HRANA’s Daily Review of Protests in Iran

On Saturday, August 27, 2022, at least four protests took place in Iran.

A number of citizens gathered before the Iranian Public Conscription Organization against two years of compulsory military service. This protest turned violent by police and several students and reporters were arrested.

In Omidiyeh County, Khuzestan Province, a number of job seekers protested against poor living conditions and unemployment before the Governor’s office.

A number of farmers of Kohgiluyeh County gathered before the Governorate building to demand their water portion from the Marun River.

In Tabriz, a group of citizens who have purchased apartments for a housing construction project held a protest in front of the Municipality building.

HRANA Recap: This Week’s Protests in Iran

According to HRANA, the news agency of Human Rights Activists, a number of protests took place this week in Iran, many of which were continuations of ongoing movements.  Read our recap below for details, photos, and videos from the demonstrations.

Saturday, October 23

A group of contracted teachers and educators from the counties of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province assembled in front of the government building in Shahrekord to protest this year layoffs.

“126 teachers have been fired this academic year,” one protestor stated at the demonstration. “These layoffs happened only to the educators of this province. The teachers with the same conditions, all over the county, continue their work.”, he added.

Sunday, October 24

Workers for a heap leaching project at the copper mine Sungun Varzaghan assembled and protested their unpaid benefits this Sunday. 

Monday, October 25

In various cities across the country, judiciary personnel assembled in front of their local justice buildings and protested worsening job conditions and the failure of authorities to address their demands.

These protests were held in Tehran, Zanjan, Hamedan, Qom, Arak, Babol, Borujerd, Chaedgan, Firuzabad, Kerman, Khandab, Kuhrang, Meybod, Lenjan, Sari, Mehr, Nahavand, Urmia, Paveh, Rumeshkan, Semirom, Shahrekord, Shirvan,Shut, Taft, Razan, Eslamshahr, and Tuyserkan.

A group of patients with the blood disorder thalassemia assembled in front of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education building in Tehran. They protested the shortage of medicine and the institution’s shortcomings in addressing their issues.

A number of retirees on the pension fund of steel corporation Fulad traveled from various cities to Tehran and assembled in front of the pension fund building. As a symbolic act, they spread tablecloths without any food to show they hardly afford living costs. They asked for a pension above the poverty line, free medical treatment and closing the gap in pension incomes. They claimed that Fulad’s pension fund has breached regulations.

A group of teachers and educators in Rafsanjan City who has passed the recruitment exam taken by the Ministry of Education assembled in front of the building of this ministry in Rafsanjan.

“We are 62 teachers and all have been passed the recruitment exam, nonetheless, we have not been recruited,” one of the teachers commented. He added,  “Given that the Ministry of Education needed more than 200 teachers and there are a lot of local labour forces to be hired, why do they recruit from other cities?”

A number of athletes and paralympic medalists assembled in front of the government building in Damghan City. They protested the mismanagement of the county Ministry of Sport and Youth, as well as a shortage of sports facilities. According to these protestors, the sport salon allocated to them is often closed and each time they have to wait three hours for using the salon.

Bus and minibus drivers working in the transportation service of Southern Pars (Asaluyeh and Bandar-e Kangan) assembled outside the premises of the refineries. They protested against low wages in comparison to increasing transportation costs.

“Our wage is lower in comparison to the vehicle depreciation costs,” one protestor said, “and even though it is not enough, they delay payment.”

A number of young job seekers in Shushtar city assembled in front of the Karun Agro-industry Complex. They asked for recruitment of local job seekers in this industry complex. They find it unfair that, despite having several big corporation in this city, many skilled and educated workers remain jobless.

Some personnel of the Real Estate Registration Organization of Iran assembled and protested in front of the office of a member of the parliament in Qazvin.

A group of market workers in the border village Sheykh Salleh assembled to protest against the assigning  of border affairs to a non-native company.

Tuesday, October 26

A number of workers of Omidiyeh Water and Wastewater Company assembled in front of the government building of this city.

These workers said that despite promises from supervisors, they have four-month unpaid wages. Moreover, the end of year bonuses and three years end of service benefits have not been paid. They have protested several times in the past, but every time, they have not received an adequate response from authorities.

The retirees of Imam Khomeini hospital in Karaj assembled in front of this hospital to promote their demands on Tuesday.

For the second day, the retirees of the pension fund of the steel corporation Fulad assembled in front of the pension fund building in Tehran.

A group of retirees and working personnel of airline company Homa assembled in front of the building of Iran Ministry of Roads & Urban Development. They asked for fair and timely wages. According to these protestors, not only is the pension insignificant, but also there have been significant payment delays.

A number of farmers from eastern Isfahan assembled in front of the building of the Ministry of Agriculture Jihad. They protested not receiving their water shares and rights.

