On March 29, a stadium in Iran barred women from getting in during a game. Security guards of the Imam Reza Stadium in Mashhad, Iran, denied women who paid for their tickets access to the stadium.
Iran is shaken by a scandal involving a Jewish journalist who had an interview with then-presidential candidate Ebrahim Raisi. According to an article published by Iran International, Catherine Shakdam, a French-Jewish writer and commentator, "infiltrated" Iran.
Iran's current Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, issued a fatwa against "fake" likes and followers on social media. Khamenei's declaration comes as his followers posed questions at him through his website.
Fatwas are legal opinions or rulings issued by an Islamic scholar. These fatwas are based on Quranic teachings and are socially and sometimes legally carried out as laws.
On Thursday, March 17, jubilant passengers landed in RAF Brize Norton, the United Kingdom, after years of detention in Iran. British-Iranian nationals Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori were finally reunited with their families. Both were released on March 16, 2022.
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.
