Iran
U.S.: Undersecretary Of State Pushes For More Interfaith Dialogue
Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes being interviewed at RFE/RL's Prague headquarters (RFE/RL) PRAGUE, June 11, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- On June 11, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes, a longtime confidante of U.S. President George W. Bush, visited RFE/RL's Prague broadcast center. In a wide-ranging discussion with several RFE/RL correspondents, Hughes laid out her strategy for reaching out to other cultures and societies as part of the U.S.-led global war on terrorism. Hughes emphasized the need for greater dialogue among cultures and the role of people-to-people exchanges in order to counteract extremist and terrorist ideologies.
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RFE/RL: As underscretary of state for public affairs and public diplomacy, what are the main opportunities and challenges you are facing in fulfilling your mission?
Karen Hughes: I really view my job and the way I describe it in simple terms is [that] I'm focusing on America's conversation with the world. And I say "conversation" because I think sometimes the world thinks we speak at them, rather than listening to them. So I've tried to focus a great deal on listening and engaging in dialogue.
And as I travel the countries I try to meet with people. I meet with a wide sector of people, young professionals, people in low-income neighborhoods. Many people have told me that I've gone places where an American has never gone before. I try to appear on television shows where they've never interviewed an American before, to really reach out. The core of public diplomacy is, I believe, people-to-people programs and exchanges and ways that we can actually reach out to people.
I have three strategic goals for the way I look at, the way I constantly ask my staff to look at, our public-diplomacy efforts and I'll just go through them all quickly. The first is I believe it's very important that America continue to offer the world a positive vision of hope and opportunity that’s rooted in our values, our belief in freedom, our commitment to human rights, our belief in the worth and dignity and equality and value of every single person in the world. I saw a focus-group interview [with] a young man in Morocco and he said: "For me, America represents the hope of a better life." And I think it's vitally important that our country continue to offer that hope to people everywhere, whether it's people in Afghanistan, or Uzbekistan, or Iran -- that we've got to offer that hope that’s rooted in our fundamental values again. The most fundamental of all is that we believe every person matters, every person counts, and every person has the right to live a life that’s meaningful and to contribute.
Hughes speaks to an Afghan child during a visit to Kabul on February 26, 2004 (epa)
And the final strategic imperative is that I believe it's very important for America to foster a climate of common interests and common values between Americans and people of different countries and cultures and faiths across the world. And that's particularly important at this time when we are engaged in a worldwide war against terror. One of our former ambassadors, when I met with him, said to me: "Karen, you know, American foreign policy can't be just seen as focusing on common threats. We have to focus on common interests and common values." And I find as I travel the world we do have a lot in common, even though we don't always recognize that. If you ask a lot of people around the world "what's most important to you," frequently they’ll say their faith, their family, their sense of social justice and responsibility. If you ask Americans "what's most important to you," we'll say "our faith, our family, our communities." Often, though, if you ask the people in other parts of the world "do you think Americans value faith and family," they don't understand that about us. So I think it's very important that we talk and engage in dialogue so that we understand that we do have a lot in common.
I'm a mother. I have a son who I love dearly and a daughter, and I want the best for them. I want them to be educated; I want them to have a chance to travel around the world and meet other people; I want them to grow up and have an opportunity for a job and a productive, meaningful life. And that's what parents across the world want for our children. And so I think it's very important that we reach out in that spirit to the rest of the world.
RFE/RL: You just spoke about the importance of having a dialog between the United States and the Muslim world. Do you see a role that international broadcasters could play in that dialogue?
Hughes: Absolutely. I'm here at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and I was just told that of the 28 countries where you broadcast, I think, 18 have majority Muslim populations. And so that's a very important voice for our values going into those countries. Your mission here is to provide the truth and to provide audiences in those countries with information that is accurate. One of the challenges, I think, that I face in my job, one of the things I say, is that I want people to be able to decide for themselves. And I think that's very different from the extremists that we face. The extremists want a very narrow, rigid view of the world. They basically say, "it's our way, or you're wrong."
Young people in Tehran (RFE/RL file photo)
Another big part of my strategy is to try to empower our own citizens. We have in America 6-7 million Muslim-Americans, and I believe they are a very important bridge to the wider Muslim, Islamic world because many of them are from cultures around the world, came from those countries, and so know both cultures, know both their home culture and their now American home culture. And so I think they are an important bridge.
I was in Germany not too long ago, and I was meeting with a group of Muslims who live there and this woman was telling me how isolated her community is. And I said, "Well, could I come meet and maybe talk with people in your community?" And she looked at me and kind of shook her head and said: "No, not really." I was kind of taken aback and I said, "What do you mean?" And she said, "Well, we wouldn't want our own government officials to come and meet with us, so why would we want yours?" Because there is such a hostility, a sort of disconnect, the community feels very isolated there. And I said, "what if I sent a group of Muslim-American citizens over here to meet and talk with you?" And she said, "that'd be great!"
And so, beginning next week, we're going to be sending Muslim-Americans to different regions of the world to meet with Muslim communities and begin a dialogue. And so I think one of my roles is to help empower those voices and to let Muslim communities across the world hear different points of view and hear debates, and I know that's one of the things that our broadcasting encourages is: "Let's look at...." [and] "We've got to talk about...."
We have in America separation of church and state, but that doesn't mean -- I think I'm worried that sometimes freedom of religion has come to mean freedom from religion. And I don't think that's what was intended. America has people of many different faiths -- Muslims work and worship and practice their faith very freely in my country. And so do many Jewish citizens. So do many Christian citizens of all different denominations. And some Americans choose to practice no faith at all, and that's fine too. So we have a very diverse and tolerant society. And I think it's important that we allow and, through our broadcasting, that we allow discussion of these kinds of issues.
RFE/RL: There are countries in the world that you can visit, where you can talk directly to people. But there are countries, like Iran, that are much more difficult to visit. Do you have different strategies for communicating with people in more isolated societies?
Hughes: That's where broadcasting [into Iran] becomes even more important, because Radio Farda does reach an audience that we're not able to reach. President Bush has recently requested supplemental funding for additional broadcasting into Iran and also for an opportunity to try to begin some people-to-people exchange programs, where we could begin to try to have some exchanges. That's going to be difficult and we recognize that.
So our broadcasting becomes very important in terms of being able to establish a dialogue, and some of the correspondents here were sharing with me that you hear from many of your listeners within Iran, that they would call and leave messages or they would send e-mails. I think that's a very important dialogue.
