Council on July 6 over Tehran’s advancing uranium enrichment and its reported supply of combat drones to Moscow being used to attack Ukraine. The sharp exchanges came at the council's semiannual meeting on implementation of its resolution endorsing the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major countries known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which the United States left in 2018. U.S. Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood accused both Iran and Russia of participating in the transfer of drones used in Ukraine without prior Security Council approval in violation of the 2015 resolution. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Iran on July 6 summoned Britain's envoy in Tehran to protest what it called "destructive and interventionist actions" after London announced new sanctions, Iranian state media said. In response to the continued actions and statements, Britain's charge d'affaires was summoned to the Foreign Ministry, IRNA reported. The Foreign Ministry said Iran considered the statements and the recent sanctions “an illegal and interventionist action.” Foreign Secretary James Cleverly earlier announced the expansion of sanctions over alleged human rights violations and hostile actions against Iran's opponents on U.K. soil. To read the original story by AFP, click here.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) seized a commercial ship in international waters in the Gulf on July 6, the U.S. Navy said, adding that the vessel was possibly involved in smuggling activity.

"U.S. naval forces deployed maritime assets to closely monitor the situation," U.S. Fifth Fleet spokesman Commander Tim Hawkins said.

The Navy's central command "assessed the circumstances of this event did not warrant further response," he added.

The U.S. Navy said on July 5 that it had intervened to prevent Iran from seizing two commercial tankers in the Gulf of Oman.

It said that, in both cases, the Iranian naval vessels backed off after the U.S. Navy responded to distress signals, and that both commercial ships continued their voyages.

“The Iranian Navy did make attempts to seize commercial tankers lawfully transiting international waters,” said Hawkins. “The U.S. Navy responded immediately and prevented those seizures.”

Iran said it had obtained a court order for the seizure of the Richmond Voyager tanker after it collided with an Iranian vessel.

It was the latest in a series of attacks on ships in the area since 2019.

The U.S. Navy said in a statement that the first report came at 1 a.m. when one Iranian naval vessel approached the Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker TRF Moss. The Iranian vessel departed the scene when the U.S. Navy guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul arrived, it said.

About three hours later, the U.S. Navy received a distress call from the Bahamian-flagged oil tanker Richmond Voyager while the ship was about 30 kilometers off the coast of Oman. Another Iranian naval vessel had closed within 2 kilometers of the Richmond Voyager while hailing the tanker to stop.

The McFaul directed course toward Richmond Voyager at maximum speed as the tanker continued its transit, the Fifth Fleet said.

"Prior to McFaul’s arrival on scene, Iranian personnel fired multiple, long bursts from both small arms and crew-served weapons," the statement said. "Richmond Voyager sustained no casualties or significant damage. However, several rounds hit the ship’s hull near crew living spaces. The Iranian Navy vessel departed when McFaul arrived."

U.S. oil company Chevron confirmed to Reuters that it managed the Richmond Voyager, that its crew was safe, and that the vessel was operating normally.

Iran’s state media cited the Maritime Search and Rescue Center of Hormozgan Province in the country’s south as saying in a statement that Iran had obtained a court order for the seizure of the Richmond Voyager after it collided with an Iranian vessel carrying seven crew members.

Five people were seriously injured in the collision, the IRINN news agency said, citing the statement.

The United States in May increased the rotation of ships and aircraft patrolling the Strait of Hormuz with its partners following an uptick in Iranian merchant vessel seizures, the Fifth Fleet said.

With reporting by Reuters

Iran is still meting out harsh punishments on those suspected of involvement in mass protests, including "chilling" executions, a UN fact-finding mission said on July 5. Iran was rocked by demonstrations sparked by the September 16 death of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested for allegedly violating Iran's strict dress rule for women. In November, the UN Human Rights Council voted to create a high-level investigation into the deadly crackdown. Chairwoman Sara Hossain said that, 10 months on, the Amini family's "right to truth and justice remains unfulfilled.” "The lack of transparency around the investigations into her death is further evidenced by the arrest and continued detention of the two women journalists, Nilufar Hamedi and Elahe Mohammadi, who first reported on the event," she added.

