Center for Human Rights in Iran

Center for Human Rights in Iran We've been documenting rights violations in Iran and advocating for the Iranian people since 2008.

The Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of human rights in Iran. CHRI investigates and documents rights violations occurring throughout Iran, relying on first-hand accounts to expose abuses that would otherwise go unreported. We bring these violations to the attention of the international community

through news articles, briefings, in-depth reports, podcasts, and videos, and work to build support for human rights inside Iran as well. CHRI engages in intensive outreach and international advocacy aimed at defending the fundamental rights and freedoms of the Iranian people and holding the Iranian government accountable to its human rights obligations.

Iranian authorities executed two protesters, Javad Zamani and Abolfazl Saedi, on June 16 in Semnan province, state media...
16/06/2026

Iranian authorities executed two protesters, Javad Zamani and Abolfazl Saedi, on June 16 in Semnan province, state media reported.

According to the judiciary's Mizan News Agency, the two men were arrested in connection with protests in the city of Shahroud on January 8. Authorities did not disclose when they were arrested or where they were held.

Branch 1 of the Shahroud Revolutionary Court sentenced the pair to death on charges including "enmity against God,” “corruption on earth,” “collusion against national security and destruction of public and private property.” The court also ordered the confiscation of their assets. The Supreme Court reportedly upheld the sentences on appeal.

State media broadcast what appeared to be the men's confessions alongside reports of their ex*****ons. Their faces were blurred and their voices altered in the footage.

No information about the case had been made public before the ex*****ons were announced.

🔸Since March 19, at least 20 protesters are known to have been executed in connection with the nationwide protests that began in January and were followed by a bloody massacre of protesters.

🔸 These ex*****ons are being carried out at an alarmingly rapid pace, with protesters arrested, interrogated, prosecuted, and sentenced to death, and their convictions swiftly upheld by the Supreme Court, all within a matter of months through proceedings that lack even the most basic due process guarantees.

🔸 Death sentences in Iran are routinely handed down following grossly unfair trials, with defendants frequently denied access to independent legal counsel and convicted on the basis of forced “confessions” extracted under torture and coercion.

🔸Authorities have repeatedly invoked “wartime conditions” to justify these fast-tracked prosecutions and death sentences. Vaguely defined and manufactured “national security” and “espionage” charges are increasingly used to criminalize dissent and secure verdicts that carry the death penalty.

🔸 The lack of sustained international outrage over politically motivated ex*****ons in Iran has emboldened authorities to dramatically escalate their use of the death penalty. Without states worldwide demanding a stop to these ex*****ons, many more young people will be put to death simply for protesting.

16/06/2026

Leili Mahdavi, the mother of Siavash Mahmoudi, a 16-year-old protester killed during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, shared an emotional video on her social media on June 16, 2026, after spotting a photo of her son on a street in Iran.

In the video she says: “I’m happy that they haven’t forgotten Siavash yet.”

She also criticized those who she says are trying to portray everything in Iran as normal: “Nothing has become normal. Everything is still the same.”

Siavash was shot and killed by security forces on September 25, 2022 in Tehran. His mother has been a vocal advocate for justice for her son and has been repeatedly summoned by authorities.

In a video in 2022, she said: They [security forces] killed my child. They shot him in his head. I am proud to be the mother of Siavash Mahmoudi. I am not afraid of anyone. They [the authorities] are telling me to remain silent, but I will not sit in silence.”

Three defense attorneys in Shiraz have each been sentenced to three years in prison and banned from leaving the country ...
09/06/2026

Three defense attorneys in Shiraz have each been sentenced to three years in prison and banned from leaving the country for two years.

Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Shiraz convicted Nazanin Salari, Mahmoud Taravat Rouy, and Masoud Ahmadian of “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime,” sentencing each to two years and one year in prison, respectively. The court also ordered the confiscation of their passports and imposed a two-year travel ban.

The case stems from their participation in seminars on women's and children's rights, advocacy for legal reforms addressing domestic violence, and efforts to combat child marriage and violence against women. The lawyers were first summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence in 2020 and formally charged in 2021.

They also face separate charges in a criminal court, including appearing in public without the mandatory hijab and encouraging non-compliance with hijab laws.

