mutual benefits. In a letter from Rajaee-Shahr Prison in Karaj to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, dated February 3, 2021, political prisoner Arash Sadeghi noted a number of fellow political prisoners who have been denied medical treatment, including: Raheleh Ahmadi: An opponent of compulsory hijab, Ahmadi is serving a 31-month sentence in in Evin Prison, where she suffers from mobility issues; her lawyer and medical specialists say there’s a possibility she could become paralyzed. Monireh Arabshahi: Serving 5.5 years in prison in Kachuei Prison in Karaj for peacefully protesting compulsory hijab, she suffers from an inflamed thyroid gland that has led to a speech impairment. Iranian law vaguely defines what constitutes acts against morality, and authorities have long censored art, music, and other forms of cultural expression, as well as prosecuted hundreds of people for such acts. In 2018, Human Rights Watch and the Center for Human Rights in Iran documented how people with disabilities face stigma, discrimination, and lack of accessibility when accessing social services, healthcare, and public transportation. Many other prisoners have either become critically ill or suffer from longstanding and serious medical conditions that have been left untreated in Iran’s prisons. Iranian women face discrimination in personal status matters related to marriage, divorce, inheritance, and child custody. Authorities routinely restrict detainees’ access to legal counsel, particularly during the investigation period. Iranian courts, and particularly the revolutionary courts, regularly fell short of providing fair trials and used confessions likely obtained under torture as evidence in court. In June, authorities opened Azadi stadium’s doors to women and men to watch a live screening of the last two games of Iran’s national football team at the 2018 World Cup. Hashem Khastar: The teacher and civil rights activist was sentenced in February 2020 to 16 years in prison after signing a letter calling for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to step down. Fundamentalist and conservative groups often dominate the political sphere in Iran. There are a number of political parties prohibited to operate inside the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Mojahedin-e Khalq-e Iran (t he People’s Mojahedin of Iran) being one of the most prominent among them. However, recently there has been a downward trend of the legitimacy of the Iranian government and politics with many demanding reforms. These laws often disproportionally target women and sexual minorities. "Due to political issues, we could not work with other banks and use the advantage of financing for projects or attract foreign investors easily," said Harriri. See more ideas about political cartoons, politics, iran. High oil prices have increased Iran’s leverage in dealing with international issues, but the country’s dependence on oil and other weak spots in the economy have to come to light by the 2008 international financial crisis, which may portend a slowing down of Iran’s economy. Zeynab Jalalian: Serving a life sentence for alleged membership in a banned Kurdish separatist organization, she is currently in prison in Yazd, southeast Iran, suffering eye complications. February 22, 2021—The death of prisoner of conscience Behnam Mahjoubi, who died on February 21, 2021, after untreated medical conditions that included serious neurological issues, reflects the continued crisis in Iran’s prisons, where prisoners, especially prisoners of conscience and political prisoners, are denied proper medical treatment. Among the influential critics of the theocratic regime during the Khatami era was Abdulkarim Soroush, whose political magazine, Kiyan, long served as a monthly forum … Authorities reportedly allowed Sadeghi to undergo surgery at a hospital on September 13, but returned him to prison against his doctor’s medical advice. 24 January 21:25 FM Zarif arrives in Baku Politics. The list includes no women or human rights lawyers. Since the 1978-79 Iranian Revolution, there has been much analysis by political scientists and political leaders as to what makes up the Iranian political system. Esmail Abdi: Teachers’ rights activist Esmail Abdi, serving a six-year prison sentence and now facing additional years from a decade-old suspended sentence, contracted COVID-19 and has pre-existing conditions that include asthma and high blood pressure that significantly raise his risk of complications in prison. Whether change can come, however, is in question. Iran continues to provide the Syrian government with military assistance and plays an influential role alongside Russia and Turkey in the Syria negotiations currently taking place in Astana, Kazakhstan. He suffers from heart disease. On March 18, after a rapid trial that concluded only a few weeks after his arrest and allegations of police torture, a court sentenced Mohammad Sallas, a Dervish member who was arrested during the clashes, to death for allegedly driving the bus that ran over and killed three officers. Often not separated from violent or otherwise dangerous prisoners. Modern Iranian culture owes itself in part