Workers of contractor companies delivering services like gardening, maintenance and transport for Pars Oil and Gas Company assembled in Asaluyeh to demand increased wages, supplementary insurance, and implementation of the Job Classification plan.

In Isfahan and Yazd Provinces, a number of people with hearing impairment assembled in front of the buildings of the State Welfare Organization of Iran. They cited livelihood problems, including denial of right to housing and insurance, as the reasons for their protest.

Wednesday, October 27

For the third consecutive day, a group of workers of Gachsaran Petrochemical Company protested at their workplace and then in front of the government building of Gachsaran.

They said that the contractors discriminates against the native laborers and threatens them to be fired. Reportedly, these contractor companies have raised the wage of non-native labor but not the native ones.

Some personnel of the Azad University, unit “Yadegare Imam” in Shahr-e-Rey city assembled and protested at the university premises to protest ongoing mismanagement. Reportedly, this protest turned somewhat violent.

A number of people who have lost their money in their accounts with Cryptoland, a cryptocurrency exchange, protested in front of the Tehran Courthouse. They demanded that legal processing return their losses.

A number of disabled war veterans assembled in front of the building of the Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs in Tehran. They protested poor living conditions and the non-implementation of some protective laws

Thursday, October 28

A number of workers of Khorramshahr municipality assembled in front of the building of the municipality to protest against a six-month delay in payment and other demands.

In Isfahan, a number of people with hearing loss assembled in front of the buildings of the State Welfare Organization of Iran.

A number of workers of the Kut-Abdollah municipality protested in front of the Governorate building of Khuzestan Province. They asked for the payment of their delayed wages.

11 Baha’is were arrested in Isfahan and Omidiyeh

Soroush Azadi is the tenth Baha’i citizen who was arrested in November 2019 by security forces in Baharestan in Isfahan. He was arrested on November 30, 2019. His whereabouts is still unknown. On the same day, two Baha’i citizens, Bardia Farzaneh and his uncle, Esmail Farzaneh, were arrested at their homes in Omidiyeh in Khuzestan. They were transferred to an unknown place. Their houses were searches and their belongings were confiscated.

Moreover, on November 29, 2019, nine other Baha’i residents of Baharestan in Isfahan were arrested and their houses were searched and their belongings were confiscated. They were identified as following:

Shahab Ferdosian, Nasim Jaberi, Mehran Allahverdi, Shahbaz Bashi, Vahideh Niazmand, Naser Lotfi, Ghodus Lotfi, Saghar Manouchehrzadeh, and Homa Manouchehrzadeh

Additionally, earlier on November 16, Nasr Rajab, Baha’i resident of Karaj, was arrested and his house was searched and his cell phone and Identification card were confiscated.

Baha’i citizens of Iran are systematically deprived of religious freedoms, while according to Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, all people are entitled to freedom of religion, belief, and changes thereof, as well as the right to express and practice those beliefs as individuals or collectives, in public or in private. Though unofficial sources estimate the Baha’i population of Iran at more than 300,000, Iran’s Constitution officially recognizes only Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Zoroastrianism, and does not acknowledge the Baha’i faith as an official religion. As a result, the rights of Baha’is in Iran are systematically violated.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for February 6, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on February 6th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) The third court hearing of eight environmentalists on the espionage-related charges will be on February 12. Moreover, five of the detained environmental activists were charged with “corruption on earth”.

(2) A prisoner accused of murdering his brother-in-law, was sentenced to death in Tehran. Meanwhile, another prisoner was spared from hanging on gallows by consent of next of kin in Damavand after being imprisoned for five years.

(3) More than three protests were organized across the country on February 6, 2019. The customers of SAIPA, an Iranian automaker in Tehran, the shareholders of Caspian financial institution in Kermanshah, and the members of Controlsazeh Zayanderud Company who are applicants of the Mehr Affordable Housing project in Fuladshahr in the Isfahan province have held separate protests to request their demands.

(4) Meisam Bahramabadi was arrested by security forces on the charge of “propaganda against the state” by chanting and writing anti-governmental slogans on a wall in Tehran on January 30.

(5) The appeals court hearing of Davoud Razavi, a member of the Syndicate of the Workers of Tehran and Suburbs Bus Drivers was on Tuesday. He is accused of “collusion and assembly to act against national security” by participating in the minimum-wage demonstrations and publishing photos from these demonstrations.

(6) More than 40 workers of Abezhdan municipality, in Andika county in Khuzestan have eight months of unpaid wages. The retired employees of Iran Customs Administration are demanding their lands from the housing corporation since 1991.

(7) The prison officials have denied the transfer of Hamidreza Amini, the detained admin of a telegram channel, to a hospital for his urgent medical care. He was arrested in 2017 and was sentenced to 11 years in prison on the charge of “blasphemy”.