Iran executed three men on July 4 who were convicted of raping women they had lured to a fake cosmetic surgery clinic and injected with anaesthetic drugs. They were found guilty of conspiring in 12 cases of sexual assault in late 2021 in the southern province of Hormozgan, the judiciary's Mizan Online website reported. The three men "who raped a number of women in an unauthorised beauty salon were hanged in Bandar Abbas prison this morning," Hormozgan's Chief Justice Mojtaba Ghahramani was quoted as saying. According to rights group Amnesty International, Iran executes more people than any other nation except China and hanged at least 582 people last year, the highest number since 2015.

Renowned Iranian artist Khosrow Hassanzadeh has reportedly died from bootleg alcohol poisoning. He was 60.

Hassanzadeh died on July 2 at a Tehran hospital, where he had been in a coma for nearly a week.

"With deep sorrow and disbelief, we have learned that the esteemed artist, painter, and member of the Association of Iranian Painters, Khosrow Hassanzadeh, has passed away," the Association of Iranian Painters said in a statement on July 2.

Reports said Hassanzadeh had been hospitalized after drinking "counterfeit alcohol."

Born in Tehran in 1963 in a working-class family, Hassanzadeh studied painting at the Tehran University of Art. He was mentored by prominent painter, graphist, and art curator Aydin Aghdashloo.

Hassanzadeh was a veteran of the 1980-88 Iran/Iraq War who had created some of his work based on his experience and memories of war.

Hassanzadeh’s paintings have been showcased in museums around the world, including the British Museum, the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tehran.

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His death comes amid a series of cases of fatal alcohol poisonings in the Islamic republic, where drinking alcohol has been banned since the 1979 revolution and punishable by floggings and cash fines. Despite the ban, many Iranians drink foreign and homemade alcoholic beverages that are available on the black market.

Seventeen people died from alcohol poisoning in Karaj near the Iranian capital in recent weeks. Nearly 200 people were hospitalized after drinking bootleg alcohol that was believed to contain methanol.

Abbas Masjedi Arani, the head of Iran's Forensic Medicine Organization, said last month that 644 people had died from alcohol poisoning during the past Iranian year, which ends on March 20. He said that was a 30 percent increase compared with the previous year.

With reporting by the BBC

The fate of Iranian rapper Toomaj Salehi, who was arrested during the recent nationwide protests, hangs in the balance as a court considers a verdict and a possible death sentence after holding a closed-door trial on charges widely seen as politically motivated.

Salehi, considered by many as the voice of the unrest that has rocked Iran's Islamic leadership for almost a year, had his second court hearing on July 2, with a verdict expected to be announced within a week, according to German lawmaker Ye-One Rhie, one of Salehi's political guarantors.

"What is the Iranian regime so afraid of?" she asked in a post on Twitter warning of the imminent announcement of Salehi's sentence.

"The verdict for Toomaj could be announced anytime now. So, raise awareness and make some noise for him," she added.

Charges against Salehi include corruption on Earth for tweeting, propaganda against the regime, cooperation with a hostile government, and encouraging people to commit chaos and unrest, disrupting order, spreading lies, and insulting the leadership.

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Under the Islamic republic's criminal laws, charges such as corruption on Earth could potentially result in the death penalty.

International observers have decried the legal proceedings against the rapper, whose lawyer Amir Raeisian says he has been denied full access to trial materials. In December, Raeisian said he had only been granted access to one of the four volumes of his client's case file.

Despite this, Raesian praised Salehi's composure during the trial, noting that he provided detailed and clear statements in court.

Salehi, 33, has gained prominence for his lyrics that rail against corruption, widespread poverty, state executions, and the killing of protesters in Iran. His songs also point to a widening gap between ordinary Iranians and the country’s leadership, accusing authorities of “suffocating” the people without regard for their well-being.