In recent months, the independent legal community in Iran has been targeted by authorities, with several human rights lawyers facing arrests, prosecutions, imprisonment, and judicial harassment related to their work.

42-year-old protester Fathollah Avari was executed after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court, according t...
04/06/2026

42-year-old protester Fathollah Avari was executed after his death sentence was upheld by the Supreme Court, according to Iran's state media.

While officials did not disclose the date or location of the ex*****on, reports indicate that it was carried out at Hamedan Central Prison.

Avari was sentenced to death on charges of moharebeh ("enmity against God") and the alleged murder of a police officer during the protests. State media broadcast his televised forced "confession," a serious violation of his due process rights.

🚨 Since March 19, at least 18 protesters are known to have been executed in connection with the nationwide protests that began in January and were followed by a bloody massacre of protesters.

👉 These ex*****ons are being carried out at an alarmingly rapid pace, with protesters arrested, interrogated, prosecuted, and sentenced to death, and their convictions swiftly upheld by the Supreme Court, all within a matter of months through proceedings that lack even the most basic due process guarantees.

👉 Many have been held incommunicado for weeks while undergoing interrogations marked by torture and coercion, denied access to independent legal counsel, convicted on the basis of forced “confessions,” and, in some cases, secretly executed without prior notice to their families.

A broad coalition of civil society organizations in Iran has published a statement urgently calling for a free and open ...
28/05/2026

A broad coalition of civil society organizations in Iran has published a statement urgently calling for a free and open internet in the country, arguing that it is inseparable from the defense of education, children’s futures, economic dignity, and equal citizenship.

The statement published on May 21, 2026, comes at a critical moment for digital rights and fundamental freedoms in Iran.

In recent months, Iran has experienced some of the most severe and prolonged internet shutdowns in the world, accompanied by intensified filtering, throttling, and selective-access policies that grant privileged connectivity to approved groups while denying ordinary citizens equal access to the global internet.

Digital rights organizations have warned that these measures have transformed the internet in Iran from a shared public space into an instrument of exclusion and control.

➡️ Swipe to read the full statement by civil society organizations and child rights advocates in Iran.

Iranian authorities have sentenced attorney Mohammad Tarighat Esfanjani to three years in prison, while another lawyer, ...
27/05/2026

Iranian authorities have sentenced attorney Mohammad Tarighat Esfanjani to three years in prison, while another lawyer, Seyed Mohammadreza Razavi Fard, stood trial this week.

The Revolutionary Court of Osku County in East Azerbaijan province recently sentenced Tarighat Esfanjani to one year in prison for “propaganda against the regime” and an additional two years of discretionary imprisonment for allegedly “insulting the Supreme Leader." Authorities cited content published on his Instagram page as evidence in the case.

Tarighat Esfanjani, an attorney and member of the East Azerbaijan Province Bar Association, was reportedly assaulted last year by individuals wearing military uniforms. His wife was also reportedly threatened during the incident.

Separately, on May 26, attorney Seyed Mohammadreza Razavi Fard appeared before Branch 1 of the Revolutionary Court of Qom to defend himself against a charge of “propaganda against the regime.” Razavi Fard is currently out on bail pending further proceedings.

In recent months, lawyers in Iran have faced arrests, prosecutions, and judicial harassment.

Lawyers Elham Zeraatpisheh and Astareh (Maryam) Ansari were arrested in Shiraz on May 4 and May 3, 2026, respectively.

In a separate case, lawyers Amir Raisian and Milad Panahipour are facing judicial proceedings at Tehran’s Security Prosecutor’s Office after publicly raising concerns about their client, death row protester Ehsan Hosseinipour.

Prominent human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh was arrested by Ministry of Intelligence agents at her home on April 1, 2026, and released on bail on May 13.

Iranian authorities secretly executed two Kurdish political prisoners, Ramin Zoleh and Karim Maroufpour, on May 21 in Na...
21/05/2026

Iranian authorities secretly executed two Kurdish political prisoners, Ramin Zoleh and Karim Maroufpour, on May 21 in Naqadeh Prison in Iran’s West Azerbaijan province, without notifying their families or lawyers.