We, of course, have many Iranians in America and they are in touch with people in Iran. For example, recently, I reached out to them and had conference calls with them to get their points of view about events in Iran and how we might better engage with the people of Iran. But clearly it's a problem.
In societies such as Cuba, for example, as well. Again we try to broadcast into Cuba, but we don't have formal relations, therefore we don't have formal exchanges. We, again, have a lot of Cuban-Americans who communicate to some extent with family back at home. So we have to adapt our strategies to each country. By and large, however, I think that in today's world, it's very different than public diplomacy was in the Cold War. In the Cold War, as you know because Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty was such a vital part of it, we were broadcasting news and information into societies that were largely closed, that were hungry for that information. That's still the case in Iran today, or in places like Cuba.
Iraqis in Baghdad watching the news on television (epa file photo)
And so today, in today's world, when we see on our television stations pictures from around the world in an instant what we're vying for, I think, is attention and credibility in the midst of an often-crowded communications environment and that's why it is so important, I think, that our broadcasting is committed to telling the truth and to portraying truthful, accurate information without bias, without propaganda, without slant, but providing the truth to people across the world.
RFE/RL: You earlier indicated that you have made several trips to Afghanistan and you are a good friend of the Afghans, especially the women. Are there any concerns about what seems to be a deteriorating situation in Afghanistan with advances by the Taliban and especially the anti-U.S. rioting that took place recently? And you are also welcome to make any statement for Afghan listeners.
Hughes: Well, thank you so much. Afghanistan stole my heart on my first visit to Afghanistan several years ago. I was so impressed by the great courage, particularly of the women there who have been through so much after years of war and years of the Taliban rule. Yet I met women who, despite threats of really their life in some cases, were having home reading classes to teach little girls to read because little girls were forbidden from going to school or learning to read. And I met women who just had so much courage, who had lost husbands at war and yet had been struggling to try to support their families.
Of course, everywhere I went, the people were so gracious, so warm. You’d meet people who had virtually nothing and yet they would offer you everything. They’d invite you to their home, and serve you tea and greet you with great warmth. I really admire the courage of the people of Afghanistan.
And I found when I was in Afghanistan that the people of Afghanistan were very grateful. Everywhere I went, they said two things to me. They said: “Tashakkour” -- “Thank you.” And then they said “don’t leave,” because they very much want a chance at peace and stability.
I think what we are seeing now is some Taliban remnants try to take advantage of a situation there as NATO takes the lead of the operations for the coalition there. I think we are seeing increased presence of NATO in the southern part of Afghanistan, and so we are encountering some Taliban forces that we had not encountered before because we hadn’t had that kind of presence in the southern part of the country.
I saw the American ambassador to Afghanistan interviewed about the riots. He said he thought it was more of a crowd that got out of control, and was just sort of in a very ugly, feisty bad crowd dynamics. Because he said his experience is still by and large the same as mine, and that is that the majority of the Afghan people want the presence of American forces and coalition and NATO forces in Afghanistan, because they know that is the best hope to have peace and prosperity in their future.
Afghans in Jalalabad celebrating Norouz in March (RFE)
We are committed to Afghanistan. America is committed to Afghanistan. NATO is committed to Afghanistan. And we want Afghanistan to succeed. It’s fairly exciting that we have a democratically elected government there. I had the privilege of attending President [Hamid] Karzai’s inaugural and watching the Supreme Court under the new constitution administer the oath of office to the new president, the chief justice. I couldn’t help but think, you know, two years ago none of this was here. There wasn't a constitution; there wasn't an elected president; there wasn’t.... Now we have a parliament with a number of women in parliament. I am looking forward to visiting with some of them on my next trip to Afghanistan.
RFE/RL: There seems to be a problem between two important allies in the war against terrorism -- Pakistan and Afghanistan. Using your status in the administration in promoting communication and dialogue, can you influence this? Can you do anything about it?
Hughes: Well, I certainly hope I can. I’ve been to both countries. I was in Pakistan not too long ago. I led a group of business leaders to Pakistan to help raise money for recovery from the horrible [October 2005] earthquake there.
I am aware that there are tensions and, unfortunately, there are some very difficult regions along the border between the [two] countries. Americans ask me all the time, why haven’t we caught [Al-Qaeda leader] Osama Bin Laden if he is there? I have flown over that country. As you know, it is extremely rugged. It’s hard to imagine. I remember flying over some of those mountains and thinking there is no way anyone could live there. And then they had put me on night-vision goggles and I looked down and there were hundreds of fires where people had campfires, where people were living all throughout those mountains and they go for miles and miles, and it was incredibly rugged and incredibly hostile territory and incredibly difficult to imagine. And of course, [there are] long traditions and long grievances. So it’s difficult. But I certainly hope that America, our government could in some way perhaps encourage better relations.
RFE/RL: You have spoken about the importance of faith, at least of telling the world that Americans are people of faith. How important is sensitivity to religious issues in your communications strategy, especially sensitivity to Islam? And would you talk a little bit about the role of this interfaith dialogue you have been active in? How that is involved in your strategy?
Hughes: I think it is absolutely vital, because as a communicator I understand that the way that you really communicate with people is that you have to speak in ways that are relevant to their lives. And so if you are speaking with someone whose faith is the most important thing in their life, which it is for many people across our world, you can’t just ignore that factor.
Azerbaijani women worship in a Baku mosque (AFP file photo)
It’s interesting, I was in Morocco last week and I was talking with a couple of people who had been on exchanges and I asked them what their feeling was in America. And they said they felt so free -- they couldn’t believe how free they felt. A woman who wore cover told me how sometimes when she travels to Europe and other places, she feels as if people stare at her and look at her as is she is a little different or a little suspect. And yet she said in America she felt totally free, and she didn’t have that feeling in America. Because we are a very diverse and very welcoming country and society.
And I think it is important that we seek to foster interfaith dialog and that’s one of the things that President Bush asked me when I took this job. He said, "meet with religious leaders, foster conversations among religious leaders." I’ve attended a number of interfaith conferences. Because again you have to recognize that faith is very important to many people’s lives. So if you exclude that from your conversation, you are excluding something that is very important to many people.
