Gunmen opened fire on a group of paramilitary forces in southern Iran, killing one of them and wounding another three, state media reported on September 17. Local media did not give a motive for the September 16 attack, which occurred on the anniversary of the death while in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini and the outbreak of nationwide protests. It was unclear if the attack was linked to the anniversary. The official IRNA news agency said the attack targeting members of the paramilitary Basij occurred in the town of Nourabad, some 630 kilometers south of the capital, Tehran. To read the original story by AP, click here.

Tehran has informed the UN nuclear watchdog that it has withdrawn the designation of several agency nuclear experts assigned to inspect enrichment activities in Iran, a move “strongly condemned” by the organization’s chief.

“These inspectors are among the most experienced agency experts with unique knowledge in enrichment technology,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a statement on September 16.

“They have conducted essential verification work at the enrichment facilities in Iran which are under agency safeguards,” he added.

Grossi said that “with today’s decision, Iran has effectively removed about one-third of the core group of the agency’s most experienced inspectors designated for Iran.”

He added that Tehran’s move, "while formally permitted by the NPT Safeguards Agreement, has been exercised by Iran in a manner that affects in a direct and severe way the ability of the IAEA to conduct effectively its inspections in Iran."

Iran complained later that the United States and the so-called E3 -- Britain, France, and Germany -- had politicized the IAEA board for their own interests, but said it would nevertheless continue to cooperate with the nuclear watchdog.

"Unfortunately, despite Iran's positive, constructive, and continuous interaction of the with the agency, the three European countries and the United States abused the [IAEA's] Board of Governors for their own political purposes," Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said.

No reason for the move against the inspectors was immediately given.

Reuters quoted a Vienna-based diplomat as saying Iran had withdrawn the designation of all the German and French inspectors. There already were no U.S. or British inspectors on the team.

Earlier this year, Tehran had vowed to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog to resolve outstanding issues after inspections -- under the international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) -- reportedly showed that Tehran had enriched uranium to near nuclear-weapons grade.

Grossi, speaking to reporters in Vienna on March 4 following a two-day visit to Tehran, said a new agreement included the reinstallation of monitoring equipment and would allow access to experts for an investigation into uranium traces at three undeclared sites.

On September 13, more than 60 countries demanded that Iran immediately answer questions about its nuclear program in a statement read by a Danish diplomat at the IAEA board meeting in Vienna.

The statement demanded that Tehran disclose the current location of nuclear materials from former secret facilities and sought clarification on other ambiguities about Iran's uranium stockpile.

A day later, the United States and its three European allies threatened Tehran with another UN resolution, although they didn't specify when or if they would actually do so."

Grossi said Tehran’s latest move was an overreaction to those outside demands.

“I strongly condemn this disproportionate and unprecedented unilateral measure which affects the normal planning and conduct of agency verification activities in Iran and openly contradicts the cooperation that should exist between the agency and Iran,” he said.

“Without effective cooperation, confidence and trust will continue to be elusive and the agency will not be in a position to discharge effectively its verification mandate in Iran and provide credible assurances that nuclear material and activities in Iran are for peaceful purposes.”

He called on Tehran to “reconsider its decision and to return to a path of cooperation with the agency.”

Iran has insisted that its nuclear program is strictly for civilian purposes.

With reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Farda

Hundreds gathered in central London on September 16 to mark the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman who died in police custody in Iran last year, sparking worldwide protests against the country's conservative Islamic theocracy. Chanting "Woman! Life! Freedom!'' the crowds held her portrait and rallied around the memory of a young woman who died after she was arrested for allegedly violating Iran’s mandatory headscarf law. Similar protests took place in Rome and Berlin. To read the original story by AP, click here.

The daughter of a German-Iranian reportedly abducted abroad and sentenced to death in Iran on "terrorism" charges denied by his family has met with visiting German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Washington to discuss Jamshid Sharmahd's case, the daughter said in a tweet.

Dpa said Baerbock would not comment on details of the meeting.

Baerbock spoke this week with Iranian Foreign Minister Hussein Amirabdollahian for the first time in a year and a half, possibly about his and other detained German citizens' cases.

The German Foreign Office later cited "different attitudes" during that conversation.

Baerbock has previously described Sharmahd's death sentence as "absolutely unacceptable."

"Deeply grateful to the German foreign minister for spending time with us on her trip in Washington DC to speak about my dad Jimmy Sharmahd," Gazelle Sharmahd said on September 15 on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Gazelle Sharmahd has been waging a #SaveSharmahd campaign and has been critical in the past of Berlin's perceived lack of commitment to seeking his release.

Sharmahd was detained under unclear circumstances in 2020 and is accused by the Iranian Intelligence Ministry of being a member of the Iranian opposition group Kingdom Assembly of Iran, or Tondar.

Based in Los Angeles, Tondar says it aims to overthrow the Islamic republic and reestablish a monarchy similar to that of Cyrus the Great. It runs pro-Iranian opposition radio and television stations abroad, as well as social media channels.

