New UN Report Depicts Iran’s Dismal Human Rights Situation

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy told Iran International that they “are following this worrying case.” 

“While all the details are not yet clear, the reports indicate that her condition is the result of a confrontation with the police,” Borrell said, adding, “If confirmed this would be unacceptable and unjustifiable.”

Touching upon the issue of the human rights situation in Iran, Borrell noted that “it is something that the EU not only follows closely and raises regularly with the Iranian authorities (most recently with the Foreign Minister of Iran)," but also reacts to with public condemnation and with sanctions against those responsible.

Despite growing concerns expressed by numerous activists and officials regarding her condition, Iranian authorities have escalated efforts to suppress information about her.

Security has remained high at the Fajr hospital where Armita is receiving intensive care since the beginning of the week.

According to information obtained by Iran International, physicians and nurses entering her room are subjected to continuous physical search to ensure they do not carry mobile phones or cameras. The surveillance cameras in her room have also been disconnected to prevent hacking or leakage of images.

Authorities are not forthcoming about the circumstances surrounding Armita's coma. Meanwhile, the media is filled with concerns from Iranians, foreign activists, and officials, all fearing a scenario similar to Mahsa Amini's death could reoccur.

Mohammad-Vali Heydarbeigi, who has lost both his legs, one ear, and his teeth during the eight-year war, was given the sentence by the criminal court of the city of Abhar in Zanjan province, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported Thursday.

His charges include five years for “collaborating with a hostile government;” one year for "propaganda against the Islamic Republic system;" two years for “insulting the Supreme Leader;” and another five years for “conspiracy and collusion against national security and membership in anti-revolutionary groups.”

Under the laws of the Islamic Republic, if this verdict is upheld by the court of appeal, he must serve the harshest punishment, which will be five years imprisonment in his case.

The war veteran was arrested on November 19, 2022, and was transferred to the Intelligence Detention Center of the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) in Zanjan. He was released on bail several weeks later. It is not clear if he was arrested during street protests that rocked Iran last year after the death in custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.

The award-making committee urged Iran to release Mohammadi, one of the nation's leading activists who has campaigned for both women's rights and the abolition of the death penalty.

Hailing Mohammadi as a "freedom fighter", the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee started her speech by saying, in Farsi, the words for "woman, life, freedom" -- the main slogan of the current wave of protests against the Iranian government.

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize to Narges Mohammadi for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all," Berit Reiss-Andersen said in the citation.

The award also recognised the hundreds of thousands of people who have demonstrated against Iranian discrimination and oppression of women, Reiss-Andersen said. "Only by embracing equal rights for all can the world achieve the fraternity between nations that (prize founder) Alfred Nobel sought to promote," she said.

"This prize is first and foremost a recognition of the very important work of a whole movement in Iran, with its undisputed leader, Narges Mohammadi," Reiss-Andersen noted. "If the Iranian authorities make the right decision, they will release her so that she can be present to receive this honour (in December), which is what we primarily hope for."

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said on Friday the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Mohammadi highlighted the courage and determination of Iranian women.

"We've seen their courage and determination in the face of reprisals, intimidation, violence and detention," OHCHR spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell told reporters in Geneva.

"They've been harassed for what they do or don't wear. There are increasingly stringent legal, social and economic measures against them. This really is something that highlights the courage and determination of the women of Iran and how they are an inspiration to the world," Throssell added. "We and other partners of the UN human rights system have repeatedly called for her release."

Mohammadi was arrested on November 16, 2021, and one year after being released, was detained again. Currently, she is serving a total sentence of 9 years and 8 months, along with 154 lashes and additional penalties in Evin Prison. Charges include spreading propaganda against the state.

She has also been denied access to medical care amid deteriorating health. Mohammadi has been imprisoned several times over the past two decades for her work fighting for human rights.

She is the deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, a non-governmental organisation led by Shirin Ebadi, the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Mohammadi is the 19th woman to win the 122-year-old prize and the first one since Maria Ressa of the Philippines won the award in 2021 jointly with Russia's Dmitry Muratov.

In her letter to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva in March, she said she is ready to testify against the authorities of the Islamic Republic regarding the torture, harassment and abuse of prisoners.

Security authorities at Imam Khomeini Airport in Tehran thwarted Ahmadinejad's trip to Guatemala, seizing his passport and giving him a travel ban.

Stopped by IRGC intelligence officers, Ahmadinejad was traveling to a scientific and research symposium on water resource management, as a guest of the government and the University of Guatemala.

Ahmadinejad is a populist politician who was highly controversial during his presidency with his extremist views on Israel and refusal to cooperate with the international community to resolve disputes over Iran’s nuclear program. However, since 2017, he has turned into a critic of some policies pursued by the Islamic Republic. At times, he has even criticized Iran’s ruler Ali Khamenei.

Late Thursday, the semi-official ISNA website reported that the travel ban was lifted after Ahmadinejad accepted “security and political” responsibility for the trip. This could be referring to possible pledges made by the former president to the Revolutionary Guard’s intelligence organization regarding his conduct during the trip.

Saberin News channel also reported on Thursday evening, citing "informed sources," that "after his commitment to accepting political and security considerations and the possible consequences of this trip for him, relevant authorities have agreed to it."

Media close to the government had claimed that instability in Guatemala, the lack of an Iranian embassy and “strong Israeli influence” in the country were reasons behind the initial travel ban.

Media in Tehran reported on Friday that the two chief diplomats held a telephone call late on Thursday to discuss the incident in the Iranian city of Esfahan, when Saudi Arabia’s al-Ittihad football (soccer) team strongly objected to the presence of the former IRGC general Qassem Soleimani statue on the pitch and subsequently left Iran without playing the match.

Iranian government media also report that Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud and Hossein Amir-Abdollahian discussed future cooperation plans, “with appropriate political relations.” Bin Farhan called for continuing football matches, which he said were important to strengthen ties, and invited Amir-Abdollahian to Saudi Arabia to watch a match together.

The two foreign minister recently met in New York on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly.

Soleimani, who was Iran’s chief military and intelligence operative in the Middle East before being killed by a US drone strike in 2020, is seen by many regional countries as a figure who organized militant militias throughout the Middle East. These groups have been instruments of Iran’s influence and some are designated as terrorist that have fueled conflicts in the Levant, Iraq and in Yemen.

Iran re-established relations with Saudi Arabia in March after seven years of bitter adversarial relations. The Iranian Shiite clerical rulers have for many years used derogatory rhetoric and threatening language against the Saudi ruling family, who are seen as influential leaders among regional Arab Sunni countries.