Salehi was arrested on November 30 amid protests that erupted following the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody for an alleged head-scarf violation. In the days leading up to his arrest, Salehi was living clandestinely, releasing numerous messages in support of the protests.

Human rights sources say they have yet to obtain accurate statistics on the number of detainees in the protests but the head of Iran's judiciary announced on May 17 that about 90,000 protesters were pardoned by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The activist HRANA news agency says that more than 500 people have been killed during the unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Iranian authorities have stepped up their monitoring of commercial and recreational venues, shutting dozens of cafes, restaurants, and other businesses across the country they say were failing to comply with the mandatory head-scarf law.

Anger over the hijab law has boiled over since the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022 in police custody over an alleged hijab infraction. Women have taken to the streets in growing numbers without the head scarf in protest of the government's policies. The unrest has tapped into broader discontent over the regime's corruption, economic mismanagement, and oppression of Iranians.

As part of a brutal and sometimes deadly crackdown on dissent, the government has looked to enforce the law amid one of the biggest threats to the Islamic regime since 1979.

The closing of businesses has been met with resistance from women and the growing trend of refusing to wear the hijab has reached such an extent that Abdolhossein Khosropour, the secretary of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, noted last month that "women without a mandatory hijab should be arrested, but due to the large number of these women, it is not possible to do so."

The cities affected in the most recent wave of closures include Bandar Abbas, Mashhad, Tehran, Islamshahr, Eshtehard, Parand, Rasht, and Motel Qu.

The hijab became compulsory for women and girls over the age of 9 in 1981, two years after the Islamic Revolution in Iran. The move triggered protests that were swiftly crushed by the new regime. Many women have flouted the rule over the years and pushed the boundaries of what officials say is acceptable clothing.

In the face of unrest, some religious and government figures have repeatedly advocated for a tougher stance by the government against offenders, even going as far as encouraging a "fire-at-will" approach against noncompliant women.

Resistance to the hijab is likely to increase further, analysts say, as it is seen now as a symbol of the state's repression of women and the deadly crackdown on society.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

An Iranian appeals court handed a five-year sentence to prominent activist and journalist Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, who has been held since her arrest at the onset of a protest movement, supporters said on July 2. Iraee refused to take part in the appeals court hearing over her sentence for participating in illegal gatherings and violating national security, saying she didn't recognize the court's legitimacy. She was arrested last September in a police raid on her home at the start of the protest movement sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for allegedly violating the strict dress rules for women.

Iran will refrain from sending a new ambassador to Sweden in protest over the burning of a Koran outside a mosque in Stockholm, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on July 2. A man tore up and burned a Koran outside Stockholm's central mosque on June 28, the first day of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holidays. Swedish police charged the man who burned the holy book with agitation against an ethnic or national group. In a newspaper interview, he described himself as an Iraqi refugee seeking to ban it. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

The leader of Germany's Christian Democrats, Friedrich Merz, said on July 1 that he has been told he cannot visit the German-Iranian Jamshid Sharmahd, who has been sentenced to death. "After several months of processing, my application to enter Iran was rejected. The regime denies me an insight into the prison conditions of the German citizen Jamshid Sharmahd," Merz wrote on Twitter. Iran's Supreme Court confirmed the controversial death sentence against the journalist at the end of April. In February, a revolutionary court found Sharmahd responsible for an alleged terrorist attack. He has denied the charges and his daughter said he has been tortured in prison.

Woman in Iran will be allowed to watch football matches in stadiums in the future, the head of the country's soccer association Mehdi Taj, said on June 30. Until now, women in Iran have only been allowed in the stands in a few exceptions, most recently at a friendly match against Russia. When and under what conditions women will be allowed to watch matches in stadiums was initially unclear. The country's archconservative clergy argued that women had no business in stadiums with fanatical male fans. Under pressure from soccer's world governing body, FIFA, the ban has been relaxed somewhat in recent years.

