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  Three jailed Iranian female journalists, who reported the story of a 22-year-old Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, have won the prestigious United Nations’ top award for press freedom. On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3, three Iranian female journalists – Niloufar Hamedi, Elaheh Mohammadi, and Narges Mohammadi – won the UN press freedom award “for their commitment to truth and accountability.” Masih Alinejad, an Iranian-American journalist, author, and women's rights activist, said, “Leaders in Iran are the biggest oppressors of media freedom in the world.” She further told the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) that being a journalist in the Islamic Republic of Iran is considered a crime and causes people to be jailed. On Tuesday evening, Audrey Azoulay, Director General of UNESCO, announced the names of the winners of the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Press Freedom Prize. Azoulay said, “Now more than ever, it ...

   At least 100 Iranians arrested over more than 100 days of nationwide protests face charges punishable by death, Oslo-based group   Iran   Human Rights (IHR) has said. Protests have gripped Iran since September after an Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, died in custody following her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country’s strict dress code for women. Earlier this month,  Iran executed two men in connection with the protests , an escalation in the authorities’ crackdown that activists say is meant to instil public fear.  In a report released on Tuesday, IHR identified 100 detainees facing potential capital punishment, including at least 11 already sentenced to death. Five detainees on the IHR list are women.  The report said many of them had limited access to legal representation. “By issuing death sentences and executing some of them, [the authorities] want to make people go home,” said IHR director Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam. “It has...

When asked about the Guidance Patrol at a conference, Attorney General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said they "have been shut down from where they were set up". However, the government did not confirm the move and local media reported that his remarks had been "misinterpreted". The death of a woman detained by the force has sparked nationwide protests. Mahsa Amini, 22, collapsed and fell into a coma shortly after being arrested in Tehran on 13 September for allegedly violating the rule requiring women to cover their hair with a hijab, or headscarf. There were reports that morality police officers beat her head with a baton. The police said she suffered a heart attack. Anti-government protests - labelled "riots" by Iranian authorities - swept across Iran after Ms Amini died in hospital on 16 September. But while her death was the catalyst for the unrest, it has also been driven by long-standing discontent over poverty, unemployment, inequality, injustice and c...

  The Interior Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ahmad Vahidi, said that many French intelligence agents were arrested during protests in the country. Vahidi told state TV on Wednesday, “People of other nationalities were arrested during the protests, some of whom played a big role. There were elements from the French intelligence agency and they will be dealt with by law.” Last week, France’s Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said that seven French nationals were detained in the Islamic Republic. Iranian authorities have repeatedly accused foreign enemies, especially the United States of fomenting unrest in the Islamic Republic after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. Amini was arrested by the Iranian morality police in Tehran on September 13 for allegedly flouting the Islamic Republic's strict dress code for women. They took her to the detention centre. Amini collapsed on the ground at the centre. Later on, she was ...

  The United States will next week put the United Nations spotlight on the Islamic Republic of Iran protests, sparked by the death of a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, Mahsa Amini, in police custody. According to a note outlining the event and reported by Reuters, the US and Albania will hold an informal U.N. Security Council gathering on Wednesday. Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi and Iranian-born actress and activist Nazanin Boniadi will brief about the Iranian government's human rights violations and abuses. According to Reuters, independent U.N. investigator on human rights in Iran, Javaid Rehman, will also attend the meeting to promote independent investigations into Iranian human rights abuses. The Islamic Republic of Iran has been gripped by protests since the death of Amini. The biggest protest in almost three years has turned into a popular revolt by Iranians against the clerical leadership. Many people took to the streets, demanding justice for Am...

  According to human rights NGO Amnesty International, Iranian security forces have killed at least eight people since Wednesday evening as they continued a deadly crackdown against nearly six weeks of women-led anti-hijab and anti-government protests. Amnesty condemned the "reckless and unlawful use of firearms.” The NGO said on Thursday, "Iran's security forces have killed at least eight people since last night as they again opened fire on mourners and protesters.” Iranian security forces reportedly opened fire on protesters who marched on Wednesday in Mahsa Amini's hometown Saqqez to mark 40 days since her death. They reportedly clashed with people taking part in a memorial for Mahsa Amini. Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman from Saqqez, died in a hospital in Tehran on September 16 after being detained by Iranian morality police for allegedly wearing improper hijab. They arrested her on September 13 for allegedly wearing a loose Hijab. They took her ...

  In a shocking incident in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a 16-year-old Iranian girl, identified as Asra Panahi, died after she was allegedly beaten up by Iranian security forces in her classroom for not singing the anthem praising the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to the BBC, the incident took place last week in northwestern Ardabil city when the Iranian security forces were raiding Shaheed Girls High School. They forced the girls to sing the anthem to praise the supreme leader. When the girls resisted, the security forces beat them. Asra Panahi later succumbed to her injuries in the hospital. However, Iranian security forces have denied responsibility for Asra Panahi’s death. Asra Panahi's death comes at a time when Iran is witnessing anti-government and anti-hijab protests over the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini. Protests first began on September 17 at the funeral of Amini in Saqqez, the capital of Saqqez County, Kurdistan Province, Iran. Su...

  The Islamic Republic of Iran suffered a “major disruption” in internet service on Wednesday amid anti-hijab and anti-government protests that erupted after the death of a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman, who the Iranian morality police had detained, an advocacy group said. NetBlocks, an advocacy group, said that Iran's internet traffic had dropped to around 25% compared to the peak, even during a working day, in which students were in their schools across the country. NetBlocks said, “The incident is likely to further limit the free flow of information amid protests.” NetBlocks referred to recent protests that began on Wednesday. Tehran witnessed a massive deployment of riot police and plainclothes officers across the city. Residents reported disruptions affecting their mobile internet services. Despite the disruption, a demonstration took place in Tehran by some 30 women who had removed their mandatory Hijabs. They chanted, “Death to the dictator!” Protests erupted ac...