The other thing is that the world’s major faiths have many things in common. The world's major faiths all believe that we should try to live in peace and love for each other, that we should love God and love our neighbor. All believe and teach that life is precious and that the taking of innocent life is wrong. It’s important that we talk about these things. Sure, we have differences. We have important theological differences. But we also have much in common. And I think it is very important that we foster that kind of dialogue.
RFE/RL: The United States has been accused of having allies that are undemocratic even as America promotes democracy and freedom. How do you answer critics who charge that the United States preaches one thing but practices another?
Hughes: President Bush made it very clear in his second inaugural address that he felt that America had to stand for freedom everywhere in the world and that, in the aftermath of September 11, America had reevaluated our national security, had looked at the situation around the world and had realized that when you have regions where there is a freedom deficit, then you often have the kind of conditions that can be taken advantage of. You have a kind of hopelessness, you have a sense of simmering anger that can lead people to get on airplanes and do crazy things like flying them in the buildings full of innocent people. He recognized that we had to address that.
So in the aftermath of September 11, the president made it our policy to foster freedom everywhere, to foster democracy, to encourage the democratic aspirations of people, because -- again -- we feel that’s in our national interests as well as in their interests. He said we have no monopoly on freedom in America. We believe that men and women were endowed by their creator with certain rights, as our Declaration [of Independence] says, and among them are the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness -- in other words, to freedom. And so we have an obligation to stand for that everywhere. He also said we recognize that will come in different ways in different places, and that the pace of change will be different in different places.
For example, in some place like Egypt, we spoke up and commended the step of having a multiparty presidential election. I remember being in Egypt and talking with a young man -- he was not much older than my son -- and he had just voted for the first time in the presidential election and I said, “did you have a choice of candidates?” And he said “yes.” And that was the first time that there had been a choice like that.
Then they had parliamentary elections that were not as open and not as free. And we expressed our concerns about that. So when there are crackdowns against people who are trying to peacefully exercise their right to speak out, we will speak up and say that we disagree with that.
Again, we recognize that the pace of change will be different in different places. There will be slow steps in some places. In other places, there will be bigger steps. But what we are seeing across the world, we hope, and what we are trying to encourage, is the advance, greater liberties, greater freedoms.
The women of Kuwait, for example, now have the right to vote and the right to run for office. So we are seeing advances.
A man in Hebron walks past a Hamas election poster during the Palestinian Authorities legislative elections in January (epa)
And so slowly, but surely, we believe that freedom is on the advance. We have in the world today many more democratic nations than we had in the past. So we are making progress, and the United States will continue to stand for greater freedom, for greater human rights, and for the voices of those people in their societies to speak out and influence the direction of the governments of their societies.
RFE/RL: Central Asia is exactly a region with a "freedom deficit," as you put it. Does it pose a dilemma for the United States, as on the one hand most of the governments in Central Asia are undemocratic, and, on the other, they are strategically important in the war against terrorism? Is it a dilemma for the United States whether to support them and to cooperate with them in the war against terrorism or do you see undemocratic governments as a cause of terrorism?
Hughes: I think I would separate the two slightly in that President Bush has said we want to work across the world with people who want to crack down in the fight against terrorism. We want to work on a lot of different levels. We work with the governments, for example, to try to withhold funding to terrorist organizations. We try to share intelligence. We try to share law enforcement. And that is a global strategic issue with which we work with governments across the world.
I hope most governments in the world want to protect their citizens. President Bush believes that the most fundamental responsibility of government is to try to protect its citizens’ right to not have airplanes fly into buildings where you are just going to work one day. So we work in cooperation with governments across the world to try to share information and intelligence to protect the lives of our citizens.
Parliamentary candidate Shukria Barekzai at a Kabul voting station during the country's legislative elections in September 2005 (RFE/RL)
We recognize that in Central Asia that’s a very great challenge. So, one of the things I work to do in my area is to foster the kind of exchanges, the kind of growth of civil society, to try to have people come to the United States and meet with civil-society organizations with the hopes that they can go back to their country and help form those kinds of civil-society organizations. We recognize that in many countries, it’s very difficult to do. It’s difficult for citizens to peacefully assemble and try to either express their political views or even express nonpolitical, charitable [views], to assemble together. But we work. And again, some of this is a process that takes a great deal of time.
As people here in the Czech Republic know very well, it takes time sometimes. But we are confident that as we work to exchange people and exchange ideas, as we work to support civil-society institutions, as we work to support education programs, as we work to broadcast truth and information into these societies -- that ultimately will help to empower people, so that they themselves have the information and the skills and the strength to make their societies a better place.
U.S. Undersecretary Of State Karen Hughes
U.S. Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes greets students from the State Islamic University in Jakarta, Indonesia, on October 21, 2005 (official site)
MEET THE NEWSMAKER: Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs KAREN HUGHES has been tasked by U.S. President George W. Bush with leading efforts to promote U.S. values and confront ideological support for terrorism around the world.
She oversees three bureaus at the U.S. State Department: Educational and Cultural Affairs, Public Affairs, and International Information Programs. She also participates in foreign-policy development at the State Department.
A longtime adviser to Bush, Hughes served as counselor to the president for his first 18 months in the White House. As counselor, she was involved in major domestic and foreign-policy issues, led the communications effort in the first year of the war against terrorism, and managed the White House Offices of Communications, Media Affairs, Speechwriting and the Press Secretary.
Hughes returned to Texas in 2002, but continued to serve as an informal advisor to the president and was a communications consultant for his 2004 reelection campaign.
She is the author of "Ten Minutes From Normal," the story of her experiences working for Bush, and she helped write the president’s autobiography, "A Charge To Keep"....(more)
Karen Hughes on November 14, 2005, speaks to Pakistani women who were left homeless by an earthquake in that country in October 2005 (official site)
Karen Hughes (left) having a working lunch with President George W. Bush (center) and Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice in the White House on October 5, 2005 (official site)
Hughes (right) reads a book with Kashmiri earthquake survivors during a visit to a tent school in Muzaffarabad on November 14, 2005 (official site)
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The human rights-focused news agency HRANA reported that four people, including an Afghan national, were hanged on July 21 in Qezel Hesar prison in Karaj. The news agency said they were convicted of drug-related charges.
Rights groups have documented a sharp rise in the number of Afghans executed in Iran, with activists saying they do not get fair trials.
Separately, the Oslo-based organization Iran Human Rights said four people, including a woman, were hanged on July 20 in a prison in Shiraz. Three of them were convicted of murder and one was found guilty of rape.