With reporting by dpa

Iranian authorities briefly detained the father of the 22-year-old woman whose death in custody exactly one year ago sparked a year of dramatic anti-regime protests that have persisted despite a brutal crackdown.

Amjad Amini, the late Mahsa Amini's father, was detained outside his home on September 16 and taken to the Intelligence Ministry in his hometown of Saghez for interrogation, RFE/RL's Radio Farda has learned.

Sources close to the matter later told Radio Farda that Amjad Amini had been sent home after questioning but has been told that he and other family members are not allowed to leave their house for the day.

He was told that he and his family are not allowed to leave their house today.

Their house has been surrounded by security forces who have blocked the street to ward off public signs of dissent.

Meanwhile, official Iranian media reported arrests of groups accused of plotting disruption or contributing to "hostile media" on the anniversary, and Iran's president preceded the day by meeting with the families of troops reportedly killed since the unrest began.

IRNA news agency said authorities arrested an undisclosed number of people among groups "planning to create chaos" or contributing to reports for "hostile media," AFP reported.

It identified three areas of Iran -- the northwest, the south, and Amini's home province, Kurdistan -- where arrests were made.

IRNA reported on September 16 that a fire was started by female inmates burning their clothes in a prison ward at the Qarchak jail near Tehran. It said the blaze was quickly put out by guards, and it wasn’t immediately clear if the action was a protest related the anniversary of Amini's death.

IRNA also said President Ebrahim Raisi met on September 15 in the northeastern city of Mashhad with "the families of security defenders" including two members of the Basij paramilitary force killed while trying to break up a protest in November.

Those two deaths were blamed on Majid Reza Rahnavard, who was among seven people Iranian authorities have officially executed over their alleged participation in the protests.

Security appeared tight in many cities around Iran on the first anniversary of Kurdish-Iranian Amini's death, after a night of scattered protests condemning the supreme leader and demanding rights for women.

Areas of the capital, Tehran, and major cities like Mashhad in the northeast and Shiraz to the south saw demonstrators defy a clampdown late on September 15 to chant slogans including "Death to the dictator!" and "Woman, life, freedom!"

Amini's death last year after eyewitnesses reported her being beaten as she was detained in Tehran by Iran's morality police and signs of a cover-up ignited anger that represents the greatest public threat to the religious regime there in more than a decade.

SEE ALSO:

How Mahsa Amini's Death Became A Rallying Call For Thousands Of Iranians

Rights groups say the ensuing crackdown has killed upward of 500 people and landed many more in jail or with long prison sentences.

Police and security forces have conducted roundups and other shows of force in recent weeks and warned Amini's family and others to avoid marking the anniversary or risk serious consequences.

Still, late on September 15 there were signs of protest in at least a dozen neighborhoods of the capital and at least a half-dozen cities.

The human rights website Hengav reported that armed troops of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) had been stationed around the home of Amini's family in her northwestern hometown of Saghez, where she is also buried. It quoted an informed source saying the security presence included motorized IRGC forces and a large number of troops.

Amini's family reportedly published a text announcing a "traditional and religious ceremony" at her gravesite but were threatened and pressured to rescind the call.

Amini died in a Tehran hospital on September 16, 2022 after falling into a coma following her detention by the Guidance Patrol that enforces morality laws including a strict dress code for women that has been the object of protest since the early days after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

An official report suggested she had died of heart failure connected to a previous condition, but eyewitnesses reported seeing her beaten and family said her body showed signs of violence.

The Kurdpa website published video that showed security forces all around the Amini family home.

Persian-language social media were filled with videos and images of purported protest actions around the country, many of them roadblocks or other forms of nighttime disruption.

Videos showed a group of cars blocking roads and honking horns in the city of Baneh, in Kurdistan Province.

The city of Marivan also witnessed scattered protests in parts of the city late on September 15 despite the widespread deployment of security forces. Protesters lit fires in some areas and chanted protest slogans.

In the city of Abdanan in Ilam Province, security forces failed to prevent a group of protesters lighting a fire in streets.

SEE ALSO:

UN Fact-Finding Mission On Deadly Iran Protest Crackdown Met With Silence By Tehran

In the city of Piranshahr, in West Azerbaijan Province, a group of people blew car horns and created roadblocks.

In Mahabad, revolutionary songs could be heard playing from the loudspeakers of several mosques.

Hengav cited protest gatherings in a handful of other cities, including Abdanan, Kermanshah, Marivan, and Sanandaj.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) described Iranian authorities as creating a "chokehold on dissent" in recent weeks amid "ramped-up repression" to stifle peaceful expression ahead of the September 16 anniversary. The group cited "intimidation, arrests, prosecutions, and trials of activists, artists, dissidents, lawyers, academics, students, and family members of those who were killed during the 2022 protests."

The United States introduced fresh sanctions against more than two dozen individuals and entities connected to Iran's "violent suppression" of the Amini protests, the U.S. Treasury Department said on September 15.

Britain announced a similar move.

Protests marking the anniversary were also seen on September 16 in several foreign cities, including London, Vienna, Berlin, Rome, and Toronto.