The family of Iranian activist Manuchehr Bakhtiari is voicing serious concerns over his health following his brief transfer from prison to a medical facility on June 28.

Bakhtiari, who is currently held at Chubindar prison in the northwestern city of Qazvin, has been denied access to medical treatment for several months.

Bakhtiari became a prominent rights advocate after his son, Pouya Bakhtiari, was killed in a crackdown on protests in Iran in November 2019. He has been denied medical treatment for several months.

His transfer to a medical facility comes after his wife, Sara Abbasi, told the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) that his prostate disease has been progressing.

In a video released by the family on June 29, Bakhtiari is seen being escorted by multiple security personnel from Chubindar prison in Qazvin to a medical facility.

One of his hands is cuffed to one of the officers, and he is surrounded by a heavy security presence during the transfer.

The video also captures a poignant moment when Bakhtiari meets his elderly mother on a bench inside the medical facility. Despite being in a medical facility, Bakhtiari's handcuffs were not removed, even during his meeting with his mother.

The family has repeatedly raised alarms over Bakhtiari's health, warning that his life is in danger.

Despite doctors stressing the urgent need for Bakhtiari's hospitalization due to the progression of his illness, he was returned to prison after a few hours.

His brother, Mehrdad, shared a video of Manuchehr's transfer to the medical facility, stating, "On Wednesday, they brought my brother for a check-up, and we were able to see him after one year and six months."

The November 2019 protests during which Bakhtiari's son was killed saw thousands of citizens in more than 100 Iranian cities and towns protesting the government's sudden decision to raise gas prices.

The protests quickly turned political, with many chanting against the Iranian regime and its leaders.

The Iranian Human Rights Organization has confirmed the death of 324 citizens, including 14 children, in the 2019 protests, but Reuters estimated that the actual number of people killed was around 1,500.

The Islamic republic has a long history of harassing, arresting, and imprisoning the families of executed political prisoners and killed protesters.

In recent months, pressure has intensified on the families seeking justice for those killed in the November 2019 protests and during the current wave of nationwide protests triggered by the death in September last year of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody following her arrest for allegedly earing her Islamic headscarf improperly.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says more than 500 people have been killed during the recent unrest, including 71 minors, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.

Seven young protesters have been executed.

Israeli Mossad agents claimed they conducted an operation inside Iran to capture the suspected leader directing an alleged Iranian plot to attack Israelis in Cyprus.

Mossad, the Israeli intelligence agency, in a statement on June 29 identified the suspect as Youssef Shahbazi Abbasalilu and alleged that he had "received detailed instructions and weapons from senior officials [of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)]."

Mossad published a video of what it said was an interrogation of the suspect.

In the video, the man -- who speaks Persian with an Azeri accent -- says he was commissioned by his superior to identify Israeli and Jewish targets in Cyprus and to attack them. Mossad identified the superior as a senior IRGC leader.

He also said he surveilled the target and took photos of the person’s home in Cyprus but that he fled the island and returned to Iran after being alerted that police were searching for him.

He said he had worked with Iranians, Pakistanis, and Cypriots in the operation.

It was not immediately clear from the video if the suspect was speaking under duress.

Mossad did not say when its operation took place or provide more details on the alleged planned attack in Cyprus.

Israeli officials said the suspected attacker was operating from northern Cyprus, a statelet that is recognized only by Turkey and divides the Mediterranean island.

Iran did not immediately comment on the report.

EU-member Cyprus also has not responded to the reports from Israel, but a senior official told reporters that the EU island nation would not tolerate any terrorist acts on its territory.

Iran and Israel are bitter enemies, and Tehran has vowed the destruction of the Jewish state.

The United States and others in the West have accused Iran of supporting extremist activity in the region, charges Tehran has denied.