(8) The roof of a high school in Lakan district in Rasht went up in flames on February 5, 2019 and forced students and staff to evacuate.

(9) Two students died after a school bus crashed into a truck in Omidiyeh-Mahshahr highway in Khuzestan province.

(10) The prison officials have denied the transfer of Alireza Lak, a member of the Sufi mystical sect known as the Gonabadi dervishes, to a hospital for his urgent surgical care. Dervishes were shot with pellet guns in February 2018 and have remained in detention ever since. Through all this time, they have not received treatment for their injuries, which left pellets scattered throughout their bodies.

(11) Two workers died and two others were injured in Yazd, Tehran, and Dezful because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions in their workplaces. Iran ranked 102 in the workplace safety among other countries.

(12) Kavous Seyed Emami’s family willing to respond to accusations on national television. In a lawsuit filed by them, against the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting regarding a program aired which falsely portrayed him.

(13) The attorney of Esmail Bakhshi reported that he is facing new charges of “propaganda against the state”, “spreading lies” , and “insulting the authorities”. He was rearrested after the broadcast of his confessions on the national television.

A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for January 13, 2019

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on January 13th, 2019 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) 11 protests were organized across the country. The workers of Haft Tappeh Sugarcane Mill, the customers of Caspian financial institution in Tehran and the customers of its branch in Mashhad, Badr Toos institution, the workers of city services in Nishabur, the workers of Ahvaz intercity railway, retired academics in Tehran, teachers in Yazd, the employees of financial intuition of Arman in Tehran, municipality employees in Abadan, the retired workers of Kian Tier in Tehran, members of theater organization in Tehran have held separate protests.

(2) 13 Baha’i citizens were exonerated in the Shiraz Revolutionary Court. Shamim Hakimi, Nader Farzandi Ardekani, Baba Salmanzadeh, Mmostafa Shaerzadeh, Aref Nikaeen, Habib Ram, Navid Jaberi, Mohammad Esmail Forouzan, Varjavand Mostaghim, Mehran Dokouhaki, Riaz Khadem, Badiollah Masoumi, and Aminollah Shammardani were accused of ‘propaganda against the state’ and their businesses have been forceful closed for a month.

(3) There were 276 reported child abuse cases in Khuzestan in the mid six months of 2018.

(4) Three university students were burnt because of a faulty stove due to dormitory’s authorities negligence in maintenance in Hormozgan province.

(5) Three Baloch citizens, Mohammad Damani, Akhtar Askani, and Morad Bakhsh Askani, who were arrested on December 15, were released on bail. They were arrested in Qasr-e Qand city after the Chabahar attack.

(6) Ali Vaseghi and Asgar Akbarzadeh, Azerbaijani Turkic minority rights activists, were summoned to the Ardabil Revolutionary Court on January 23. They were charged with ‘forming an illegal group to disrupt national security’.

(7) Ali Ghabeshi was released from Ahvaz’s Sheiban prison after he finished serving his 3-years imprisonment sentence. He was arrested in March 2016 with several others who were later executed or received long term imprisonment sentences

(8) A worker activist, Ezzat Nasri, was released from Saqqez prison after finished serving his 3-month imprisonment sentence. He was arrested on November 27th with the charge of ‘propaganda against the state’.

(9) Two residents of Ahvaz, Sami Sagouri and Abdelghader Delfi, were arrested by the security forces and transferred to an unknown place. The reason of their arrest and their whereabouts are still unknown.

(10) A Baha’i citizen, Maria Kosari, was exonerated in the appeal court in Kurdistan province. She was sentenced to one-year imprisonment and two years exile.

(11) Amir Hossein Mohammadifar and Sanaz Allahyari who were arrested by the security forces on January 9, have been transferred to the Ahvaz intelligence detention center. They were working as editors of “Gam” journal.

(12) Three prisoners were publicly executed in Yasuj today. They were charged with ‘moharebeh through ‘armed robbery’. In 2018, at least 236 people have been executed and 195 people have been sentenced to death in Iran.

(13) The workers of municipality of Marivan have at least six months of unpaid wages.

(14) Hamid Babaei, a detained student who is serving his six years imprisonment sentence, has been granted a furlough. He was a Ph.D. student in finance at Liège University in Belgium when he was summoned to the Intelligence Ministry while visiting his family in Iran in August 2013. According to Hrana, he is married and was born on 11th December 1983 in the city of Takab, in West Azerbaijan province. He was graduated in mathematics from Sharif University in 2006 and the same year to follow a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering Science was accepted in Technology University of Iran. The relatives of Babaei have said that he has not had any political activity during his stay abroad and only because of rejecting the request of Ministry of Intelligence upon cooperating with them, he has been arrested.

