Milad Zohrehvand Executed in Hamedan Prison Ten Days After Supreme Court Confirmation

On November 23, Milad Zohrehvand was executed in Hamedan Prison, merely ten days after the Supreme Court affirmed the death sentence.

A source close to Zohrehvand’s family confirmed the execution, revealing that it occurred without prior notice to his family. As of now, his body has not been handed over to his family.

Zohrehvand, aged approximately 20, had been convicted of the murder of Ali Nazaei, an IRGC intelligence officer in Malayer. In June of this year, Zohrehvand’s case was forwarded to the Supreme Court for confirmation.

In October-November 2022, IRGC officials issued a statement, disclosing that Nazari was killed during a chase. The statement identified nine suspects in Ali Nazari’s murder, with five already in custody and four others on the verge of being identified and apprehended.

Fatal Shooting of Citizen by Police in Kermanshah

On July 26, 2023, a tragic incident unfolded in Kermanshah as a citizen, identified as Ali Nazari, was shot dead by police, as reported by Kurdpa.

According to an informed source, Nazari was pursued by the police in a district in Kermanshah, where he suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his head and chest, ultimately resulting in his death.

As of now, Nazari’s body has not been returned to his family, adding to the distress and uncertainty surrounding the case.

According to HRANA annual report, in 2022, 845 people were shot by military forces. At least 571 of the victims lost their life. This includes 22 kolbars, 9 fuel carriers, and 540 civilians. 274 people were injured by military forces open fire, including 134 kolbars, 128 civilians, and 12 fuel carriers.

 

A Comprehensive Report of the First 82 days of Nationwide Protests in Iran

  HRANA – Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old young woman, was arrested by the morality police for the crime of improper hijab. Her arrest and death in detention fueled nationwide protests in Iran. Protesters came to the streets with the central slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” in protest against the performance, laws, and structure of the regime. The following 486-page report is dedicated to the statistical review, analysis, and summary of the first eighty-two days of the ongoing protests (September 17 to December 7, 2022). In this report, in addition to the geographic analysis and the presentation of maps and charts, the identity of 481 deceased, including 68 children and teenagers, an estimated of 18,242 arrested along with the identity of 3,670 arrested citizens, 605 students and 61 journalists or activists in the field of information is compiled. In addition, the report includes a complete collection of 1988 verified video reports by date and topic. The report examines protests across 1115 documented gatherings in all 31 provinces of the country, including 160 cities and 143 universities.

Summary

Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a young 22-year-old woman from Saqqez, Kurdistan was visiting Tehran, when she was taken into custody on Tuesday, September 13, 2022, by the Morality Police officers at the Haqqani metro station in Tehran. The reason for her arrest: not properly observing the strict Islamic dress code. Mahsa/Zhina was taken to the infamous detention center of Moral Security Police known as Vozara.
Shortly after Mahsa’s arrest, she went into a coma with level three concussion, and her partially alive body was transferred to the intensive care unit of Kasra Hospital. Given the track record of the police and Guidance Patrols in mistreating the arrestees and similar previous incidents, with the believe that Mahsa was beaten during the arrest people were outraged.

Download full report in PDF format

Unpersuasive explanations given by the Central Command of the Islamic Republic Police Force (FARAJA) in defense of its actions regarding the death of Mahsa, the past performance of the police force, along with widespread dissatisfaction with the existence of a body called the Moral Security Police, fueled widespread protests in Iran.
The widespread protests sparked at the time Mahsa Amini was announced dead in front of Kasra Hospital on Argentina Street in Tehran, and then quickly spread to the streets despite the intimidating presence of Iran’s security forces. The protests intensified after Mahsa’s burial in a Saqqez cemetery. To the extent that after eighty-two days of nationwide protests between September 17, 2022, to December 7, 2022, they have spread to Iran’s all 31 provinces, 160 cities, and 143 major universities.
The protests did not stay limited to Mahsa’s death, it rather, quickly targeted the Iranian government’s political and ideological foundations. These protests were violently quashed by the anti-riot police and Iran’s militia force (Basij). teargas, pellets, and live ammunition were used in the repression of protestors. This widespread crackdown has led to the death of dozens of people and the wounding of hundreds of protestors.
Despite sever communication restrictions imposed by the Islamic Republic, this report attempts to give a clearer picture of the first 82 days of the protests between September 17, to December 7, 2022. It’s worth mentioning at the time of this report the protests are still ongoing in various forms.

