Human Rights Violations, Censorship Across Iran

Iranian human rights activist Abdolfateh Soltani says that executions in Iran under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have increased significantly, despite regime efforts to conceal the statistics.

Iranian authorities are not allowing imprisoned Kurdistan human rights organization director Mohammad Sadeq Qabodawand to receive visits from relatives.Qabodawand, who has been imprisoned for 15 months, has been permitted one 20-minute visit. Relatives who came to visit him on September 24 at Evin prison were turned back by prison authorities.

Pressure by the Ahmadinejad government has led to the closure of the weekly political supplement of the reformist daily Etemad, The Rooz website reported that following government pressure and restrictions placed on the supplement, its members resigned.

Iranian authorities carried out a wave of arrests of Arab Sunni residents of the Ahwaz-Khozestan region in southwestern Iran, because they celebrated the 'Eid Al-Fitr holiday according to the Sunni tradition, not the Shi'ite tradition.

Sources: Rooz, Iran, October 2, 2008, September 29, 2008; Al-Siyassa, Kuwait, October 2, 2008

Kuwaiti Daily Reveals: Iran Building Secret Nuclear Reactor, Special Dispatch Series - No. 2006 - Iran - July 29, 2008

Investigation by Egyptian Daily Al-Ahram Finds Iranian Involvement, Shi'ization in Comoros Islands, Special Dispatch Series - No. 2004 - Iran - July 28, 2008

Iranian Threats in Anticipation of Western Attack , Inquiry and Analysis Series - No. 455 - Iran - July 15, 2008

Ayatollah Emami-Kashani in Tehran Friday Sermon: "Oh Liar Israel! Oh Liar White House! If You Wish To Attack Iran, We Will Give You a Response That Will Make You Regretful", Special Dispatch Series - No. 1982 - Iran - July 11, 2008

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