(15) The administrators of a popular Telegram channel were arrested by security forces in Omidiyeh. They were accused of publishing classified information.

(16) Three Baha’i-owned businesses have been forcefully kept closed in Khoramshahr, during the last two months.

(17) The chairman of city council of Yazd was sentenced to 37 lashes and paying fines on the charge of ‘distributing falsehood’. Gholamali Sefid, supported, Sepanta Niknam Zoroastrian councilor who had been suspended from his post due to his faith.

(18) Four workers died and two have been injured in the cities of Nur, Rafsanjan, and Tehran because of negligence in the oversight of safety conditions.

(19) Four prisoners were spared from hanging on gallows by the consent of next of kin in Kermanshah. They were accused of murder in 2010.

(20) A landmine explosion severely injured a 34-year old man in the city of Dehloran. Moreover, another landmine explosion injured a landmine disarming agent in Mehran city. More than 42 thousand square kilometers of he lands in the Iran ‘s western provinces contain landmines left from the Iran-Iraq war. Dehloran and Mehran cities are in Ilam province.

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A Daily Overview of Human Rights Violations in Iran for December 26, 2018

The following is an overview of human rights violations in Iran on December 26th, 2018 based on the information compiled and verified by Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA).

(1) The forced closure of nine Baha’i-owned businesses in Omidiyeh which had shut their stores in honor of their religious holiday, are still going on after 23 days. According to the law, citizens may close their businesses for up to 15 days a year for no reason; however, this law is not applied to Baha’is.

(2) Five protests were organized on December 26, 2018. Members of the cooperative housing organization for employees of the Ministry of Agriculture-Jahad, workers of Damghan Agro-industry Company, families of arrested workers of National Steel Company of Ahvaz, workers of Mahabad municipality, and farmers in Isfahan expressed their demands in separate protests.

(3) Mohammad Hossein Sodagar, an Iranian Azerbaijani poet and journalist, was flogged 74 times in the city of Khoy. His charge was questioning Majid Moghaddam, a member of the city council about validity of his claimed degree.

(4) Two construction workers have been severely injured in Bushehr and Lorestan provinces because of unsafe labor practices.

(5) A woman was executed in Tehran. She was identified as Noushin, 25-years-old. She was accused of murdering a man, named Soheil, who repeatedly raped her and forced her into sex with his friends.

(6) The mayor of district 19 of Tehran has confirmed that more than 200 families still live in inactive old brick kilns in this area. These families do not have access to clean tap water, sewage, and natural gas for heating.

(7) Teachers’ Trade Association of Tehran condemned Mohammad Habibi’s sentence and requested a fair trial for syndicate activists. Habibi, the detained teacher’s rights activist, was sentenced to a ten-year prison term and 74 lashes.

(8) The chairman of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization of Iran confirmed that the historical monuments in Tehran continue to be demolished for unauthorized construction, such as Nasirodolleh House, Zahiroleslam House, and Yazdgerd House.

(9) A political prisoner, Nasrollah Lashani, was beaten and insulted in front of his wife and his 8-years-old son during a family visit. Lashani is accused of ‘propaganda against the state’ and sentenced to six years in prison.

(10) Houshmand Alipour and Mohammad Ostadghader who are detained on the charge of ‘membership in a Kurdish opposition group’ were transferred from Saghez prison to Sanandaj for their court session.

(11) Reportedly, 108 workers of Mahshahr Pipe Industrial Company and 100 workers of Kavosh Pressure Vessel Manufacturer have been laid off. In addition, 120 workers of Kishwood Industries have unpaid wages.

(12) Due to death of Hashemi Shahroudi, the Chairman of the Expediency Discernment Council, all concerts are cancelled on this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Today was announced as a national day of mourning.

(13) Mohammad Zamanzadeh, a Telegram activist, returned back to the Evin prison after a few days of furlough. He was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for blasphemy-related charges.

(14) Ahmad Hajebi, an authority in the Ministry of Health announced that The most suicides which result in death are among 15- to 29-year-olds. Moreover, there are 2 million and 800 thousand addicted to drugs.

(15) Saeed Shirzad, a political prisoner in Rajai-Shahr prison, has been refused urgent medical care despite doctors requested his transfer to hospital for his severe kidneys failure. While the prosecutor’s office has assured that he would receive treatment, prison authorities have prevented this transfer.

(16) A 39-years-old prisoner who was accused of murdering his father-in-law, was spared from the hangman’s noose by the forgiveness of the next of kin in Babol.

(17) Leili Khatami’s, a children’s rights activist, was arrested on November 10th in Zahedan and her family still are not informed of her place of detention. She was charged with ‘espionage’.