Free Republic

Swedish diplomat accused of spying for Israel Photo credit: amnesty.se Swedish diplomat Johan Floderus, imprisoned in Iran, is being used as a pawn in a political manoeuvre, his sister Ingrid Floderus said. Floderus, was detained at Teheran airport in April 2022 following a visit to a friend working for the Swedish embassy in Iran, accused of spying for Israel and “corruption on earth” which carries the death penalty under Iran’s Islamic laws. Floderus is one of many EU and Western citizens detained on trumped-up charges to obtain concessions from their governments in return for their release. In this case, his...

Some experts believe the deal signifies an easing of tensions between Tehran and Washington. Five American prisoners held in Iran flew out of Tehran on Monday officials said, as part of a deal that saw nearly $6 billion in Iranian assets unfrozen. Despite the deal, tensions are almost certain to remain high between the US and Iran, which are locked in various disputes, including over Tehran’s nuclear program. Iran says the program is peaceful, but it now enriches uranium closer than ever to weapons-grade levels. The planned exchange has unfolded amid a major American military buildup in the Persian Gulf,...

A popular chef in Iran has been arrested after what some have alleged could be to do with a video he posted in reference to assassinated Iranian commander Qassem Soleimani. (excerpt) Navab Ebrahimi was arrested in Tehran on Wednesday and taken to the city's Evin prison, the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said. No reason was given for the arrest of Ebrahimi, who had some 2.7 million followers on Instagram enjoying his slickly produced videos showing how to produce classic Persian dishes without pain. But social media users said the arrest coincided with him posting a recipe to make...

A fire has broken out at Iran's notorious Evin prison, with footage posted online showing flames and smoke billowing from the area. Gun shots and alarms have been reported as coming from the jail, the primary site for detaining political prisoners. An official quoted by state media said "troubles" involving "criminal elements" were to blame for the blaze. The fire comes as Iran continues to be rocked by its most intense unrest in decades. Anti-government monitoring group 1500tasvir posted videos of the fire online, in one of which chants of "death to the dictator" - one of the main slogans...

Tirana, Albania — It is the stuff of wild nightmares. Despite the passage of three decades, for Iranian dissidents residing in a sprawling Albanian compound — far from their homeland — the torture and trauma of life inside an Iranian regime prison is still raw. “I was a university student, almost seven months pregnant, when the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) came,” Kobra Jowkar, now 59, says softly. “They raided our home at midnight and were very ruthless.” That ruthlessness, she claims, included kicking her around like a soccer ball — and walking on her bulging belly. The worst would...

Only last year, Mr Ahmadinejad confirmed the Mossad had infiltrated his intelligence ministry. He said: "Is it normal that the most senior officer responsible for the control of Israeli spies, responsible for confronting Israeli plots in Iran, himself turned out to be an Israeli agent?"... Ali Yunesi, a former Iranian intelligence minister and top adviser to President Rouhani, issued this warning in an interview: "The Mossad's influence in many parts of the country is so vast that every member of the Iranian leadership should be worried for their lives, for their safety."

The Iranian regime is not only covering up its nuclear weapons ambitions. For more than three decades, the extremist theocracy has tried to cover up one of its greatest crimes against humanity. In 1988, in what became known as the 1988 massacre, Tehran began the systematic killing of thousands of dissidents and opposition activists. Ultimately, an estimated 30,000 people lost their lives in the brutal massacre. But a court in Sweden is now ending the regime's cover-up. In November 2019, Swedish authorities arrested a man, Hamid Noury, believed to have been involved in the 1988 massacre. On July 27, 2021,...

The BBC filed a complaint Wednesday to the United Nations over Iran freezing the assets of more than 150 people associated with its Persian service, calling the Islamic Republic’s actions “a deprivation of human rights.” The British broadcaster described Iran’s actions as part of a “criminal investigation” into its staff, former employees and contributors over allegations of them fomenting a “conspiracy against national security” in Iran and abroad. Those swept up in the investigation include Iranian dual nationals from Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Britain and the United States. Iran’s mission at the U.N. did not respond to a request...

An elderly man from the United Kingdom has been held in Iran’s notorious Evin Prison for the last four years on charges of spying, according to his family, who is pushing for his release based on concern about his age and health. Kamal Foroughi, an engineer by training, was working as a consultant in the capital city of Tehran for the Malaysian national oil and gas company Petronas when Iranian authorities took him into custody in May 2011, taking him from his apartment without any warrant for his arrest, according to his family. "My dad is 76-years-old and gets no...

Newly confirmed Secretary of State John Kerry condemned Iran’s “continued violation of the universal right of freedom of religion” and urged the release of an American Christian pastor imprisoned for his religious beliefs. In a written response to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) to questions during his confirmation hearing last week obtained by the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), Kerry, a liberal Massachusetts Democrat, said he is “deeply concerned” about Saeed Abedini, who was sentenced to 8 years in prison for his Christian faith on Sunday. … Abedini, 32, who is from Boise, Idaho, has been jailed in Iran...