Earlier this month, Iran Human Rights said executions had dropped by 30 percent in the first six months of 2024 but warned that it could pick up following the snap presidential election.
Reformist lawmaker Masud Pezeshkian beat ultraconservative rival Saeed Jalili in a runoff vote on July 5.
Human Rights Watch on July 15 urged Pezeshkian to fight the rising number of executions in Iran.
As of July 22, at least 268 people have been executed in Iranian prisons this year, more than half of whom were convicted on drug-related charges, according to Iran Human Rights.
Amnesty International says Iran carried out 853 executions in 2023, with at least 481 executions for narcotics convictions.
Because the Iranian government does not publish official statistics on the number of executions, international and Iranian rights groups document cases using open-source data such as state media and human rights organizations.
- By AFP
Iran Says It Has Salvaged Capsized Warship
An Iranian warship that keeled over while under repair almost two weeks ago has been salvaged, according to the Fars news agency. Experts from the Iranian Navy managed to lift the vessel, the agency reported. Despite the damage sustained, naval experts were confident that the ship, the Sahand, could be repaired. The warship capsized in early July during repairs in the port of Bandar Abbas on the Strait of Hormuz, injuring many workers. Equipped with modern radar and missile systems, the destroyer was one of the country's most important warships and the pride of the Iranian Navy.
- By AFP
Iran Can Produce Fissile Material For Bomb In 'Weeks,' U.S. Says
Iran is capable of producing fissile material for use in a nuclear weapon within "one or two weeks," U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on July 19. Despite comments by Iran's new president, Masud Pezeshkian, who has said he favors reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers, Blinken said the United States had seen indications in recent weeks that Iran has moved forward with its nuclear program. Blinken blamed the collapse of the nuclear deal in 2018 for the acceleration in Iran's capabilities. "Instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, [Iran] is now probably one or two weeks away from doing that," Blinken said at a security forum in Colorado.
Homes Of Afghan Migrants Reportedly Attacked After Killing Of Iranian
The homes of several Afghan migrants in the southern Iranian city of Khur have reportedly been set on fire in apparent retaliation for the killing of an Iranian man allegedly by an Afghan national.
Hosna, an Afghan who lives in Khur, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on July 19 that he moved his family from Khur to Shiraz in Fars Province out of fear for their safety.
"People in the region are very angry and set homes of several Afghans on fire," he claimed.
Hosna and others who spoke to Radio Azadi attributed the anger to the July 3 killing of a 62-year-old restaurant owner in the town of Khenj by his 17-year-old apprentice. Iranian media have not identified the nationality of the suspected killer, but Hosna said the suspect was an Afghan citizen.
"The people of the region have sworn not to sell 1 kilogram of meat, or even a piece of bread, to Afghan nationals," Hosna said. "So, many were forced to flee to Shiraz."
Anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran has been on the rise in recent years, especially after a mass influx of migrants following the Taliban's return to power in August 2021.
Occasionally, a hashtag that describes the expulsion of Afghan migrants as a "national demand" becomes a top trend on X, formerly Twitter, often boosted by anonymous accounts.
Last week, an unsubstantiated claim on social media blamed Afghan migrants for an alleged rise in leprosy cases in Iran.
The UN’s refugee agency says Iran hosts around 780,000 Afghan refugees, in addition to some 2.6 million undocumented Afghan migrants. But Iran claimed last year that the number of illegal Afghan immigrants was closer to 5 million.
The authorities have vowed to deport illegal refugees and hundreds of Afghan migrants are sent back to Afghanistan every day. They are also banned from living or working in half of Iran's 31 provinces.
Afghans living in Iran have complained to Radio Azadi about rising harassment, even during deportation.
Tehran has for years maintained that it does not receive sufficient financial aid from international organizations to handle the number of refugees on its soil.
Iran Intensifies Pressure On Iraq To Extradite Iranian-Kurdish Leaders
Tehran is upping the ante in its effort to go after Iranian Kurds abroad it deems "terrorists," demanding that Baghdad extradite leaders and members of Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
"A list of nearly 120 terrorists who identify themselves as noble Kurds has been sent to Iraq for extradition and their trial will be held soon," Iranian judiciary official Kazem Gharibabadi said on July 13.
Gharibabadi did not reveal the names on the list. But he said that preparations had been made for the trial of "leaders and members" of a "terrorist group."
Kurdish and Iraqi media have reported that the list contains the names of some 120 leaders and members of Iranian-Kurdish groups opposed to Tehran.
Many of these groups were armed, with some demanding autonomy within Iran and others fighting for secession from the Islamic republic. Kurds make up around 10 percent of Iran's population of some 88 million and primarily live in the country's west along the border with Iraq.
Gharibabadi cast the move as part of a broader effort to fight terrorism, saying that similar extradition requests would be sent to "relevant foreign countries."
But the move follows backlash to Iran's strong-armed approach in Iraqi Kurdistan, including deadly air strikes that have targeted Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups as well as alleged Israeli targets.
Members of Kurdish opposition parties cast the pressure by Iran, which follows the signing last year of a security pact between Tehran and Baghdad, as misguided cover for undermining the Kurdish independence movement.
Many Iranian-Kurdish political parties and factions opposed to the Islamic Republic of Iran are based in Iraq's Kurdistan region. That includes the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), the most prominent exile opposition faction; Komala, a leftist group; and Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK), the Iranian offshoot of Turkey's Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and designated by Washington as a terrorist group.
Tehran has long accused unspecified Kurdish opposition groups, without providing evidence, of coordinating with Israel, its archfoe, to stage attacks on Iran from Iraqi Kurdistan. Kurdish opposition groups deny the allegation.
Cross-Border Strikes
In a security pact agreed between Tehran and Iraq's central government in March 2023, Baghdad agreed to secure Iraqi Kurdistan's lengthy eastern border with Iran, as well as to disarm and relocate Iranian-Kurdish opposition groups based in the region.
Many offices of Kurdish parties that oppose Tehran have since been shut down.
Baghdad's dealings with Iran have been fraught with controversy. Multiple strikes have been carried out by Iran in the Kurdistan region, including a missile attack on the headquarters of the PDKI in the Kuisanjaq district in 2018 that killed 15 members of the party's leadership as well as Peshmerga forces.
