Human Rights

Iran's two biggest soccer rivals met in their first women's derby on Wednesday, a historic occasion overshadowed by restrictions on male spectators and journalists and uncertainty over live television coverage.

Iranian authorities have arrested a female fitness blogger after videos showing women exercising without hijab at a Tehran sports exhibition sparked criticism from hardline media.

Iranian lawmakers are reviewing a new internet regulation bill that could expand authorities' powers to restrict online access, raising concerns over further controls after months of nationwide internet shutdowns.

Two Lithuanian women reported missing earlier this month have been detained in Iran, Lithuania’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, according to LRT, the country’s public broadcaster.

A family in Iran lost three members in less than four months after one son was shot dead during protests in Tehran and his brother and father later died of heart attacks, according to information obtained by Iran International.

Iran's judiciary has indicted comedian Saeed Shakiba on charges including supporting Israel and the Pahlavi dynasty, state media reported on Sunday, days after authorities opened a case against him over a video impersonating former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Armed security forces and checkpoints have become more visible across Iran, according to witness reports sent to Iran International, while internet access has deteriorated amid fears of fresh unrest and another round of war.

Iran International’s New York correspondent Maryam Rahmati has won bronze in the broadcast journalism category of the 2026 United Nations Correspondents Association awards, the association announced.

Iran's Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of a protester arrested during the 2022 Woman, Life, Freedom movement over an explosion that his lawyer says caused about $56 in property damage, the Emtedad news channel reported Wednesday.

A man accused of plotting an attack on Iran International journalists told a London court Wednesday that he met an alleged Revolutionary Guards contact at the Iranian embassy while he was gathering information on the journalists.

Iranian twin sisters, one sentenced to death and the other to 36 years in prison over January's anti-government protests, have been named among three finalists for the European Parliament's 2026 Sakharov Prize.

Asking for a divorce, refusing a marriage, speaking to a man she did not know: in Iran, each has preceded the killing of a woman or girl by her own family, according to a Shargh daily investigation that counted at least 38 dead in two months.

At least 15 women and girls have been reported killed across Iran over the past month, many allegedly by husbands, brothers or other male relatives, Iranian news outlet Rokna reported, as legislation aimed at protecting women from violence remains stalled.

An 18-year-old mechanic was killed by a gunshot to his right eye after being wounded and detained on January 9, according to information obtained by Iran International from a source close to his family.

Iran's police intelligence agency has sent threatening text messages warning citizens of possible prosecution over online activity, including people who do not use social media, according to accounts shared with Iran International.

Iran's security forces deployed snipers on the rooftops of the provincial Friday prayer leader's office and a women's student dormitory to fire on protesters during January's deadly crackdown in Semnan, east of Tehran, an Iran International investigation found.

A bullet is fired once. For the families of those killed in Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom uprising, the punishment that followed lasted for years: bodies held hostage, false confessions forced on parents, funerals fired upon and killers set free, Amnesty International has found.

Iranian security and judicial authorities have taken action against Baha’is in the central city of Yazd at least 34 times in less than seven months, raiding homes, summoning dozens for interrogation and jailing members of the faith, the rights group HRANA reported on Friday.