to a … According to Alireza Rahimi, a parliamentarian, authorities arrested 4,900 people, including 150 university students, during the December and January protests. Naeb Hajipour: A political prisoner in Oroumiyeh Prison, West Azerbaijan Province, Hajipour has gone on a hunger strike to protest the authorities’ repeated refusal to transfer him to a hospital to replace a broken foot implant. Shahir Shahidsaless is an Iranian-Canadian political analyst and freelance journalist writing about Iranian domestic and foreign affairs, the Middle East, and the US foreign policy in the region. Due to serve at least 10 years in prison for multiple convictions on national security charges, he suffers from heart disease. Saeed Masouri: A physician who has been sentenced to life in prison for alleged membership in the banned Mojahedin Khalgh Organization (MEK), Masouri suffers from bleeding and urinary tract issues. This is the fourth edition of talks in this format. Rajabi suffers asthma, circulatory issues and intestinal problems. Iran deputy FM, Qatari envoy discuss regional issues. Afshin Baymani: Sentenced to life in prison on the charge of cooperating with the banned Mohajedin Khalgh Organization (MEK), he is being held in Rajaee-Shahr Prison in Karaj, where he suffers from heart disease. Authorities claimed Seyed Emami committed suicide, but they have not conducted an impartial investigation into his death. Political Culture. Revolutionary courts handed down long prison sentences to at least 17 student activists arrested during the December and January protests. They have also placed a travel ban on Seyed Emami’s wife, Maryam Mombeini. Court have sentenced several of these women to imprisonment ranging from a few months to 20 years (18 years of which is suspended). Held in Rajaee-Shahr Prison in Karaj, he suffers from a spinal injury and a blood clot in his testicles due to being beaten. On May 8, President Donald Trump announced the US withdrawal from the nuclear agreement signed in 2015 between Iran and the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, plus Germany and the European Union. TORONTO — Ever since the first days of the Islamic Republic of Iran, there have been two sovereignties — the divine and the popular. The heart of the Persian empire of antiquity, Iran has long played an important role in the region as an imperial power and as a factor in superpower rivalries. On September 8, authorities executed Zanyar and Loghman Moradi, and Ramin Hossein Panahi, three Kurdish men convicted in unfair trials of participating in armed struggle against the government. Dec 27, 2016 - Love collecting political cartoons about Iran and its politics and leaders. Ali Mohammadi Moghaddam: Sentenced to 18 years in prison on the charge of spying for the US, he has gone on hunger strikes and has sewn his lips shut in Oroumiyeh Prison to protest the authorities’ refusal to transfer him to a hospital to receive treatment for schizophrenia. On July 9, Iranian state television broadcasted several women’s apologies briefly detained in May for posting videos of themselves dancing on their popular Instagram accounts. In the first days of September, authorities also arrested Hoda Amid and Najmeh Vahedi, two women’s rights defenders who teach workshops for women on realizing equal rights in marriage, at their homes in Tehran. The law also prescribes the inhumane punishment of flogging for more than 100 offenses, including drinking alcoholic beverages and extramarital sex, which are prohibited in Iran. Debate over Islam’s place in the Iranian political structure is as old as the revolution itself; religion’s influence on politics has oscillated over time. Several individuals charged with national security crimes suffered from a lack of adequate access to medical care in detention. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, exerts enormous influence over the parliament. The Supreme Leader of Iran is the head of state and highest ranking political and religious authority (above the President). Fatemeh Mosanna: Serving a 15-year sentence for organizing a mourning ceremony for her father-in-law who is a member of the banned Mojahedin-e Khalq (MEK) opposition group, she suffers from severe colitis; prison doctor and specialist physician have declared her unfit for incarceration. TEHRAN – Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Seyed Abbas Araghchi met on Monday with Ali bin Fahad al-Hajari, the special representative of Qatar’s foreign minister for regional issues, to discuss regional issues. Sign up for our newsletter. policy while Iran and Turkey maximized respective regional roles that integrated. Iran has bigger problems. Download article citation data for: Economic, Political, and Strategic Issues in Iran–Turkey Relations, 2002–2015. In June, the judiciary reportedly restricted the right of legal representation for defendants facing national security crimes’ charges to a judiciary-approved list of just 20 lawyers who can represent them during the investigation phase in Tehran. The government also discriminates against other religious minorities, including Sunni Muslims, and restricts cultural and political activities among the country’s