In 2022, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps again targeted the PDKI, as well as Komala, with missile and drone strikes in the regional capital, Irbil, and the city of Sulaymaniyah in the east of the Kurdistan region.
Last year, protests broke out in Iraqi Kurdistan over the construction of a security fence along the region's border with Iran. And tensions rose significantly between Iraq's central government and Tehran after Iran carried out missile strikes in January against what it said were Israeli targets, killing four people in Irbil.
After Tehran reached out to resolve its differences with Baghdad, the head of the semiautonomous region, Nechirvan Barzani, visited Iran in May and met with top officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Barzani gave a commitment in writing that Irbil would work to disarm "terrorist groups" and ensure their removal from the Kurdistan region.
While Iran claims the alleged anti-Iranian activities of such groups to be a key security challenge, representatives of Iranian-Kurdish factions who spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Farda denied that assertion and suggested that Tehran had ulterior motives.
Reza Kaabi, secretary-general of Komala, said that Iran had focused its pressure on Kurdish parties by targeting them with "missiles, drones, and long-range weapons."
But in reality, he said, "the Islamic republic has actually targeted the Kurdish people's liberation movement."
Fears Of Kurdish Independence
Iraq's Kurdistan region held an independence referendum in 2017 that was overwhelmingly approved by voters with more than 92 percent in favor.
Kurdish leaders suggested the vote, which was opposed by Baghdad, would not lead immediately to independence. But neighboring states like Iran, Syria, and Turkey -- which have large ethnic Kurdish populations -- saw the referendum as a troubling sign of possible secession.
After the referendum, the Iraqi military took control of Irbil and the oil-rich city of Kirkuk from Peshmerga forces, prompting the government in Iraqi Kurdistan to renounce the referendum and to negotiate with Baghdad.
The regional government later announced that it was "committed to responsible behavior in order to prevent further violence and conflicts."
Sami Rikani, an independent political activist who resides in the Kurdistan region, says that in the aftermath, pressure from Iran and Turkey increased.
"Especially after the referendum on the independence of the Kurdistan region of Iraq in 2017, Iran and Turkey came to the conclusion that they should start the process of confronting the Kurdish groups," Rikani said.
The recent demand by Tehran for Baghdad to expel leaders and members of Iranian-Kurdish groups is in keeping with this strategy as well as a security agreement signed between Iraq and Turkey in 2016, Rikani adds.
Turkey has also recently increased its military measures and operations in the Kurdistan region of Iraq with the aim of "combating the Kurdish groups opposed to the Ankara government," according to Ankara.
The question now, considering Iraq's subsequent security pact inked with Iran last year, is whether Baghdad will acquiesce to Tehran's demand.
Neither Iraq's central government nor the government of the Kurdistan region immediately responded to the extradition request.
Written by Michael Scollon based on reporting by Iliya Jazaeri of RFE/RL's Radio Farda
- By Kian Sharifi
Iran Talks A Big Talk, But Could It Target Trump On U.S. Soil?
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has been in Tehran's crosshairs ever since he ordered the killing of top Iranian General Qassem Soleimani in neighboring Iraq in 2020.
Tehran has repeatedly vowed to avenge Soleimani, and many officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have alluded to killing Trump and other senior members of his administration on U.S. soil.
“We will prepare the ground to exact vengeance on the Americans from within their homes, using their companions,” Esmail Qaani, who succeeded Soleimani as the commander of the Quds Force, the overseas arm of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said in January 2022.
WATCH: An animated video posted on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's website that envisions a drone strike on Donald Trump:
U.S. media reported on July 16 that the Secret Service had enhanced Trump’s security detail after receiving intelligence in recent weeks that Iran was plotting to assassinate him. Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee in the November 5 presidential election.
The alleged plot appeared to be unrelated to the failed attempt on Trump’s life on July 13, the reports said.
“Plotting to kill a foreign leader, particularly an American presidential candidate, marks a significant leap in the crassness and risk-tolerance of the clerical regime,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.
Iran has long been accused of carrying out assassinations, including of Iranian dissidents, on foreign soil, although it has always denied responsibility.
One of the most high-profile incidents was the 1991 killing of Shapur Bakhtiar, the last prime minister of Iran before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Bakhtiar was shot dead in his home in France, in a killing that was widely blamed on Tehran.
“Iran has not been successful in such endeavors in recent years, and its activities tend to aim at disruption rather than assassinating former or potential heads of state,” said Gregory Brew, an Iran analyst at the U.S.-based Eurasia Group.
He said while it was “unclear whether Iran's intelligence services are up to the task,” Trump’s close call on July 13 brings “into question any confidence that the Secret Service can keep him totally safe from harm.”
Taleblu said it would therefore be a mistake to dismiss Iran’s threats.
The Secret Service has been criticized since a 20-year-old gunman shot at Trump at a rally in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, grazing the former president’s ear and killing a member of the crowd.
'Legal Route' To Avenge Soleimani
Despite public declarations by senior Iranian figures about the desire to avenge Soleimani by killing Trump, Iranian diplomats have dismissed reports linking Tehran to plots to assassinate the former president.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani said on July 16 thatTehran was “determined to prosecute Trump” while the Iranian mission to the UN insisted that the Islamic republic had “chosen the legal route” to hold him accountable.
Separately, Acting Foreign Minister Ali Baqeri Kani said Iran “will resort to legal and judicial procedures…at the domestic and international level.”
Taleblu said the comments by Iranian officials were in line with the “standard division of labor” in Tehran’s security policy.
“The Foreign Ministry tries to nullify threats through changes in style, while the IRGC and others are able to press ahead with the same sort of terror and destabilization in substance,” he added.
In December, a Tehran court ordered the U.S. government to pay nearly $50 billion in damages for assassinating Soleimani. The court convicted Trump and 41 other U.S. officials over the assassination.
Said Mahmoudi, professor of international law at Stockholm University, told RFE/RL’s Radio Farda that Iranian court cases against Trump were only for show and lacked credibility.
“It is very, very unusual for a [foreign] country…to prosecute Trump. Only international courts are equipped to do this,” he said, adding that international law does not allow domestic courts to prosecute current and former heads of state based on local laws.
Potential Impact on Tehran-Washington Ties
Trump is currently leading President Joe Biden in most opinion polls ahead of the November election and some argue the assassination attempt could, at least temporarily, provide a boost to his chances.