With reporting by Reuters and AP

The United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, and Ukraine launched a case against Iran at the United Nations' highest court on July 5 over the downing in 2020 of a Ukrainian passenger jet and the deaths of all 176 passengers and crew. The four countries want the International Court of Justice to rule that Iran illegally shot down the Ukraine International Airlines plane and to order Tehran to apologize and pay compensation to the families of the victims. Flight PS752 was traveling from Tehran to Kyiv on January 8, 2020, when it was shot down soon after takeoff. The people killed included nationals and residents of Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and the U.K., as well as Afghanistan and Iran. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Akbar Tabari, a senior official in Iran's judiciary, has been released from prison after serving less than three years of a 58-year sentence for serious financial fraud.

The news was confirmed on June 28 by Gholamali Mohammadi, the head of Iran's Prisons Organization, during a program on Iranian state television.

Tabari, who held senior financial and executive positions within the Iranian judiciary for nearly 20 years, was arrested in July 2019.

He was eventually sentenced to 31 years in prison for leading a bribery network and receiving multiple bribes, 12 1/2 years for money laundering, and more than 15 years for other undisclosed crimes.

Mohammadi stated that Tabari's release was due to a "judicial authority's decision within legal parameters," a reference to Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei, the head of Iran's judiciary.

Iran is one of the world's most corrupt countries, according to Transparency International, which ranked it 150th out of 180 countries in its 2021 Corruption Perception Index.

Tabari's release has raised questions about the fairness of Iran's judiciary in cases involving high-ranking officials.

Unlike the immediate review and severe punishments meted out to opponents of the regime, including those arrested in the recent nationwide protests, the process of reviewing the charges of officials and their affiliates is often slow, and the execution of the sentence is usually suspended after a short period of time.

Mohammadi also confirmed the release of Mehdi Hashemi, the son of former prominent Iranian politician Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Mohammad Ali Najafi, the former minister of education and a former mayor of Tehran.

Hashemi was sentenced to 10 years in prison and 50 lashes in 2015 for "participation in bribery, embezzlement, assembly, and collusion to commit crimes against the country's security."

Najafi, who was released in April this year following a "leader's pardon," was sentenced to five years in prison after killing his second wife in June 2019. His sentence was annulled after he paid a sum of money to the victim's family.

Iran has recently executed at least seven anti-government protesters in hasty trials, triggering strong condemnation from human rights activists and numerous Western governments.

Critics have labeled these legal proceedings as sham trials, citing issues of inadequate legal representation and rushed decisions made behind closed doors.

Students from two Iranian universities have issued statements of protest following the brutal treatment of a student demonstrator by a security officer at Tehran's Allameh University.

The June 26 incident, during which a security officer violently struck a student's head against stone steps, occurred in the context of a dispute over Iran's strict dress code enforcement.

The incident was triggered by the university's insistence on making the Maghna'eh -- a black cloth covering the head, forehead, chin, and chest -- mandatory for female students.

Whe students staged a sit-in at the university's National Garden campus, their protest was met with violence by security forces.

In response to the incident, Allameh University students issued a statement which declared that "nothing will go back [to what it used to be like]," and stating, "We, who have become 'We' for almost a year, have no word for you except one: no."

On June 27, students from North Tehran's Azad University issued a statement in support of their Allameh University colleagues in which they decried the "audacity of the university security measures against the protesting student at Allameh University."

The students' statement, which called for universities "free from gender discrimination and political, religious, and ideological exclusion," came amid growing tensions within Iran's universities, which have been at the forefront of protests and gatherings against the Iranian regime.

The students also drew attention to the death in the custody of morality police in September of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, which ignited the current wave of nationwide protests, and urged further protests to ensure that the incident at Allameh University would not be repeated.

The Human Rights Activists News Agency says that at least 700 university students have been arrested during the recent unrest.

Many have faced sentences such as imprisonment or flogging, and dozens of students have been expelled from universities or suspended from their studies, as security forces try to stifle widespread dissent.