Late on September 15, Iran lashed out at the United States over what a Foreign Ministry spokesman called an "illegal" decision to introduce the new sanctions.

Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani alleged in a statement "illegal and undiplomatic actions" and complained of "interventionist actions and statements and ridiculous and hypocritical" shows of international support for the protesters, AFP reported.

Addressing European leaders, he said "unconstructive behavior...does not serve their interests."

Jailed Iranian rights activist Narges Mohammadi said in a message from Evin prison that the anniversary of Amini's death symbolizes "the oppression of the theocratic authoritarian regime against Iranian women."

She said the Woman, Life, Freedom movement that erupted nearly a year ago is a testament to the resilience of protesters and the waning authority of the "theocratic authoritarian regime."

With reporting by AFP

Prominent jailed Iranian rights activist Narges Mohammadi says the death of Mahsa Amini a year ago has become a day that symbolizes "the oppression of the theocratic authoritarian regime against Iranian women."

In a message from Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison, Mohammadi on September 15, a day before the first anniversary of Amini's death, called for unity, urging Iranians to stand together in "revolutionary protest" and become symbols of dissent.

She highlighted the Woman, Life, Freedom movement that erupted in the wake of the 22-year-old's death as a testament to the resilience of protesters and the waning authority of the "theocratic authoritarian regime."

SEE ALSO:

'Naked' And Defiant: Diary Of An Iranian Protester

Amini died while in the custody of the morality police for an alleged head-scarf violation. Demonstrations against the Islamic regime over the incident quickly escalated, with the subsequent brutal government crackdown leading to the deaths of hundreds, including at least 64 teenagers and 34 women.

Mohammadi, who has been imprisoned multiple times over the past decade for her civil rights activities, emphasized the nation's mourning due to the "massacre and execution of young people on the streets and in prisons."

She said the violence against citizens has left the regime facing "disaster, disgust, and destabilizing fear."

She further argued that the Islamic republic's increased repression is a sign of its "depths of humiliation" rather than its strength. As the regime expands its oppressive measures, it is, according to Mohammadi, sinking deeper into a "quagmire of illegitimacy."

"The ultimate victory is certain," Mohammadi, who recently recent saw her prison sentence extended to a total of 10 years and nine months, along with an additional punishment of 154 lashes, said.

Embed share

Mahsa Amini: The Funeral That Sparked Nationwide Anti-Government Protests In Iran

Embed share

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

---

width px height px

---

The URL has been copied to your clipboard

No media source currently available

0:00 0:06:10 0:00

Mohammadi has been vocal in protesting prison conditions, publishing numerous letters highlighting the state of prisons and violence against inmates, especially those detained during nationwide protests.

Last year, in a letter addressed to Javaid Rehman, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mohammadi described the "assault on women during arrest and in detention centers" as part of the Islamic republic's "suppression program" against activist women.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

The United States is sanctioning more than two dozen individuals and entities connected to Iran's "violent suppression" of protests in the wake of Mahsa Amini's death last year in the custody of Iran's morality police, the U.S. Treasury Department said on September 15.

SEE ALSO:

'Naked' And Defiant: Diary Of An Iranian Protester

The sanctions target 29 people and groups, including 18 key members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and Iran's Law Enforcement Forces (LEF), as well as the head of Iran's Prisons Organizations, the department said.

They also target officials linked to Iran's Internet blockade as well as several media outlets.

Meanwhile, the European Union has threatened to tighten sanctions on the Iranian government.

All available options are being considered to address issues related to the human rights situation in the country, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said on September 15 on behalf of member states.

The EU and its 27 members strongly reiterated their support for the fundamental rights of Iranian women and men.

All those arbitrarily detained should be released immediately, including EU citizens and those with dual nationality, he said.

The British government on September 15 announced sanctions targeting several Iranian officials including the culture minister and the mayor of Tehran on the eve of the first anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini. The U.K.'s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the new measures "focus on senior Iranian decision makers responsible for drafting and implementing Iran's mandatory hijab legislation." The sanctions include Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Mohammad Mehdi Esmaili, a deputy, Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani, and an Iranian police spokesman. Amini died last year after her arrest over the dress code for women.

Iran has not detailed any conditions under which it would release a Swedish EU diplomat held captive for over 500 days, a senior EU official said on September 15. Johan Floderus was arrested in April 2022 at Tehran's airport. The Swede, who works for the EU diplomatic service, is being held at Tehran's notorious Evin prison. Iran's judiciary said on September 12 that Floderus had "committed crimes" and an investigation was being finalized.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned of "ramped-up repression" to stifle peaceful dissent and expression ahead of the September 16 anniversary of Mahsa Amini's death in custody, which sparked a year of massive protests. The watchdog group cited "intimidation, arrests, prosecutions, and trials of activists, artists, dissidents, lawyers, academics, students, and family members of those who were killed during the 2022 protests." It said Iran's clerical leadership was also boosting enforcement tactics to ensure compliance with the strict dress code for women, which was at the center of the 22-year-old Amini's detention.