Table of Contents

 

 

For further inquiries please contact Skylar Thompson, Senior Advocacy Coordinator Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA) at [email protected]

Kermanshah Prisoner Shahriar Tahmasbi: Status Update

Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) – Unable to post his bail amount of 150 million tomans (approximately $36,000 USD), Kermanshah resident Shahriar Tahmasbi has been behind bars since security forces detained him on July 5th.
An informed source told HRANA that Tahmasbi’s bail was too heavy for him to post. “He has not yet been able to procure that much money. He requested that the bail is lowered, but no decisions have been made so far in that regard.”
Tahmasbi was arrested along with Mostafa Bagheri Ashena and Ardeshir Musavi, whose bails were also set at $36,000 apiece. While both were able to afford it and have now gone free, HRANA’s source stated that the bail amount was far out of proportion with the severity of the charges they face.
Earlier, another source provided background into the evening Tahmasbi was arrested, stating that a group of about 8 people had gathered in the Kermanshah residence of Ali Nazari on Jalili street to discuss the formation of a literary society for speakers, learners, and enthusiasts of a minority dialect called Laki.
“Security forces entered the house proclaiming that Shahriyar Tahmasbi was a fugitive, and arrested him along with Ardeshir Musavi,” the source said. “They also seized the cellphones of six people in attendance, including the host.”
Tahmasbi was also detained on September 6th of last year for organizing a protest in support of border couriers known as Kulbars. Walking out of Kermanshah’s Dizelabad Prison one month later on October 10, 2017, cost him $24,000 (100 million Tomans) in bail money.
HRANA has previously reported on the relatively higher rates of detention of Iranian citizens near the western border.

Student Activists to Obama: “End US Appeasement Policy towards IRI”

HRANA News Agency – On the 32nd anniversary of the day when the American embassy in Tehran was occupied by student activists in 1979, nineteen former and current student activists have written a letter to President Obama to ask him to end the US appeasement policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Bamdad Khabar Website has released the complete contents of this letter as follows:

Your Excellency, the President of the United States of America,

With greetings,
Last year on a day such as this, a group of student activists wrote a letter to you to direct your attention towards human rights violations in Iran and your moral obligation to support our oppressed nation.

On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian student activists who called themselves “the Followers of Imam’s Line” attacked the United States embassy in Tehran and took American diplomats and workers hostage.Because according to International Law, embassies are the sovereign soil of the countries they represent, this action was a grave mistake resulting in serious damage to Iran’s national interests.

While thirty two years have passed since that event took place, revolutionaries of those days have been taken hostage by the Islamic Republic of Iran and even the same student activists are imprisoned today.

During the last few years, our nation has shown time and again that it desires to be set free from the claws of the current regime.Two years ago, while Iranians were facing bullets and batons in the streets, they asked you, “With whom do you stand? With the regime or with the people?”

People’s voices were heard shouting, “Obama, Obama, either with them or with us.”Addressing you directly, our nation asked you for help, but your advisors directed you to negotiate with the “hostage takers,” the Islamic regime that has taken our nation captive.As a result, the Islamic Republic of Iran comfortably and confidently continued to suppress peaceful demonstrations in the streets of Tehran.

What did you gain from extending a hand of friendship towards the Islamic Republic of Iran?The regime replied back by taking three American hikers hostage, sent weapons to terrorist groups in Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Nigeria, plotted to assassinate the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Washington DC and continued to pursuit developing nuclear weaponry.

Mr. President, currently, our brothers and sisters in Syria are fighting against the brutal regime of Bashar Assad.As a result, more than 4,000 Syrians have been killed and tens of thousands have been imprisoned and injured.Meanwhile, the statesmen in Tehran maliciously continue to support the dictatorship of Syria because they know that their fate is tied to that of Bashar Assad, and their turn will come soon.

Our brothers and sisters in Syria have asked for your support by declaring a no-fly zone over parts of the Syrian air space in order to prevent further killing of the dissidents by the oppressive regime.Further negligence of the US government on this matter is not acceptable.We recommend ceasing the US appeasement policy towards Damascus and not repeat the same mistake made while dealing with the Green Movement in Iran.Stand by the Syrians, and ignore the demands made by dictatorships such as Russia and China.