A former cellmate told the Kurdistan Human Rights Network that the two men were arrested by intelligence forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the summer of 2024 and subjected to months of physical and psychological torture to extract forced “confessions” alleging they had planned to kill an IRGC member in Piranshahr.

The two men were sentenced to death by Branch One of the Mahabad Revolutionary Court on charges of “armed rebellion” through alleged membership in a Kurdish opposition party.

According to Kurdpa, the verdict was issued following a trial that lasted only a few minutes, during which they were denied access to lawyers of their choosing. Their torture-tainted forced “confessions” were used as evidence against them.

🔸 Security-related charges such as “baghy” (armed rebellion) are frequently used against political prisoners in Iran, particularly Kurdish minority citizens, to impose lengthy prison sentences or the death penalty in cases marked by torture, forced “confessions,” and sham trials.

🔸 At least 34 people, including 14 protesters arrested during the January protests, have been executed on politically motivated charges since March 19.

🔸 Death sentences in Iran are routinely handed down following grossly unfair trials, with defendants frequently denied access to independent legal counsel and convicted solely on the basis of forced “confessions” extracted under torture and coercion.

🔸 Under the cover of war, Iranian authorities are accelerating politically motivated ex*****ons at an unprecedented pace, emboldened by near-total impunity and a lack of sustained international outcry.

🔸 World leaders must place the ongoing human rights crisis in Iran, including the alarming wave of ex*****ons, at the center of all diplomatic engagement with the Islamic Republic’s authorities.

As Iranian authorities intensify domestic repression, they have sharply escalated their persecution of the country’s Bah...
19/05/2026

As Iranian authorities intensify domestic repression, they have sharply escalated their persecution of the country’s Baha’i community through a sweeping wave of arbitrary arrests, violent home raids, enforced disappearances, and property seizures targeting dozens of families across the country.

Swipe more to read more.

🔗 For more testimonies and a list of recent arrests and raids, please read the full report on our website linked in bio.

Iran’s East Azerbaijan Court of Appeals has upheld prison sentences against 13 Azerbaijani-Turkic activists.The verdict,...
18/05/2026

Iran’s East Azerbaijan Court of Appeals has upheld prison sentences against 13 Azerbaijani-Turkic activists.

The verdict, communicated to the defendants on May 16, sentences the group to a combined total of 81 years and five months in prison.

The defendants are Yoroush Mehrali Beiglou, Hamed Yeganehpour, Ebrahim Avaz-Zadeh, Araz Ebrahim-Nejad, Hossein Azadi, Amirhossein Aghaei, Naser Razmjou, Davoud Shiri, Javad Soudbar, Mehrdad Ghaderi, Ali Babaei, Mohammadreza Movahed, and Morteza Nourmohammadi.

Almost all of the defendants have been charged with “membership in an illegal group” and/or “assembly and collusion against national security.”

It is important to note that such charges are frequently used in cases involving activists from Iran’s ethnic minority communities in connection with their peaceful civil and cultural activism and participation in cultural gatherings.

Azerbaijani-Turkic activists in Iran belong to one of the country’s largest ethnic minority communities and are routinely targeted for advocating cultural and linguistic rights, including the right to education in their mother tongue.

Erfan Arabi, a 20-year-old computer engineering student at Islamic Azad University of Birjand in Iran's South Khorasan p...
14/05/2026

Erfan Arabi, a 20-year-old computer engineering student at Islamic Azad University of Birjand in Iran's South Khorasan province, has been sentenced to eight years in prison by a Revolutionary Court in connection with the 2026 nationwide protests.

He was verbally informed of the sentence on May 12. Arabi was arrested in February 2026 after being summoned by the Ministry of Intelligence, which confiscated his electronic devices. He was released on bail in April.

He was reportedly charged with “assembly and collusion against national security” and “propaganda against the regime." Under Article 134 of Iran’s Islamic Penal Code, 5 years of the imprisonment sentence is enforceable.

🔸 Thousands were arrested during the nationwide protests earlier this year, with many subjected to enforced disappearance and held without charge. Defendants have been denied access to independent lawyers, deprived of due process, subjected to torture and other ill-treatment to extract forced confessions, and handed heavy sentences, including the death penalty. The wave of arbitrary arrests has continued since the war began.

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