Freedom of thought and expression

Last updated:

February 22, 2026

Freedom of thought and expression

The right to treatment under security fire/Musa Barzin

During the recent protests, we witnessed many bitter incidents and extra-legal actions in Iran. One of these cases was the restriction of treatment for protesters in various forms. According to reports published from the very first days of the protests, police and security forces attacked hospitals where injured protesters had been taken, creating heartbreaking scenes. […]...

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Created By: Mousa Barzin
February 20, 2026

A call that never connected/ Mahtab Alinejad

It’s almost three in the morning. The cold light of a mobile phone illuminates the room, and the hands of a young girl in a European city restlessly glide across the screen. She dials her mother’s number for the umpteenth time. It beeps, then hangs up. Again. No messages are exchanged. The internet is down […]...

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Created By: Mahtab Alinezhad
February 20, 2026

The Wounded Memory of a Protest/Mina Jawani

The protests of January 1404 are remembered neither as a single image nor as a narrative that can be easily retold. What remains is more of a scattering: unfinished scenes, videos that were cut short, streets that emptied sooner than expected. They neither became a moment of triumph nor a complete defeat; they remain in […]...

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Created By: Mina Javani
February 20, 2026

Violent subjugation: Why do the repressive forces shoot? / Hermine Hordad

A young man, caught in the crosshairs of a slave, sits cross-legged on the asphalt in the most defenseless human situation; in front of him stands the Islamic Republic’s suppression machine. A few meters away, a girl and a boy are shielding their chests from forces holding weapons. The statistics are horrifying. It is difficult […]...

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Created By: Hermineh Hourdad
February 20, 2026

Red Iran; From “Disconnection of Contact” to “Disconnection of Life”/ Nafiseh Laleh

Tehran, evening of January 18, 1404, around 8:00 PM His excited voice echoes in the echo of the desperate voices of the street and my heart skips a beat. The call is cut off around the first minute and remains cut off for the following days and weeks; like ourselves, from life. We do not […]...

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Created By: Nafiseh Laleh
February 20, 2026

Words in Black Bags/Alma Fazeli

It has been more than sixteen years since the first image of Neda Agha Soltan’s last look was released, and about forty days since the first film of the pile of black bags for human corpses was released. Let me not go back any further, because to write about the experience of these days, I […]...

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Created By: Alma Fazeli
February 20, 2026

When the Internet Was Shut Down, the Image Spoke/ Raha Sabet Sarvestani

The release of videos related to the events of Kahrizak, at a time when the internet was widely shut down inside Iran, triggered a wave of shock and reaction among public opinion abroad—particularly among the Iranian diaspora, international observers, politicians, and human rights activists. This phenomenon cannot be regarded merely as a media event; rather, […]...

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Created By: Raha Sabet Sarvestani
February 20, 2026

Penal System or System of Belief? / Sina Yousefi

Repentance (tawba) has long been regarded in Islamic jurisprudence as a moral and devotional concept, and over time, it has also gained a significant role in criminal proceedings. Islamic jurisprudence, by linking the realm of religious ethics with the domain of punishment, has created an institution in which inner transformation can lead to the annulment […]...

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Created By: Sina Yousefi
November 22, 2025

Hope or fear after the ceasefire?/ Majid Shia Ali

  The twelve-day war has ended, but the war conditions have not ended. The shadow of war still looms over Iranian society. The threat of war, missile attacks, explosions, assassinations, and Israeli security operations in Iran are still serious. The continuation of the war situation, the inability of the government to take action to address […]...

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Created By: Majid Shia’ali
August 23, 2025

Cold peace as a model of governance in the post-crisis era/ Mina Javani

After the end of the twelve-day war, the situation in Iran has seemingly entered a phase of stability; a phase that in political discourse is referred to as “mutual restraint” or “controlled tension”, but at a structural level, it is not only a sign of a return to normalcy, but also a continuation of the […]...

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Created By: Mina Javani
August 23, 2025

What is the ‘Defense Council’ and why was it approved and formed? / Sina Yousefi

In the month of Khordad of this year, Iran witnessed one of the shortest and most expensive military confrontations, known as the 12-day war. This war not only targeted vital infrastructure of Iran, including sensitive nuclear facilities and defense systems, but also exposed deep-rooted weaknesses in the structure of the Islamic Republic’s defense and security. […]...

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Created By: Sina Yousefi
August 23, 2025

New Control Tool: Critics’ SIM Card Disconnect/ Fereshteh Goli

Nowadays, having a SIM card is one of the necessities of life in the digital and virtual world, and any deprivation of this right for anyone can be considered a tragedy. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has emphasized the importance of access to communication tools as a human right in several official documents, especially in […]...

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Created By: Fereshteh Goli
August 23, 2025