At least 18 activists have been arrested in recent days in cities across Iran as the authorities clamp down on possible commemorations ahead of the anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini. Amini's death in police custody on September 16, 2022, sparked nationwide antiestablishment demonstrations that resulted in the deaths of more than 500 protesters. Iranian rights watchdogs have reported multiple arrests in East Azerbaijan Province and Amini's native Kurdistan Province in northwestern Iran. Other arrests were reported in the southwestern Khuzestan Province. Provinces populated by ethnic Kurds, Azeris, and Baluchs were at the center of the protests and crackdown. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Farda, click here.

London, Paris, and Berlin on September 14 said they had agreed to a strategy maintaining nuclear-proliferation-related sanctions on Iran beyond an October date that had been set to bring partial respite to Tehran. Under the terms of a 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) deal that Washington unilaterally abrogated in 2018 under former President Donald Trump, some sanctions were due to be lifted on October 18 under the terms of a so-called sunset clause. But Britain, France, and Germany noted Tehran's "noncompliance" and underlined their commitment to ensure the country does not obtain a nuclear-weapons capacity.

The United States and three European allies have threatened Iran with another resolution at the UN nuclear watchdog's board demanding action on issues such as explaining uranium traces found at undeclared sites, but left open whether or when they might follow through. The warning delivered by Britain, France, and Germany -- the so-called E3 -- and the United States to a quarterly International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors meeting published on September 14 comes as the West's standoff with Iran has been complicated by secret U.S.-Iran talks. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

The White House on September 13 defended a U.S.-Iran prisoner swap deal that has drawn criticism from Republicans, saying Iran gets no U.S. sanctions relief from the deal. The United States on September 11 waived sanctions to allow the transfer of $6 billion in Iranian funds from South Korea to Qatar, a step needed to carry out a previously announced U.S.-Iran prisoner swap. "This is not a payment of any kind. It's not a ransom. These aren't U.S. taxpayer dollars. We haven't lifted a single one of our sanctions on Iran," said John Kirby, White House national-security spokesman. To read the original story by Reuters, click here.

When the United Nations established a fact-finding mission on Iran in November, the intention was to investigate alleged human rights violations related to the country’s deadly crackdown against ongoing nationwide protests.

But as the anniversary of the beginning of those protests approaches, and the estimated number of protester deaths related to the crackdown exceeds 500, the mission is still struggling to get information from the Iranian authorities.

Shaheen Sardar Ali, a prominent British-Pakistani law professor who is one of three members of the fact-finding mission, spoke to RFE/RL’s Radio Farda this week about the problems the team continues to encounter and explains how the failure to provide information works to Tehran’s detriment.

Ali described the mission’s exhaustive efforts to uncover and verify cases of abuse, including arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances as well as torture and other ill-treatment.

SEE ALSO:

Special Report: The Protests That Shook Iran's Clerical System

She also explained the laborious and often futile process of appealing to the Iranian government to provide information about specific cases regarding Iran’s crackdown against the protests, which broke out following Masha Amini’s death in police custody on September 16, 2022.

“We have received masses of information from a variety of sources, both within the country and from outside the country, about a range of allegations of human rights violations,” Ali explained.

“Primarily, we are looking and investigating the death in custody of Jina Mahsa Amini,” she added. “We know that really sparked and gave impetus to the protests last year. And we are conducting a very, very in-depth investigation into the death with a view to understand who [was responsible], and to try and hold someone accountable.”

Ali also said that the mission is working to look into claims of repression and the state’s use of excessive and lethal force against protesters.

This includes, she said, force that resulted not only in deaths and injuries to protesters but to bystanders and passersby “who just happened to be in the area when the protests were happening, including women and children.”

SEE ALSO:

How Mahsa Amini's Death Became A Rallying Call For Thousands Of Iranians

In July, in its most recent official statement on its investigations, the fact-finding mission called on Iran to “end its continuing crackdown on peaceful protesters and halt the wave of executions, mass arrests, and detentions” since the death of Amini, who died just days after her arrest by Iran’s morality police for allegedly violating the country’s controversial hijab law.

The mission also highlighted several concerns, including the deterioration of the human rights of those involved in the protests, particularly the rights of women and girls.

Women and girls, often showing their solidarity with Amini and anger at Iran’s clerical leaders by removing their hijabs, played a prominent role in the nationwide protests.

The mission also decried that 22,000 people had been pardoned in connection with the protests -- a number that Ali said can be read to mean that 22,000 people were arrested -- and “were reportedly compelled to ‘express remorse’ for participating in the protests and to pledge not to commit ‘similar crimes’ in the future, in violation of their human rights.”

At the time, no official data had been made publicly available regarding those “arrested, detained, charged, or convicted in connection with the protests,” and arrests and detentions were continuing.

Ali said that since that time, the Iranian government has not responded to meticulously detailed letters requesting information on specific cases.

“The main concern that we have is that we are not being given access by the government of Iran, despite 14 letters,” Ali said, emphasizing that the letters are not just “a few lines” and are critical “to get the viewpoint of the government.”

Amini's case was the topic of one of the letters. The mission also wrote requesting information about Javad Ruhi, a protester who died under suspicious circumstances in prison last month.