Your Excellency, Mr. Obama, you are not only the president of the most powerful government in the world but also the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.Hence, your moral objection towards establishing peace and protecting human lives has been doubled many times over.In our letters written in the past years, we asked you to follow up on violations of human rights especially those aimed towards students in Iran.

Three American hikers together with many Iranian students can testify about what is happening in prisons throughout our country.In recent weeks, the situation has deteriorated such that the Islamic regime has begun flogging student activists whose prison terms have ended.The annual report released by the Secretary General of the United Nations and the report written by the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations, Dr. Ahmad Shaheed, reveal only a small portion of human rights violations not only in prisons but also throughout our country.

During the last decade, passive policies and the negligence of the international community resulted in the creation of a nuclear regime in North Korea.If the Islamic Republic of Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weaponry, the same mistake will be repeated; such a debacle must be prevented.

Let us say it clearly and loudly that we don’t wish for your military intervention in Iran and warn you about its unintended and adverse consequences under the current conditions.We hereby ask you to do what the US government has announced itself.We ask you to take sanctions against the highest government officials in the Islamic Republic of Iran and their immediate relatives and partners seriously.Blocking their bank accounts and properties and banning their trips outside Iran are also equally important.

We also request to impose sanctions on all companies whose shares are owned by the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (IRGC) and their high ranking executive officers.We ask you to help our nation to have easy access to the Internet and satellite programs and make free flow of information possible.We want you to fight against censorship, Internet filtering, and deliberate jamming of radio and TV signals with the intention to disrupt communications and the surveillance of dissidents in Iran.We ask you to severely punish all governments and companies that help to facilitate such actions in Iran.

We request from you to remain committed to the sanctions imposed on the commanders of IRGC and individuals violating human rights in Iran.We ask you to place pressure on governments, organizations and companies that violate the terms of such sanctions.We want you to pressure your alias not to assist the Islamic Republic of Iran by supporting the sanctions against the regime.We ask you to pay attention and be aware of the media funded by American tax-payers but used as a soapbox to promote an appeasement policy towards the supports of the Islamic Republic of Iran, anti-west and anti-American trends.

We call for imposing sanctions on the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a ban on the purchase of oil from IRI because the Islamic regime uses the funds to build and further strengthen its intelligence and military apparatus instead of providing economic resources for our nation.The Islamic Republic of Iran also utilizes the revenue from the sale of oil to support and spread terrorism and oppresses democratic movements throughout our country.

We request to end the appeasement policy towards dictators.Instead, empower our people who once bravely poured into the streets of Iran but returned home disappointed due to the lack of support from the international community and also the brutal oppression of the regime.And let Iranians know and feel that they can achieve what they set out to do.

There are many ways to reach these goals, but you must possess the will to pursuit them.

Cordially,

Signatories:

Amir Hussein Etamadi – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Ali Tarokh – Student activist, Shiraz Azad University and a senior member of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s presidential campaign, student division, Fars Province.
Nima Rashedan – Researcher, political analyst and a former student activist.
Arman Rezakhani – Winner of Khwarizmi International Award in 2007 & 2008 and credited for the discovery of two theorems in trigonometry and mathematics.
Sahar Reza Zadeh – Former student activist, University of Tehran.
Pedram Rafati – A member of the Islamic Association of Students, Amirkabir University of Technology and banned from continuing his education.
Amin Riahi – A member of Tahkim-e Vadhat, General Council.
Salman Sima – Student activist, Tehran Azad University, and banned from continuing his education.
Siavash Safavi – Former student activist, University of Mazandaran.
Ahmad Eshghyar – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Liuna Isagholian – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Saeed Ghaseminejad – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Navid Mohbei – Student activist, Azad University, and blogger.
Mashood Masjodi – Former member of the Islamic Association of Students, School of Engineering, University of Tehran.
Ali-Reza Mousavi – Former member of the Islamic Association of Students, Allameh Tabatabai University, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Behzad Mahrani – Journalist, political analyst and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Yohana Najdi – PhD graduate student of political science, USM University of Malaysia, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Ali Nazari – Former student activist, University of Mazandaran.
Rahim Hemati – Former head of the student branch, Jonbesh Moslamanan Mobarez.

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