An American pastor who has been jailed in Iran since September has been sentenced to eight years in prison, the U.S. State Department said Sunday. Spokesman Darby Holladay said the department is calling on Iran to respect Saeed Abedini’s human rights and release him. Earlier this month, Iran’s semi-official news agency, ISNA, quoted Abedini’s attorney, Nasser Sarbazi, as saying his client stood trial in the Revolutionary Court on charges of attempting to undermine state security by creating a network of Christian churches in private homes. The pastor, who is of Iranian origin but lives in Boise, Idaho, has rejected the...

The university term has started in Iran, but there are many students who will not be in their classes this fall. Instead, many have been banned from attending school for political reasons, and dozens are languishing behind bars. In a morbid joke, Evin prison in Tehran has been called Evin University by some government critics, because of the number of students, as well as journalists and intellectuals, who have been locked up there because of their peaceful expressions of dissent. Human rights organizations have taken up the cause of imprisoned Iranian students. Amnesty International has called on the Iranian authorities...

Blogger becomes casualty of Iran cyber-wars The Associated Press - ‎Apr 11, 2009‎ He was Iran's first known casualty in the skirmishes between bloggers challenging the Islamic regime and authorities striking back with the tools they know ...

<p>A dissident Iranian labour leader who is serving a five-year jail sentence has been hospitalised with a heart problem, a source close to him said yesterday. Mansoor Osanloo, leader of a union grouping bus drivers, was detained in July last year for "distributing statements against the system" and a judiciary official was in October quoted as saying he had been sentenced to jail.</p>

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran opened the doors of its most feared prison to journalists Tuesday, allowing them to interview a jailed Iranian-American academic in a move seen as an effort to blunt criticism of the country's human rights record. The rare look inside Evin Prison — where inmates were seen swimming in an open-air pool, cooking meals and studying for university exams — contrasted sharply with tales of harsh treatment from some recently released prisoners. Amnesty International said the tour was not representative of a facility where people have been tortured and political prisoners have been held without charges. Forty...

May 9, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Iranian officials have jailed a prominent American-Iranian scholar after banning her departure from the country, according to the U.S.-based Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Haleh Esfandiari, the director of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center in Washington, had undergone periodic interrogations by Iranian intelligence officials for four months before being taken to Tehran's Evin prison on May 8, according to center President and Director Lee Hamilton. Wilson Center Details The Case Iranian officials have not commented on Esfandiari's reported arrest, and it is unclear whether she has been formally charged with...

Iran offers rare look inside feared prison By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 13, 2006 At a cellblock inside Iran's most feared prison, women weave carpets and watch World Cup soccer while their children scamper around at their feet. Inmates take seminars on reading, writing and tailoring suits, and on how to avoid AIDS. Iran opened the doors to its infamous Evin prison Tuesday, offering the international media their first glimpse inside the compound from which stories have emerged of torture, forced confessions and floggings — dating from before the 1979 Islamic revolution up to the present...

Police beat and arrest families of Akbar Ganji and Nasser Zarafshan June 17, 2005 Police wielding clubs beat family members of journalist Akbar Ganji, including his wife and brother, the journalist Masud Bastiani, and two members of the Association of Iranian writers on 16 June 2005. They had been taking part in a sit-in organised by relatives of prisoners outside Evin Prison, where police the previous day dispersed a group of around 60 people. They were then arrested and held throughout the day at the offices of police intelligence then the Tehran general prosecutor‚s office. Ganji‚s lawyers have not been...

Writer, Lawyer Dr. Nasser Zarafshan on the Verge of Death in Prison Prominent Iranian writer and lawyer Nasser Zarafshan who has been on a hunger strike for the past week in Iran’s infamous Evin Prison in Tehran is ill and at the brink of death. Zarafshan who has been in prison for close to four years has vowed to continue his hunger strike until his released despite his kidney stones. On June 18, over 120 International writers from the 71 Congress of International PEN held in Bled Slovenia signed a statement demanding the immediate release of Zarafshan and all other...

How Kazemi was Murdered May 22, 2004 The Ottawa Citizen Michael Petrou The murder of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in Iran has been shrouded in denial and speculation -- until now. In exclusive interviews, other dissidents reveal what happened inside Tehran's notorious Evin prison last June. TEHRAN - Heshmatollah Tabarzadi will never forget Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi screaming in a nearby cell. Mr. Tabarzadi, an Iranian political dissident, was arrested last June on the same day as Ms. Kazemi and, like her, thrown in cellblock 209 of Tehran's Evin prison, where Ms. Kazemi would be detained, interrogated and eventually murdered....