Reports of an alleged Iranian plot against Trump’s life could torpedo attempts by reformist President-elect Masud Pezeshkian to tone down Iran’s anti-West rhetoric, Damon Golriz, a lecturer at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, told Radio Farda.
Brew said Trump might be “even more hostile towards Iran” if elected but noted that the hostility is mutual.
“It should temper any expectations of forward progress, on the nuclear issue or any other policy area, in the event Trump wins November's election,” he added.
With reporting by Reza Jamali and Hooman Askary of RFE/RL’s Radio Farda.
Police Summon Women Who Appeared In Video Without Hijabs During Ashura Procession In Iranian City
The chief of police in Iran's Alborz Province said on July 17 that women who took part in an Ashura procession in the city of Karaj without hijabs have been "identified and summoned."
A video posted on Instagram shows a number of young women, most wearing dark clothing but no head scarves, walking in the street in observance of Ashura, a commemoration of the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, which is marked mainly by Shi'ite Muslims.
To mourn his death, Shi’a wear black during Ashura processions in which many participants beat their backs with chains in a symbolic expression of regret for not being able to help Hussein before his death.
The video of the procession in Karaj on July 16 has been met with widespread reactions on social media.
Hamid Hadavand, the chief of police in Alborz Province, claimed that the publication of the video and others like it had led to "hurting the feelings of Hossein's mourners" throughout the country.
Hadavand accused the individuals seen in the videos of "desecration," adding that all of them "have been summoned to the Alborz Province police after being identified."
He did not say how many people were summoned or how they were identified.
In addition, the head of the Organization of Religious Boards and Organizations revoked the permission granted to the organization that held the Ashura procession in which the young women took part without hijabs.
Majid Babakhani also announced that the head of the organization had been "summoned" with the help of the police and said that he would be dealt with legally.
Ashura is marked on the 10th day of Muharram, the first month of the Muslim calendar. Last year Muharram was also marked by reports of the identification and detention of women without compulsory hijabs across Iran.
Authorities have stepped up confrontations with people who oppose the mandatory hijab law since protests that followed the death of Mahsa Amini in the custody of Iran's morality police in September 2022 for allegedly improperly wearing her hijab, and there have been frequent reports of violence against detainees.
In recent months, the police again started a security crackdown on women flaunting the compulsory hijab law by reimplementing the Plan Noor initiative under which the morality police strictly enforce dress codes. This has led to several incidents of violence against women challenging the mandatory head scarf.
Before the reimplementation of the Plan Noor initiative the city of Tehran and the Interior Ministry prior employed hijab guards in some subway stations. The interior minister and the mayor of Tehran denied playing any role in this.
Despite these measures, the presence of women and girls without compulsory hijabs in public in Iran has not stopped over the past two years.
Iran is set to swear in moderate reformist Masud Pezeshkian as president early next month. Pezeshkian has said that while the hijab law should be observed, "there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behavior toward women."
Iranian Police Question Women Who Marched In Religious Festival Without Head Scarves
A video widely shared on social media on July 16 shows women in the Iranian city of Karaj appearing without hijabs, or Islamic head scarves, at a procession marking Ashura, the holiest day on the Shi'ite religious calendar. Police officials said that they had identified some of the women and called them in for questioning. Their appearance at the religious festival is part of a broader movement of Iranian women rejecting the Islamic dress code and risking a sometimes brutal response from the authorities.
- By RFE/RL
Iran Denies Involvement In Plot To Assassinate U.S. Ex-President Trump
Iran has denied plotting to assassinate Donald Trump after reports emerged that U.S. authorities had obtained intelligence suggesting that Tehran was planning to kill the Republican presidential nominee.
News outlets CNN and Politico on July 16, citing unnamed sources, reported that U.S. authorities had been informed of an Iranian plot to kill Trump weeks ahead of a July 13 attempt on the former president's life.
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They said, however, that the assassination attempt did not appear to be linked to the Iranian threat.
In a statement late on July 16, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani insisted that Tehran was not involved in the July 13 attempt and charged that claims that Iran was plotting to kill Trump were "politically motivated."
"The Islamic Republic of Iran is determined to prosecute Trump for his direct role in the crime of assassinating General Qasem Soleimani," Kanani said.
Soleimani, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) elite Quds Force, was assassinated in January 2020 in an air strike by U.S. forces at Trump's command. Iran has repeatedly vowed revenge for the high-profile killing.
Prior to Kanani's statement, Iran's mission to the United Nations said the claims against Tehran were "baseless and biased" and maintained that the Islamic republic "has chosen the legal route to hold Trump accountable."
Iranian authorities have long warned that senior U.S. figures they believe were involved in the killing of Soleimani will pay a price. Among those threatened are Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, and ex-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
In August 2022, the Justice Department charged an Iranian operative it said was a member of the IRGC for allegedly plotting to kill Bolton.
Earlier this year, the U.S. government extended protection for Pompeo amid persistent threats from Iran.
- By RFE/RL
U.S. Recently Informed About Iranian Plot To Kill Trump: CNN
An informant told U.S. authorities recently that Iran was plotting to assassinate Donald Trump, CNN reported, citing multiple people familiar with the matter. In response, the U.S. Secret Service boosted security around the former president, the network reported. Thomas Matthew Crooks, who tried to assassinate Trump on July 13, does not appear to be connected to the Iranian plot, CNN reported. Former Trump administration officials, including his national-security adviser, John Bolton, and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had reportedly received threats from Iran. Qasem Soleimani, a former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps' (IRGC) elite Quds Force, was assassinated in January 2020 in an air strike by U.S. forces at Trump’s command. Iran had vowed revenge for the high-profile killing.
'Overwhelming Sorrow': Imprisoned Iranian Nobel Laureate Marks 9 Years Since Seeing Her Children
Kiana and Ali Rahmani were only 8 years old when they left Iran to reunite with their father, Taqi Rahmani, who had fled the country as the Iranian authorities sought to arrest him.
Their mother, activist Narges Mohammadi, could only imagine the scene from her jail cell as her children would be taken from her for an "unknown" period of time and endure a "separation that would make me a stranger to my children and them unfamiliar to me."
“I haven’t seen my mom in nine years. I have become used to growing up without a mother,” Kiana, now 17, told Roya Maleki of RFE/RL’s Radio Farda as she marked another anniversary of separation from her mother on July 16.
“My father is a good dad; he has been both a father and a mother,” she added.