Other letters sought information about the imprisonment of two journalists who covered the protests, and an uncle of Amini’s who has repeatedly been taken into custody and questioned.

“It is unfortunate that the government of Iran does not want to share that information with us,” Ali said.

If it were more forthcoming, she added, “this would be a more holistic investigation.”

She also said that by not cooperating, the Iranian government is harming its ability to weigh in on its own claims of attacks made by protesters against security forces.

“And if the government has anything to offer to us to counter the rest of the information that we have received, this then would be a lost opportunity,” she said.

Nevertheless, Ali said, the investigation is continuing at “full throttle,” including the use of secure avenues of communication to collect sources’ testimonies and “triangulating” all information to ensure its veracity.

“The challenge for us is to sift [through] it, to evaluate it, and to assess it,” she said.

Referring to the mission’s deadline to deliver its final report to the UN Human Rights Council in March, she said the goal is to complete a “credible, professional, and sound” assessment of what has taken place in Iran over the past year.

Written by Michael Scollon based on an interview conducted by RFE/RL Radio Farda correspondent Mehdi Beigi.

Dozens of countries have demanded that Iran immediately answer questions about its nuclear program, including disclosing the current location of nuclear materials from former secret facilities. The demand came in a joint statement on September 13 from more than 60 countries that was read out by a Danish diplomat at the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors meeting in Vienna. The countries also asked for clarification on other ambiguities about Iran's uranium stockpile. The countries also criticized Tehran for not issuing entry visas to certain IAEA inspectors.

Prominent Iranian political prisoner Bahareh Hedayat has announced the end of her hunger strike in protest against the escalating repression by the Islamic government at the request of the families of Mahsa Amini and Javad Rouhi to mark the first anniversary of Amini's arrest by morality police over an alleged head-scarf infraction. Three days later, Amini died in custody.

"Today, September 13, marks the anniversary of the day when Mahsa Amini was abducted by her murderers," Bahareh Hedayat stated in her letter released from Tehran’s Evin Prison.

"In honor of the wishes of Mahsa Amini's family and Javad Rouhi's family, both of whom requested I end my hunger strike, I will cease my strike but will remain steadfast in my commitment."

SEE ALSO:

Special Report: The Protests That Shook Iran's Clerical System

Amini was arrested in Tehran while visiting the Iranian capital with her family. Within hours of her detention, she was hospitalized in a coma and died on September 16.

The 22-year-old's death sparked protests in her hometown of Saghez and quickly spread around the country, posing one of the biggest threats to Iran's clerical establishment since the foundation of the Islamic republic in 1979.

Explaining her decision to go on a hunger strike, Hedayat stated: "On the eve of the anniversary of this proud movement, I embarked on a hunger strike to remind us of how awakened consciences can repel falsehoods and to remember that in this country, truths are still trampled upon by authoritarian rulers."

Hedayat is a student activist and women's rights campaigner in Iran who several times has been arrested and sentenced to long prison terms.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said at least 527 people had been killed during the unrest sparked by Amini's death, including 71 minors, as security forces try to muzzle dissent.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Sharmin Habibi recalls the circumstances of her husband's killing at the hands of Iran’s security forces. But she could be talking about any number of the protesters who died across the country during a brutal state crackdown on dissent over the past year.

"I was told that they did not kill him, that he must have had an enemy, that no officer had opened fire, and no bullets were fired," Habibi told RFE/RL's Radio Farda while speaking about the death of her husband, Fereydun Mahmudi.

More than 500 demonstrators have paid the ultimate price for expressing their outrage at the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian-Kurdish woman who died in police custody in Tehran on September 16, 2022, after being detained for allegedly violating the country’s controversial hijab law.

The 32-year-old Mahmudi was among the first to die -- and the first in Amini's hometown of Saghez, in the northwestern Kurdistan Province -- for his support of what began as a local call for an investigation into the 22-year-old woman’s suspicious death.

When the authorities responded with force and made clear they would not tolerate any dissent, the protests quickly spread as tens of thousands of people poured onto streets across the country.

The monthslong protests began as a rebuke against the brutal enforcement of the hijab, a key pillar of the Islamic republic. But they soon snowballed into one of the most sustained antiestablishment demonstrations against Iran’s theocracy, with some protesters calling for an end to clerical rule and demanding their social and political freedoms.

SEE ALSO:

Special Report: The Protests That Shook Iran's Clerical System

The most sustained protests and the deadliest crackdowns during the demonstrations occurred in regions that are home to ethnic minorities, including Kurds, Azeris, and Baluch, which have long-standing grievances against the state.

Women, Life, Freedom

Just hours after Amini was taken into custody by Iran's morality police on September 13, 2022, she was lying in a coma in what would be her death bed in a Tehran hospital.

How she went from a visit to the Iranian capital with her family to a grave in Saghez within a week was the question that sparked months of unrest.

Based on eyewitness accounts, her family maintained that Amini had been beaten by the morality police while being driven to a Tehran detention facility. The family also refuted officials' claims that she had fallen into a coma after a dispute with guards due to a preexisting health condition. During her brief stay at the Kasra Hospital in northern Tehran, images of her bleeding from one of her ears cast further doubts on the official narrative.

