Getting Shot for Hijab + All You Need to Know about the Iran-Israel Conflict
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The Iranian government admitted this week that its police shot a woman for an alleged hijab violation – three weeks after the incident occurred. And while the Islamic Republic may think this show of “transparency” is an improvement over maiming its citizens with impunity, it will have to think again; you can’t make your security officers the fall-guys for an entire system of violent misogyny.
And that’s not even the worst part. In an obscene spectacle of gaslighting on a national scale, Iran’s Police Command claimed the shooting happened not because of its officers but because of its victim, Arezoo Badri, a 31-year-old mother of two whom the police claim resisted arrest. Arezoo is now in hospital under heavy guard.
If only it ended there. The US-based Iranian activist Masih Alinejad also reported – as covered on IranWire – that even as Arezoo remained in critical condition she was forced by a government camera crew to record a false confession against herself.
We can be thankful that Arezoo is in hospital, at least, and not in prison, after this week’s revelations by jailed women’s rights activist Sara Jahani. Sara’s courageous work from inside prison has exposed the deteriorating conditions she and her fellow-inmates face and their lack of access to medical care.
Except that even hospital patients may not receive the care they need. We also covered Iran’s exodus of nurses, this week, with the country’s well-trained workforce decamping en masse to Germany. In their new home they will treat not only Germans and people of other nationalities, but ironically, many fellow Iranians who have claimed asylum there after recent protests.
IranWire also covered this week the case of Pakhshan Azizi, a 39-year-old Kurdish activist jailed in Evin Prison, who faces the death sentence for, depending on who you ask, a “riot” related to Iran’s recent presidential election; or for efforts to assist women suffering from violence in Syrian Kurdistan during the ISIS crisis. Our in-depth report looks at Azizi’s long history of working for women’s rights and her previous run-ins with the Iranian government. Many of those who spoke to us said Azizi’s death sentence – and others like it – are just vicious acts of retaliation against women and workers.
We will, at some point, run out of words for these abominations against human rights and for the people who carry them out.
And so to the classroom – where the government is working to stack university halls with its ideological supporters. After years of student movements critical of the Islamic Republic turning into protests on campuses and on the streets, the authorities have had enough, and now young Basij volunteers and members of other regime-aligned groups are looking to get their degrees.
One of our longer reads this week is a report by Aida Ghajar, who has spent the past two years covering the efforts, experiences and exiles of Iranian activists and protesters. Aida’s latest report tells the story of 26-year-old Hasan Iman Abdi, whose activism began in 2017, when he was just 19 years old, by helping victims of a huge earthquake in Kermanshah. He later became a citizen journalist, covered the 2022 protests, and now he is in exile and seeking asylum.
Human rights is not the only kind of activism Iran needs. In Sistan and Baluchistan province, Malek Dinar Shajareh has for 20 years worked to preserve hundreds of gandos, a short-nosed crocodile, using only his own resources. IranWire looked at Malek’s extraordinary two-decade struggle to help these rare creatures.
And as for the war: we continue to wait. IranWire published an in-depth report on Iran and Israel’s staring contest with an “all you need to know” look at what may happen next. No doubt President Masoud Pezeshkian’s nominee for Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, didn’t help matters when he said that Iran’s conflict with Israel’s top ally, the United States, cannot be resolved.
A bit of good news? Yes – for a change. Iran’s most famous rapper, Toomaj Salehi, has been acquitted by an Iranian court of the most serious charges against him. One of these charges, spreading “corruption on earth,” a Sharia charge that means whatever the authorities want it to mean, would have led to the death penalty. No doubt the huge attention brought to his case by outlets like IranWire and thousands of activists online played a role in this silver lining of hope.
Maziar
Iran's Police Admit Shooting Woman After 3 Weeks, But Blame Victim
Three weeks after firing three bullets at Arezoo Badri, the Police Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran finally took responsibility for the attack in a video report. However, they placed the blame on Arezoo Badri, a 31-year-old mother of two.
Iranian Woman Shot for Hijab Violation Forced into False Confession
Arezoo Badri, a young woman shot by Iranian authorities over hijab compliance, was coerced into making a false confession under pressure from security agents, according to reports.
Islamic Republic Intensifies Pressure on Donors Aiding Families of Crackdown Victims
IranWire has obtained documents indicating that the security agencies' efforts to prevent assistance to the families of protesters, prisoners, and those affected by the protests are extensive — including the closing of bank accounts.
No Medical Care in Iran Prison, Reveals Jailed Women's Rights Activist
Sara Jahani, a women's rights activist currently incarcerated in Lakan Prison in Rasht, has revealed deteriorating conditions and the lack of medical care for herself and fellow inmates.
Pakhshan Azizi: Sentenced to Death for Assisting Women Targeted by ISIS
Evidence obtained by IranWire indicates that Pakhshan Azizi, a Kurdish political prisoner sentenced to death in Iran, is not a "rioter" and has instead been targeted because of her humanitarian work.
Iran's Border Forces Again Shoot Two Kolbars
Border forces of the Islamic Republic shot and seriously wounded two kolbars amid an escalation of violence against the transborder porters.
Repression in Iranian Universities: Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi and Basij Forces Fill Classrooms
Universities in Iran have been granted the freedom to admit foreign students who support the Islamic Republic’s policies, such as recruiting members of the Al-Hashd Al-Shaabi militia group as foreign students, in an attempt to diminish the presence of dissenting student voices on campuses.
An Iranian Activist’s Journey Through Fear, Loss, and Exile
Our interview with Hasan (Iman) Abdi, a 26-year-old activist who began his journey by assisting victims of the 2017 Kermanshah earthquake to becoming a citizen journalist, documenting the 2022 nationwide protests, aiding the injured, and witnessing the death of fellow activist Shaho Khezri.
The Last Guardian: Malek Shajareh’s Mission to Preserve Iran’s Rare Gandos
For over 20 years, Malek Dinar Shajareh has dedicated himself to caring for the Gando, the short-nosed crocodile under threat of extinction in the restive Bahoukalat district of Sistan and Baluchistan province, using his own resources.
Iranian Official Raises Alarm Over Exodus of Nurses
Iran's head of the Ministry of Health Committee for cabinet members selection, Ali Jafarian, has raised an alarm over the mass exodus of healthcare professionals from Iran.
Iran Acquits Rapper Toomaj Salehi of Serious Charges
Iranian authorities have acquitted protest rapper Toomaj Salehi of the most severe charges against him, including "corruption on earth," which had previously resulted in him getting the death sentence.
Iran's FM Nominee Araghchi Says US Conflict Unresolvable
Abbas Araghchi stated that while the Islamic Republic would never be able to resolve its conflict with the US fully, but instead could manage the situation to minimize harm to the Iranian people.
Iranian Military Adviser Dies from Airstrike Injuries in Syria
A military adviser from Iran's Revolutionary Guard has died following injuries sustained in Syria. Colonel Ahmadreza Afshari succumbed to wounds received during a strike by coalition forces in Syria.
Iran and Israel on the Brink of All-Out War: All You Need to Know
Recent events, particularly the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, leader of Hamas's political office in Tehran, have significantly heightened concerns about the potential for conflict between Iran and Israel.
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