The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran said Tuesday that the Israel-Hamas war has emboldened “repression” inside the country.
Javaid Rehman, a human rights expert given a mandate from the Human Rights Council in Geneva, said that Iran was responding to a loss of credibility after mass protests set off by the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian detained by police for failing to obey the strict public dress code.
“They were already planning further repression,” Rehman said at a Washington roundtable hosted by the National Union for Democracy in Iran.
“In terms of the current crisis, they feel even more emboldened because they believe that they have deflected internal criticism, and the internal repression, through becoming or claiming to become the cheerleaders... of the Palestinian movement,” he said.
Iranian leaders have repeatedly issued warnings to Israel, with Yemen’s Houthis claiming to have fired drones or ballistic missiles at the country in three separate operations, and Hezbollah firing missiles into Israel’s north.
The recent death of 17-year-old Armita Garawand has revived memories for some Iranians of Amini’s death.
Garawand was checked into the hospital after fainting on the Tehran metro on October 1 in what activists have described as an attack by police officers over the strict dress code in Iran.
This has been strongly denied by Iranian officials who insist she collapsed as a result of low blood pressure.
Iranian authorities have arrested a prominent lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh as she attended the funeral of Garawand, her husband Reza Khandan told AFP.
IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency said Sotoudeh "had been arrested and handed over to judicial authorities" for "not wearing a headscarf" and "disturbing the society's mental security."
"Victory is not easy, but it is certain," imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner and women's rights activist Narges Mohammadi, said in a message smuggled out of her Tehran cell.
In the message, read out in French by her daughter, Kiana Rahmani, and posted on the official Nobel website, the 51-year-old activist and journalist expressed "sincere gratitude" to the Norwegian Nobel committee.
It was not disclosed how the message was smuggled out.
Mohammadi once again criticized the requirement for women in Iran to wear a head scarf and denounced Iranian authorities.
"The compulsory hijab is a means of control and repression imposed on society and on which the continuation and survival of this authoritarian religious regime depends," she declared through her 17-year-old daughter, who has taken refuge in France along with her family.
She condemned "a regime that has institutionalized deprivation and poverty in society for 45 years," adding that it was "built on lies, deception, cunning, and intimidation".
"We, the people of Iran, demand democracy, freedom, human rights, and equality, and the Islamic Republic is the main obstacle in the way of realizing these national demands," Mohammadi said in her message.
"We are struggling to transition away from this religious authoritarian regime through solidarity and drawing on the power of a non-violent and unstoppable process in order to revive the honor and pride of Iran and human dignity and prestige for its people," she continued in the message from Evin prison.
Arrested 13 times, sentenced five times to a total of 31 years in prison and 154 lashes, and imprisoned again since 2021, Mohammadi is one of the women spearheading the "Woman, Life, Freedom" uprising in Iran.
Mohammadi was awarded the Peace Prize “for her fight against the oppression of women in Iran and her fight to promote human rights and freedom for all.”