Upon hearing news of Amini's death, dozens of people gathered in the vicinity of the hospital, pinning the blame for what they called a murder squarely on the clerical establishment that had just weeks before vowed to punish violators of the hijab law.

Gatherers, including women who had removed their hijab, chanted: "We will kill the one who killed our sister" and "Down with the dictator," in reference to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Security forces, wary that the loose-knit protest would spread, quickly stepped in to block off streets and beat back participants with batons and warning shots.

The Secret Is Out

On the day of Amini's death, Kurdish political parties called for a general strike to be held in Kurdistan Province on September 19 to protest what they called a "state crime."

But by the time Amini's body arrived in Saghez for burial on September 17, public anger in the province -- where residents have long accused the authorities of suppressing and discriminating against the Kurdish ethnic minority -- was already at a fever pitch.

Backed by a large crowd that assembled before dawn in front of the small city's cemetery, Amini's family prevented security forces from burying her in secret, and announced that they would hold their own funeral late that evening.

"They tried to pressure us to bury Mahsa [in secret], which I said I would not allow under any circumstances and that the people and families and even her mother should be present," said Amini's father, Ahmad Amini. "At my insistence, the [funeral] plan was changed."

He also fiercely denied claims by Iranian officials that his daughter had had brain surgery at the age of five that may have contributed to her death, saying she was "perfectly healthy" and lamented that his request that a coroner examine bruises on her body was refused.

"My concern is that the authorities are spreading lies about my daughter every day," Ahmad Amini said.

More arrests and violence ensued after some mourners attempted to march toward the local governor's office.

"After the burial, the atmosphere in the city was highly securitized," Bakhtiar Khoshnam, head of the Mukrian news agency in Saghez, told Radio Farda. "The situation in Saghez resembled undeclared and unofficial martial law."

A Rallying Cry

Ahead of the anniversary of Amini's death, Habibi explained her husband's motivations to join the general strike that had been called in Saghez.

"Why was he so upset? [Amini’s] father said many times that there were no problems with her hijab, so why did they bring this calamity on this young girl?" Habibi told Radio Farda. "I said, 'I know you are upset. It is very difficult for me, too.'"

She begged Mahmudi not to go to the streets on September 19. But she said he could not get over the belief that he had to do something.

"I was sure he was going because he was very sad for Amini. He prayed and said goodbye to my son, but he didn't say anything to me," Habibi said.

"That night, when he did not come home, his cousin called and I told him that Fereydun had not returned,” she added. “He said that many people had been arrested and I collected our documents to head [to the police station] with my son."

It was an experience that was repeated countless times across the country over the course of the year.

The local police initially denied Mahmudi had been arrested, before reversing course and telling her that he had, all the while pressing Habibi for information about who her husband had been in contact with.

"It was 3 or 4 in the morning when we found out that he had been shot" near a mosque, Habibi said. Mahmudi had been beaten, both of his hands had been broken, and his body was riddled with bullets, she said.

Local officials then denied security forces had killed him or that any shots had been fired. But Habibi said she was also warned against holding a funeral for Mahmudi, because they "didn't want a crowd" like the one that had turned out for Amini's burial.

Despite the threat of repercussions, Mahmudi's went ahead with the funeral, laying him to rest just 200 meters from Amini's grave.

An Iranian court has ordered the confiscation of an apartment belonging to writer Soroush Mozaffar Moghadam, who is currently in Germany, citing his "propaganda activities against the system" as part of recent nationwide protests, in a move underscoring the Islamic republic's clampdown on dissent.

Hossein Yazdankhah, the judge of the Special Court, said on September 12 that he based his decision on a "request of the Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order to seize Mozaffar Moghadam's assets."

The judgment referred to a "report from the General Directorate of Intelligence of Khorasan Razavi" about the writer's interviews with Persian-language media outlets abroad, labeling them as "extensive propaganda activities against the system in cyberspace and hostile media."

The Execution of Imam Khomeini's Order (EIKO), an organization under the direct control of Iran's supreme leader, was established from properties confiscated after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

A Reuters probe revealed an extensive empire held by EIKO that was built on seizing properties from ordinary Iranians, religious minorities, business figures, and expatriates, often under false claims of abandonment.

The verdict against Mozaffar Moghadam highlights the writer's departure from Iran in November 2022, his subsequent residence in Germany, and his failure to show up in court as reasons for the "confiscation of his assets."

A section of the ruling stated that the power of attorney granted by the writer to his mother a day before he left as insufficient in preventing the confiscation of his "apartment" in Mashhad, northeastern Iran.

Mozaffar Moghadam, a member of the Iranian Writers' Association, had been summoned several times by the Islamic Republic's security agencies following interviews with Persian-language networks abroad during the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protests sparked by the September 16, 2022 death of Mahsa Amini while she was in police custody.