In a statement posted on her website on July 16, Mohammadi recalled staying awake through the night in her prison cell on July 16, 2015, knowing her children would be on a plane to France soon.
The separation, she said, “felt like vanishing into a misty void of lost connections, tearing a mother and her children apart, leaving us in an indescribable abyss of heartache and longing.”
"A separation that would turn me into an unfamiliar woman to my children, bearing the name ‘mother’ in a ‘misplaced’ manner," she added.
Mohammadi, 52, has been campaigning for human rights in Iran for decades and has been in and out of prison in the last 20 years. She has been convicted five times since March 2021 and is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence.
She is currently in jail for “spreading propaganda” against the Islamic republic.
Kiana recalls that it was “difficult” going through adolescence as a young girl without her mother, forcing her to turn to her friends and other women for advice.
“I had to learn things that a mother should teach her daughter. I had to ask my friends or their mothers whenever I had a question because I did not have a mother,” she said.
Despite remaining behind bars for so long, Mohammadi has remained at the forefront of Iran's women's rights movement.
Her efforts were honored last October when she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Her children accepted the award on her behalf in December.
Kiana said the award raised her mother’s spirits but worsened her conditions in prison because it led to further restrictions, such as limited visiting privileges and phone calls.
Despite not seeing their mother for half of their lives, Ali said they had learned from their mother to “defend our brothers and sisters” from the Middle East.
“We come from a place where there is little freedom and war is constant,” he added.
In her statement, Mohammadi bemoaned that not seeing her children for so long would make her a “stranger” to them.
“I hope my children understand that I, like all imprisoned mothers…was a loving mother whose heart still aches with overwhelming sorrow for her children,” she wrote.
Written by Kian Sharifi based on an interview by Roya Maleki of RFE/RL’s Radio Farda.
- By Kian Sharifi
Health Fears Over Leprosy Fuel Anti-Afghan Sentiment In Iran
An unsubstantiated claim on social media linking an alleged rise in leprosy cases in Iran to the country’s Afghan community has resulted in renewed calls for the expulsion of Afghan migrants.
Iranian media have cited the Health Ministry as reporting nine new cases of leprosy over the past year. The reports said three of those afflicted were Afghans.
The same day, a freelance Iranian journalist who advocates for the expulsion of Afghan refugees alleged without evidence that “Afghan migrants” were responsible for spreading leprosy in Iran.
He incorrectly charged that “no cases of leprosy had been seen in Iran in years” -- a claim that is easily debunked by data available on the World Health Organization’s (WHO) website.
On July 9, another journalist who often writes in support of expelling Afghan migrants went as far as calling the alleged rise in leprosy cases “bioterrorism” and demanded that the incoming government of President-elect Masud Pezeshkian “start deporting Afghans.”
“Afghans are bringing and spreading the leprosy virus,” he wrote without offering evidence, falsely claiming that leprosy, which is caused by bacteria, is a viral disease.
Both posts on the social media platform X have received nearly half a million views, been shared more than 1,000 times, and liked by over 7,000 accounts.
What Does The Data Say?
Leprosy in Iran has never been eliminated, but it has declined sharply since 2005, dropping from 79 to six in 2022, according to WHO data. No certified health authority has ever declared leprosy an epidemic in Iran or Afghanistan.
Leprosy is a chronic bacterial infectious disease that mainly affects the skin and peripheral nerves. It is curable but leaving it untreated may cause permanent disabilities.
The disease spreads via droplets from the nose and mouth through close and frequent contact with untreated individuals.
Rising Anti-Afghan Sentiment
Afghans fleeing the Soviet invasion in the 1980s were welcomed in Iran, thanks in large part to the anti-Soviet views of the recently established Islamic republic. But animosity toward the growing Afghan community has only worsened since.
In recent years -- especially after an influx of migrants following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 -- there have been more frequent displays of anti-Afghan sentiment.
Over the past several months, a Persian hashtag that calls the “expulsion of Afghans” a “national demand” has been trending, often boosted by anonymous accounts.
The UNHCR, the United Nations’ refugee agency, says Iran hosts 780,000 Afghan refugees, in addition to 2.6 million undocumented Afghan nationals.
But the authorities in Tehran claimed last year that 5 million Afghans were living in Iran illegally, and vowed to deport them. Afghan migrants were later banned from living or working in half of the country’s 31 provinces.
In recent months, Afghan migrants in Iran have complained to RFE/RL's Radio Azadi about rising harassment, even during deportation.
Iran has long said that it does not receive enough financial assistance from international bodies to deal with the number of refugees on its soil.
- By RFE/RL
Cyberexperts Predict Pro-Russia Hackers Will 'Almost Certainly' Target Paris Olympics
Finland-based cybersecurity firm WithSecure has warned that the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics "faces a greater risk of malicious cyber activity than previous Olympics." In a report on July 15, the company's director of threat intelligence called the threat "moderate" and predicted that “Hacktivists aligned with states that are pro-Russia will almost certainly try to disrupt the Olympics in some way." The report lists "threat actors" in four categories: Russian, Chinese, Iranian, and North Korean, and speculates as to their intentions and capabilities.
Azerbaijan Reopens Embassy In Iranian Capital Following Deadly Attack
Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said on July 15 that its ambassador and embassy staff have returned to Tehran, a year and a half after a deadly attack on its diplomatic facility there. The diplomatic mission will work from new premises and Iran “will implement adequate steps to ensure diplomatic protection in front of the new building," it said. Baku closed its embassy and evacuated its staff at the end of January 2023, after an armed attack on the building. The attacker killed the mission security chief and wounded two other security officials. The suspect was detained, tried in court for a year, and, according to Iran’s Justice Ministry, sentenced to death. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Azerbaijani Service, click here.
Note: This article has been amended to clarify that it is Azerbaijan which is reopening its embassy in Iran.
- By RFE/RL
Rights Watchdog Calls On Incoming Iranian President, Other Officials To Curb 'Excessive' Force At Border
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged President-elect Masud Pezeshkian and other Iranian authorities to end their use of "excessive and lethal force" against mostly Kurdish border couriers at the frontier with Iraq, saying such low-level smugglers frequently "come from marginalized communities." In a July 15 statement, the rights organization quoted Pezeshkian saying before his July 5 election that it was "shameful" that young people are forced into such roles "for a piece of bread." HRW has recently cited "serious violations against border couriers" and highlighted socioeconomic and other factors that contribute to the practice. Pezeshkian will be sworn in on July 30.
