Iran Endures Consecutive Nights Of Internet Disruption

According to reports from the Iranian Women's Association's Telegram channel, Rangriz managed to convey this distressing news to her relatives during a brief phone call from prison.

Rangriz's initial arrest took place on May 1, 2019, during a demonstration on International Workers' Day in front of the parliament, where she was protesting alongside a group of fellow activists.

Following her arrest, Rangriz was held in solitary confinement in section 209 of Tehran's Evin prison for several weeks. During the period, she was denied any contact with her family and endured intensive interrogations without legal representation. She was coerced into confessing to allegedly planning protests deemed a threat to national security.

After weeks of interrogation by intelligence officials, Rangriz was brought before the prosecutor's office within Evin prison. She faced a series of charges, including "gathering and colluding against national security," "spreading propaganda against the system," "disrupting public order," and "insulting officers on duty."

While some detainees were eventually released, individuals like Atefeh Rangriz and journalist Marzieh Amiri received prison sentences. Rangriz was initially sentenced to 11 years and six months in prison, along with 74 lashes, in a summary trial. However, her sentence, along with those of other labor activists and protesters from the International Workers' Day demonstration, was later pardoned in the subsequent year.

The exact reasons behind Rangriz's detention remain shrouded in mystery but is one of a number of rearrests of protesters and opposition figures in the lead up to the anniversary of Mahsa Amini's tragic death.

Mohammad Sadegh Akbari further stated that "Baha'i instructors from three cities in the country were providing education and training on their beliefs to promote Baha'ism." As a result, intelligence forces have detained and imprisoned two individuals considered prominent Baha'i instructors in Iran.

Akbari added that in the sealed educational centers in Babol, "a number of books and brochures related to the Baha'i Faith" were confiscated.

The statements by the head of the Mazandaran Judiciary come at a time when, in recent months, there has been a widespread wave of summoning and detaining Baha'i citizens in Iran. The crackdown is happening simultaneously with an escalation of government pressure on various segments of society and political groups following the nationwide protests in 2022.

The Shia clergy consider the Baha'i faith as a heretical sect. In Iran, the Baha'i community, numbering around 300,000, faces systematic persecution, discrimination, and harassment. They are barred from holding public sector jobs and are sometimes dismissed from their private sector employment under pressure from authorities.

During the recent crackdown on Baha'is in Iran, security authorities detained nine Baha'i citizens in Tehran and confiscated 40 Baha'i homes and warehouses belonging to them.

Security authorities in Iran have repeatedly applied pressure on citizens who practice the Baha'i Faith, using various pretexts and security reasons, and have seized or confiscated their properties on multiple occasions.

"The family, friends, and supporters of Johan are calling for urgent international attention to secure his immediate release and safe return to Europe," Johan Floderus' family wrote on a website dedicated to his release, on his 33rd birthday, on Sunday.

The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that Floderus' case had been raised repeatedly with authorities in the Islamic Republic.

His family said Floderus was being held more than 500 days for alleged spying without formal charges at Tehran's Evin prison, where political prisoners and many detainees facing security charges, including Iranians with dual nationality, are jailed.

His family said Floderus had travelled throughout the Middle East to study languages, explore historic sites and to support humanitarian cooperation projects in Iran on behalf of the EU, and was arrested in April 2022 before leaving the country.

"His needs for adequate food rations, outside walks, medical checkups and much more are not respected (in jail)," they said, adding that he had been denied "communicating" with Sweden's embassy in Tehran, except a few consular visits.

They said that starting in February 2023 Floderus was restricted to making short phone calls once a month. "He had to go on hunger strike to be allowed to make several of these calls, which have to be in English and monitored."

(With reporting by Reuters)

The parliament is expected to vote soon on a draft law that was crafted to increase a variety of punishments for women who appear in public without observing the full requirements of the government dress code. The measures include hefty cash fines, denial of public services to women without hijab, and even prison for repeat offenders.

Abdol-Hossein Khosropanah secretary of the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Cultural Council said Saturday that hijab serves the interests of the Islamic society and “the Muslim ruler” must make it mandatory.

Many Iranian women have stopped wearing the hijab after nationwide protests following Mahsa Amini’s death in the custody of the morality police in September 2022.

For a few months, authorities did not act against the phenomenon, afraid of inflaming the public and triggering more protests. However, since January they have begun a full campaign to enforce the dress code. Parliament’s draft law is the latest measure to force women to wear the hijab.

Many clerics and hardline members and supporters of the regime argue that the fate of the Islamic Republic depends on enforcing hijab, and if women are allowed to act as they wish it would weaken the foundations of clerical rule.

Iran International sources report that regime agents have set up nighttime checkpoints amid a significant buildup of security forces in city centers.

These measures include enhanced protection for government buildings, a substantial increase in law enforcement personnel, and plainclothes motorcycle patrols, according to eyewitness accounts.

The regime has also erected numerous banners in major city centers warning citizens of severe penalties for dress code violations, seemingly as a deliberate effort to instill fear and discourage potential protests.

Last year's brutal crackdown by the regime during the protests following Amini's death, resulted in the deaths of over 500 civilians, with thousands more sustaining injuries and tens of thousands imprisoned.

Despite the intensified intimidation campaign, several calls for protests and strikes have been issued online by major dissident figures and groups. In a joint statement, eight labor and civil organizations reaffirmed their commitment to keeping the revolutionary movement ignited by the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in police custody. They called upon the people to take to the streets, launch strikes, and hold gatherings on her death anniversary on September 16.

The group of eight organization referred to the anniversary protests as an opportunity for a "fresh start" in the course of the revolutionary movement, stating, "With the strength of our struggle, we will turn the anniversary of the Women, Life, Freedom movement into our annual public holiday."

The signatories of the statement include the Council for Organizing Contract Workers' Protests in the Oil Industry, the Association of Electricity and Metalworkers in Kermanshah, the Follow-up Committee for Workers' Associations, and the Independent Voice of Steel Workers.

A few days after a call for action by Iran's exiled prince Reza Pahlavi, who has become a leading opposition figure in the current wave of protests, exiled Queen Farah Pahlavi seconded the call for Iranians to unite against the regime.

The queen also urged Iran's security and military forces not to stand against the people and protect the lives of protesters against the regime's suppression apparatus. Pahlavi hailed Mahsa Amini as a symbol for all those who over the past 44 years have strived to weaken religious tyranny and redress the setbacks inflicted on the country by the Islamic Republic, stating, "This shared pain is our commitment to achieving a common cure."

Calls for national rallies on the anniversary of protests have rekindled the "Woman, Life, Freedom" movement, which also embodies popular anger against poverty and various forms of discrimination, particularly gender-based and sexual discrimination, for over four decades.

For several months, the Supreme National Security Council has convened various meetings to prepare for potential public protests on the anniversary of the people's uprising. These meetings have led to the detention of family members of activists and political figures. However, the regime has yet to officially disclose the exact number of detainees, their charges, detention locations, or the authorities responsible for the detentions.

Nevertheless, according to the Human Rights Organization Hengaw, at least 70 family members of detainees, including nine children under the age of 18, have been arrested in various cities since the beginning of this year (March 22).

Based on information obtained by Iran International, security entities have also summoned some participants of last year's protests and are harassing the families of dead protesters to discourage them from partaking in protests.

These individuals have been pressured to remain in their homes during the week that coincides with September 16. Intelligence agencies have issued warnings that engagement in "any kind of activity in the virtual or public space" during the period will result in detention.