Azeri, Kurdish, Arab, and Baluch ethnic minorities. Mohammad Nourizad: The filmmaker and dissident, imprisoned in 2019 after signing a letter calling on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s resignation, underwent an operation to remove his gallbladder in December 2020. On March 4, authorities informed the family of Mohammad Raji, one of those arrested, that he had died in custody. close. In March, parliament passed a disability law that increases disability pensions and insurance coverage of disability-related healthcare services but does not explicitly prohibit discrimination against persons with disabilities. EU/E4 political consultations on regional issues with Iran were hosted in Brussels on 10 December 2018. Iran became an Islamic republic in 1979, when the monarchy was overthrown and clerics assumed political control under supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini. Since 2014, the IRGC Intelligence Organization has arrested at least 14 dual and foreign nationals who authorities allegedly perceived to have links with western academic, economic, and cultural institutions. Even if Biden wins US election, time is running out to save Iran nuclear deal. The second round of Iran-Bulgaria political consultations was held on Monday at the level of deputy foreign ministers. The current Iranian constitution was adopted on December 3, 1979, after a referendum in which 99.5% of the population voted in favor, and was ratified on The denial of proper medical treatment is not the only urgent health problem faced by Iran’s prisoners. On January 15, Hassan Norouzi, the parliamentary judicial spokesperson, told domestic media that authorities are reviewing some 15,000 cases as part of this process. He was transferred from Evin Prison to Tehran’s Loghman Hospital on February 13, 2021, after suffering seizures, and died eight days later. The Revolution of 1979 brought about a fundamental change in Iranian attitudes toward politics. Mehdi Meskin-Navaz: Serving a 7.5-year prison sentence in connection with managing a news channel on the Telegram messaging app, the journalist suffers from spinal and leg bone complications. It considers the implications of the MNF renewal on the reconciliation process in Iraq and the political crisis between the nationalists who control parliament and the separatists who control the Cabinet. Iranian women cannot pass on their nationality to their foreign-born spouses or their children like men. Politics. Iran has had a turbulent history in just its recent past. On February 10, the family of Kavous Seyed Emami, a well-known Iranian-Canadian environmentalist and professor also arrested, reported that he had died in detention in unknown circumstances. He has been denied full medical treatment for a rare form of bone cancer that he has suffered since 2019. This section contains profiles of the major political parties and factions in Iran. Since January 24, the Revolutionary Guards’ Intelligence Organization has detained Taher Ghadirian, Niloufar Bayani, Amirhossein Khaleghi, Houman Jokar, Sam Rajabi, Sepideh Kashani, Morad Tahbaz, and Abdolreza Kouhpayeh, eight environmental activists accused of using environmental projects as a cover to collect classified strategic information, without providing any evidence of wrongdoing. Mahjoubi, a member of Iran’s persecuted Sufi Gonabadi Order, had been serving a two-year sentence on trumped up national security charges since June 2020, even though Iran’s State Medical Examiner had concluded he could not withstand incarceration. Since June, Ministry of Intelligence authorities intensified their crackdown against human rights defenders. Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi was arrested by FBI agents at his home in Watertown, Massachusetts, on Monday, officials said. President Trump sharply criticized Iran and the nuclear deal during a UN Security Council summit meeting on nonproliferation in September, although other council members defended the deal, including France, Britain, Russia, China, and the Netherlands. “Many prisoners in Iran are in desperate need of medical treatment and more will die without immediate care,” said Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI). Mansoureh Ebrahimi, Kamaruzaman Yusoff, and Mir Mohamadali Seyed Jalili. This page looks at the political and legal issues surrounding the renewal of the UN mandate for the multinational force in Iraq (MNF). Iran - Iran - Government and society: Iran is a unitary Islamic republic with one legislative house. Soheil Arabi: In Rajaee-Shahr Prison serving multiple prison sentences since 2013 in connection with his social media posts and protests inside prison, he suffers from a blood clot in his testicles resulting from beatings and an untreated broken bone. Since November 2017, the judiciary has halted most executions of individuals convicted of drug offenses in order to review their cases in accordance with an amendment to Iran’s drug law that raised the bar for imposing mandatory death sentences. Human Rights Watch defends the rights of people in 90 countries worldwide, spotlighting abuses and bringing perpetrators to justice, Human Rights Watch is a 