Two promising studies published by universities in Iran showed heartwarming and scientifically backed realities. Iranian men, especially in the younger generations, increasingly support women's rights and oppose violence against them.
Both studies targeted male student populations in Iran's Mazandaran province and the city of Mashhad in the Razavi Khorasan Province.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has recalled the ambassador to the United Kingdom over a controversial video of a ceremony hosted by the embassy. Mohsen Baharvand, Tehran’s ambassador to London, hosted the 43rd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, allowing unveiled women in attendance.
A 17-year old was killed by her husband on February 5, in yet another case of honor killing in Iran. Mona Heydari was beheaded by her husband after being brought back from Turkey. In southwestern Iran, the incident took place in Khuzestan’s capital, Ahvaz.
On January 30, Iran executed two men after finding them guilty of charges related to homosexuality. An Iran Human Rights Watch tweet identified the victims as Mehrdad Karimpour and Farid Mohammadi.
The two were charged with "sodomy by force," a term used as legal gymnastics by the Islamic Republic of Iran to detain and eventually murder homosexuals. Before the execution, both Karimpour and Mohammadi spent six years in Mehrdad Prison.
In a video posted on Twitter on January 16, Barry Rosen, a former U.S. Diplomat among the 52 Americans held hostage during the U.S. Embassy attack in Tehran in 1979, announced his plans to go on a hunger strike. The hunger strike coincides with the 41 year anniversary of Rosen’s release after 444 days in Iranian custody.
On January 3, 2022, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, when speaking about the second anniversary of the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by the US in a televised speech, said that former US President Donald Trump must face trial for the assassination or Tehran would take revenge.
On November 6th, Tasnim News Agency (TNA), an Iranian news outlet, reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Gaurds Corps (IRGC) conducted arrests related to human trafficking and homosexuals.
On November 9, Iran’s parliament confirmed receiving a bill that will criminalize owning pets, especially animals deemed “unclean” by Islamic law. The bill on the “protection of public rights against dangerous and harmful animals” was drafted by 75 conservative members of Iran’s parliament. The bill aims to amend the Islamic Penal Code to include the importation, sale, and keeping of various animals.
On November 16, 2021, Iranian president, Ibrahim Raisi, signed into law the rejuvenation of the population and support of the family bill, which sparked a backlash from human rights watchdogs, NGOs for women's rights, and HIV/AIDS prevention advocacy groups.