The writer has said he felt compelled to leave Iran because of safety concerns.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Amjad Amini, the father of Mahsa Amini, the female student whose death in Iranian morality-police custody nearly a year ago sparked massive protests, was summoned by intelligence officials on September 11 and interrogated for an hour, RFE/RL's Radio Farda has learned.

One of Amini's relatives said authorities pressured him not to hold a memorial for his daughter on the first anniversary of her death on September 16.

The source said they also demanded that Amini deny that he and Mahsa Amini's mother had issued a statement earlier saying they would hold a ceremony to commemorate their 22-year-old daughter's death.

The relative also said the intelligence officials repeated threats that had emerged in recent months in which they vowed to arrest Amiini's other child, son Ashkan, in case of any "activity, interview, or speech" from him or any other family members regarding the anniversary.

Iran's clerical leadership has led a brutal crackdown since Amini's death in a Tehran hospital on September 16, 2022, days after eyewitnesses reported seeing her beaten during her detention by the so-called Guidance Patrol for allegedly falling afoul of the country's strict women's dress code.

Her death sparked defiant protests across the country and a stubborn women's rights battle that has resonated around the world.

Skeptics dismissed an official report blaming her death on sudden heart failure possibly brought on by a long-term condition.

Despite signs of a further clampdown ahead of the anniversary, Amini's family reportedly published a text announcing a "traditional and religious ceremony" at Mahsa Amini's gravesite in her northwestern hometown of Saghez to honor her "martyrdom."

The notice was addressed to "compatriots" and "brothers and sisters."

Security and intelligence agencies have since beefed up their presence around the cemetery.

Amini's brother Askhan last week confirmed that one of her uncles, Safa Aeli, had been arrested in Saghez on September 5.

Authorities also threatened to shut down several university student associations as part of the sweeping crackdown on dissent within academic circles last week ahead of the anniversary.

The public anger at Amini's death has widely been seen as one of the biggest threats to Iran's clerical establishment since the foundation of the Islamic republic in 1979.

At least 500 people have been killed around the country since authorities began the current crackdown on her sympathizers, with thousands more detained or harassed.

Iranian officials have identified five individuals in U.S. custody whom Tehran would like handed over as part of a possible 10-person, $6 billion prisoner swap initially said to have been mapped out last month between the longtime foes.

They include three Iranians -- Mehrdad Ansari, Reza Sarhangpour Kafrani, and Kambiz Attar Kashani -- charged with illegally obtaining advanced or potentially dual-use technology thought to be bound for Iran that has been under tightly reimposed U.S. sanctions since 2018. Two others -- Kaveh Lotfolah Afrasiabi and Amin Hasanzadeh -- were jailed for failing to register as a foreign agent and stealing engineering plans on behalf of Iran, respectively.

AP said Ali Karimi Magham, a spokesman for the Iranian mission to the United Nations, confirmed the five men's identities after the Al-Monitor website published their names.

The U.S. State Department has not officially commented on the Iranian list.

Previous reporting has identified three of the five individuals that the U.S. side wants in an exchange as two Iranian-American businessmen accused by Tehran of spying, Siamak Namazi and Emad Sharghi, along with similarly accused British-American environmentalist Morad Tahbaz.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said on September 12 that the five U.S. citizens in Iranian custody who are expected to be part of the swap are "in full health," according to NBC as quoted by Reuters.

"They are very healthy and, according to our latest information, they are in full health," Raisi told Lester Holt of NBC Nightly News in an interview taped in Tehran on September 12, the U.S. television network said.

U.S. officials on September 11 confirmed that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had signed off on a sanctions waiver to allow billions in frozen Iranian assets to be transferred from South Korea to Qatar, presumably as part of the swap, and informed Congress of the plan.

Tehran had indicated earlier that it believed a swap was imminent, although it sought to decouple the asset handover from the prisoner deal.

The Biden administration has insisted in the face of Republican and other criticism that the assets involved are neither U.S. taxpayer dollars nor a ransom.

Critics argue that the freed-up assets could throw a lifeline to an Iranian economy buffeted by U.S. sanctions with Tehran continuing its belligerent behavior in the region.

"The money can only be used for humanitarian purposes and we will remain vigilant in watching the spending of those funds and have the ability to freeze them again if we need to," Reuters quoted State Department spokesman Matthew Miller as saying on September 12.

Iranian security forces have taken some 40 foreign nationals into custody during a current wave of unrest, often without revealing any charges.

Western countries have repeatedly said that Iran is trying to take advantage of foreign countries by taking dual and foreign nationals hostage to use in prisoner swaps.

Republican President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from a three-year-old deal between world powers and Iran to curb Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.

Aside from the diplomatic and economic fallout, observers since then have attributed a series of ship seizures and attacks in the crucial Strait of Hormuz region to Tehran.

The Pentagon is said to be weighing a plan to put U.S. troops aboard commercial ships in the region, which is a conduit for around one-fifth of all global oil shipments.

Tehran has also cooperated with Russia in the Middle East in addition to supplying Moscow with crucial attack drones to further the Kremlin's war plans in Ukraine.

Based on reporting by AP and Reuters

Jailed Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi has allegedly been assaulted by prison officials at Evin prison after she refused to adhere to the mandatory hijab.