501(C)(3) nonprofit registered in the US under EIN: 13-2875808, Rights to Peaceful Assembly and Free Expression, Human Rights Defenders and Political Prisoners, Due Process Rights and Treatment of Prisoners, As China’s Grip Tightens, Global Institutions Gasp, You Should Be Worrying about the Woman Shortage. Contemporary Review of the Middle East20174:1,67-83. However, several individuals who were retried under the new code for crimes they allegedly committed as children have been sentenced to death again. Political issues have prevented Iran's membership in international and regional trade agreements, said the head of Iran-China Chamber of Commerce Majid Harriri, Trend reports via ILNA. Security forces and the judiciary have responded to these protests with arbitrary mass arrests and serious due process violations. Iran has been a quasi-theocracy since the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which deposed Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran. Detainee Baquer Namazi Suffering "Severe Health Conditions" in Iran, Iran’s Political Prisoners Are Dying Due to Denial of Medical Care, Critically Ill Political Prisoner Should be Freed, Receive Life-Saving Medical Care, New UN Report Assails Iran for Persistent Discrimination against Women, Female Activists Imprisoned for Attending Protests, Refusing "Virginity Test", 36 Human Rights Groups Appeal for Release of Kurdish Detainees and Other Minorities in Iran, UN Experts Condemn Iran's Executions of Baloch Minority Prisoners, Iran Isn't Just a Nuclear File (Commentary published in Foreign Affairs), Dying of Hopelessness: Suicides on the Rise in Iran, Center for Human Rights in Iran Joins International Call Against Deadly Crackdown on Afghan Civil Society, Iran Touts Unverified Domestic Vaccines, Ignores International Condemnation of Non-Scientific Policy, Iranian Rights Groups Call on Khamenei to Allow Purchase of U.S. and UK COVID-19 Vaccines, "Suffering" Iranian Retirees Joining Nationwide Protests Against Chronic State Failures. Authorities had temporarily blocked Telegram during the January protests. On August 31, the family of Arash Sadeghi, a 30-year-old human rights defender, reported that he had been diagnosed with a rare kind of cancer and is in urgent need of specialized care. Iran’s Crisis of Legitimacy. Under election law, people who are blind or deaf may not run for parliament. Forget the politics. Iranian law denies freedom of religion to Baha’is and discriminates against them. Pin if you have any you want to share!. Held at Rajaee Shahr Prison, he suffers from a tumor in his right knee. Atena Daemi: As the civil rights activist neared her July 4, 2020 release date, she was sentenced to an additional 3.7 years in prison. Political prisoners in Iran are singled out for harsh treatment, which often includes denial of medical care. Events in the US are being watched closely as Iran’s presidential election looms in early 2021. He had been in prison for the past five years and was initially sentenced to 15 years in prison. Authorities executed Sallas on June 18. People with disabilities may receive medical treatment, including electroshock therapy, without their informed consent. On September 6, authorities released Derafshan and Forouzan on bail. Nasrin Sotoudeh: The human rights lawyer has been imprisoned in Iran since 2018 despite serious medical issues including cardiac and pulmonary issues that required hospitalization. The meeting was chaired by EEAS Secretary General Helga Schmid and attended by E4 countries (France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) at the level of Political Directors. Iran’s State Prison Regulations (Article 118) state, “Examination, and when necessary treatment, of sick convicts is the responsibility of the prison or training facility.”, Iran’s Prisons Are Breeding Grounds for Medical Illnesses. At least 79 Baha’is were held in Iran’s prisons as of November 2018. Those arrested include prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and her husband Reza Khandan, as well as Farhard Meysami, another human rights defender, for their peaceful activism in opposing compulsory hijab laws. Parties profiled here only include those competing in elections in Iran. Published: 21 Oct 2020. The decrease in number is largely due to an amendment to Iran’s drug law that went into force in November 2017. Main Political Parties. The concept of popular sovereignty, which is derived from the indivisible will of the Iranian nation, is inscribed in Article I of the constitution of the Islamic Republic. In addition to the above individuals, CHRI is aware of the following cases, including internationally renowned human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh: Ghasem Abasteh: The Kurdish political prisoner is on death row for membership in an extremist Sunni Muslim group. While at least 30 people, including security forces, have been killed during the protests, officials have not conducted credible investigations into protesters’ deaths, or into security agencies’ use of excessive force to repress protests. Held in Rajaee-Shahr Prison, he suffers from a tumor in his stomach, severe kidney problems and arthritis of the neck.