The Push To Recognize 'Gender Apartheid' As A Crime
The world has long been aware of the scourge of apartheid -- the systemic segregation or discrimination of people based on their race. But what about the institutionalized practice of singling people out for ill-treatment due to their gender?
The push to recognize "gender apartheid" under international law is gaining steam, with oppression against women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran fueling calls for immediate action, but tremendous obstacles remain.
What Do They Want?
Advocates want to clearly define gender apartheid as a crime under international law. Currently, only "persecution" on the basis of gender is recognized as a crime against humanity. But rights groups and activists say the concept of persecution does not fully capture the scope of the abuses committed under a system of institutionalized gender apartheid.
The goal is for the United Nations to make up for this gap by legally shielding women and girls from systemic abuse and violence.
Afghan women's rights defenders are credited with being the first to articulate the concept of gender apartheid in the 1990s, during the Taliban's first regime.
Since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, the hard-line Islamist group has reimposed its oppressive policies against women and girls, including severe restrictions on their appearances, freedom of movement, and right to work and study.
Hoda Khamosh, an Afghan women's rights activist, says the recognition of gender apartheid would greatly benefit women's rights in the country.
"We would be able to hold accountable the authorities and perpetrators of gender-based violence and discrimination against women," Khamosh told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.
Meanwhile, Iranian women’s rights activists have said the institutionalized discrimination against women in the Islamic republic amounts to gender apartheid.
UN experts have said the violent enforcement of the hijab law and punishments on women and girls who fail to wear the head scarf could be described as a form of gender apartheid.
When Do They Want It?
Today. The United Nations has been considering the adoption of a major treaty that would unite signatories against crimes against humanity.
Dozens of rights groups and hundreds of individuals signed a statement in March calling for gender apartheid to be included on the draft list of such crimes.
The hope is that the UN General Assembly will adopt procedures to begin negotiations on the treaty when it next meets in September.
Tough Going
While the concept of gender apartheid has increasingly been used by the United Nations and international organizations, particularly in connection with abuses against women and girls in Afghanistan and Iran, there have also been missed opportunities.
During UN-hosted talks in Doha with the Taliban in early July, for example, women did not have a seat at the table.
Rights activists calling for the recognition of gender apartheid and for sanctions to be imposed on those responsible accused the UN of giving legitimacy to the Taliban's rule and of betraying its commitment to women's rights.
"The international community has a moral obligation to ensure the protection of Afghan women’s rights and uphold the principles of justice and equality in any engagement with the Taliban," Sima Samar, former chairperson of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), told CIVICUS, a global alliance of civil society organizations.
Imprisonment And Death In Iran
Like the Taliban in Afghanistan, Iran's clerical regime has been labeled a "gender apartheid regime" by rights watchdogs.
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian human rights activist who lives in exile, is among the key signatories of a global effort to End Gender Apartheid Today.
The movement, highlighting the international community's successful effort to end apartheid in South Africa decades ago, noted that women in Iran are banned from many fields of study, sporting events, and from obtaining a passport or traveling outside the country without their husband's consent.
The Iranian authorities' goal is to maintain women's subjugation to men and the state through a system of laws, the movement said. Violations can lead to "violence, imprisonment, and death."
"The situations in the Islamic Republic of Iran and under the Taliban in Afghanistan are not simply cases of gender discrimination," the movement concluded in its call for support.
"Rather, these systems are perpetuating a more extreme, systematic, and structural war against women designed to dehumanize and repress them for purposes of entrenching power.”
Written by Michael Scollon with reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi
- By Reuters
Oil Tanker Seized By Iran Moving To International Waters, Tracking Data Shows
A Chevron-chartered oil tanker that was seized by Iran more than a year ago was heading for international waters on July 11, LSEG ship tracking data showed. The Marshall Islands-flagged Advantage Sweet was boarded by Iran's military in the Gulf of Oman in April 2023 after an alleged collision with an Iranian boat. There was no immediate comment from Chevron or Iranian officials on July 11 on whether the vessel had been released or what discussions may have been involved. The U.S. State Department called in March for the immediate release of the tanker.
- By RFE/RL and
- Will Tizard
Iranian Film Casts Real Refugees To Show Plight Of Displaced Afghans
An Iranian writing-directing duo has filmed the story of millions of Afghans living for decades in Iran without fundamental rights. Alireza Ghasemi and Raha Amirfazli cast real Afghan refugees as their characters, secretly shooting in locations where their cast cannot legally go. In the Land Of Brothers screened at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in July, shedding light on a population of permanent refugees that began streaming into Iran in the 1980s during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Many are still eking out a living, taking on unofficial manual labor jobs while facing constant discrimination.
Iran Cracks Down On Social Media Accounts For 'Discouraging' Voting
Iran has opened court cases against two Telegram accounts and summoned 100 people for allegedly calling for a boycott of the recent presidential election.
Some 500 Instagram accounts were also found to have committed “election violations,” Iranian judiciary spokesman Asghar Jahangiri told reporters on July 10.
Without naming the Telegram and Instagram accounts, Jahangiri said they had all “tried to discourage people from voting.”
Ahead of the first round of voting on June 28, the Iranian government issued strict guidelines criminalizing efforts to boycott the election or discourage high turnout.
Jahangiri said that throughout the election period, 3,980 people suspected of violating the guidelines had been “offered guidance.”
Some 113 people were detained on July 5 when the runoff vote was held, but “most were released on the same day” after posting bail and giving a written statement vowing not to repeat their offense.
Reformist lawmaker Masud Pezeshkian won the presidential election after beating his hard-line rival, Saeed Jalili, in the runoff.
The election was called following the death of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in May.
In the lead-up to first round of the election, Tehran’s prosecutor filed charges against media outlets Hashieh News and Bamdad-e No for allegedly publishing fake stories about the election.
Iranian dissidents have for years demanded a boycott of elections, arguing that voting has failed to result in reforms in the Islamic republic.
The first round of voting on June 28 saw a record-low turnout of 39.9 percent for a presidential election. Voter participation increased to 49.8 percent in the second round.
In its most recent report, Reporters Without Borders described Iran as “one of the most repressive countries in terms of press freedom” and said it was “one of the world’s biggest jailers of journalists.”
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