An Instagram account linked to Mohammadi on September 11 detailed the incident, saying that following the second suicide attempt in three days by one of her cellmates, Mohammadi went to the prison infirmary where she encountered what was described as the "deliberate and brutal" behavior of a nurse.

SEE ALSO:

'Naked' And Defiant: Diary Of An Iranian Protester

Mohammadi, who has been classified as a political prisoner by rights groups, was allegedly threatened with "vulgar and insulting" language for not observing the mandatory hijab. The situation escalated, with prison officials resorting to violence, leaving "bruises and marks" on her body.

The post says "men from the Intelligence Ministry and prison officials" later transported her back to her cell via an ambulance.

The Evin prison -- and many other penal institutions in Iran -- has a long history of poor conditions.

In March 2022, hacktivist group Edalat-e Ali, which claims to work inside Iran to expose the "true face of the regime," released video footage highlighting inhumane conditions at the country's most-notorious prison.

The footage, provided exclusively to RFE/RL's Radio Farda by Edalat-e Ali (Ali's Justice), showed prisoners lying wall to wall on floors and stacked three-high on metal bunk beds. As the camera moves from open cell to open cell, each equipped with beds for about 30 inmates, it reveals rooms filled with up to 50 inmates.

Previous videos, which were hacked from CCTV cameras and published by Radio Farda among other media outlets in 2021, have shown prison guards assaulting detainees and inhumane conditions at the facility.

Over the past months, Mohammadi has been vocal about the prison conditions, publishing numerous letters highlighting the state of prisons, the violence against inmates, and those detained during nationwide protests.

Last year, in a letter addressed to Javaid Rehman, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran, Mohammadi described the "assault on women during arrest and in detention centers" as part of the Islamic republic's "suppression program" against protesting and activist women.

Written by Ardeshir Tayebi based on an original story in Persian by RFE/RL's Radio Farda

Iran's judiciary on September 12 confirmed the detention of a Swedish diplomat working for the European Union a week after Stockholm and Brussels revealed the latest known case of a foreign national being held by Tehran amid political tensions with the West.

Johan Floderus, a Swedish diplomat working for the EU, has been held captive in Iran for more than 500 days. He was arrested on April 17, 2022, at Tehran's airport as he was returning home from a trip with friends.

His family said that he was being held in "unacceptable" conditions, but Iran claims his detention is "lawful."

"The Swedish national has been lawfully imprisoned following preliminary inquiry and the results of a full investigation into his case will be released in the coming days," judiciary spokesman Masud Setayeshi said on September 12, the first public statement by an Iranian official on the matter.

The European Commission did not confirm that Iran was holding one of its diplomats until The New York Times reported it early in September. Previously, it had said a Swedish national was being held but did not mention his EU position.

Iran announced in July 2022 it had arrested a Swedish man and was holding him on espionage charges, but did not mention his name or position at the time. The announcement came two weeks after an Iranian citizen received a life jail term in Sweden for his role in the Iranian regime's 1988 mass executions of thousands of opponents.

Iranian security forces have taken some 40 foreign nationals into custody during the current wave of unrest, often without revealing any charges. Western countries have repeatedly said Iran is trying to take advantage of foreign countries by taking dual and foreign nationals hostage to use in prisoner swaps.

In May, Iran executed Swedish-Iranian dissident Habib Chaab, who was accused of terrorism.

SEE ALSO:

Swedish-Iranian Dissident Executed By Iran For Being 'Corrupt On Earth'

Floderus's family said in a statement released on September 10, his 33 birthday, that he was being kept with the light permanently on in his cell and was not receiving adequate food, outside exercise, or medical checkups.

"In blatant disregard of international guidelines, he has spent over 300 days in solitary confinement," the statement added.

His relatives said Floderus was denied any contact with them during the first 10 months of his detention and had been granted only "a very few number of consular visits."

According to his family, Floderus has been held at Tehran's notorious Evin prison. Since its construction in 1971, the prison has been the site of a series of abuses that continued after the shah was overthrown in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said on September 5 that Sweden's government had taken the lead on efforts to have Floderus freed, with support from EU institutions.

"Every time we had diplomatic meetings, at all levels, we have put the issue on the table. Relentlessly," he added.

European Commissioner Ylva Johansson said on September 11 she was "very worried" about Floderus, who worked in her team for nearly two years when she managed the EU portfolio on migration and home affairs.

Floderus moved in September 2021 from Johansson's service to the European External Action Service, the EU's foreign diplomacy arm, to work in Brussels for the EU delegation to Afghanistan.

Relations between Sweden and Iran have been tense in recent years. Iran recalled its ambassador in 2022 after a Swedish court convicted Iranian citizen Hamid Noury of war crimes and murder during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s and sentenced him to life in prison.

Relations between Tehran and Stockholm were strained further after a man tore up and burned a Koran outside a mosque in the Swedish capital in July. In protest, Iran has refrained from sending a new ambassador to Sweden.

With reporting by Reuters, AP, AFP, and dpa