Human Rights | Iran
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$300 Billion for a Regime We Can’t Trust
By Farzan Faramarzi This article was first published in Washington Examiner The United States and Iran have reached an agreement. While the deal is set to take effect on Friday, we still do not know its full details. What we do know is that the U.S. is lifting its naval blockade on Iranian ports and…
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Iran Under Occupation: The Islamic Republic Is Not Iran
By: Farzan Faramarzi This article was first published in Washington Examiner “Iran is a country. The Islamic Republic is an occupying force. The Islamic Republic has nothing to do with Iran or Iranians.” I’m not sure who said this first or where I first read it, but it summarizes how Iranians feel about the Islamic…
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FIFA’s political illusion: How Iran’s regime turns the World Cup into propaganda
By Farzan Faramarzi First published in Washington Examiner The FIFA World Cup kicks off in just a few days. The FIFA World Cup is widely considered the most popular sporting event in the world. While this is a sporting event, and as much as FIFA likes to keep football neutral, political, religious, or personal messages…
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Iran’s internet is back—but the truth is just emerging
After 88 days of a nationwide internet blackout, the Islamic Republic of Iran has restored partial access to the global internet. On the surface, this may sound like good news. It is not. Not all Iranians are back online. Many still face disruptions, heavy filtering and surveillance. And for tens of thousands of families, the…
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Shakila Ghasemi: A Bahá’í Woman Disappeared in Iran’s System of Repression
Shakila Ghasemi is a young Bahá’í woman from the city of Kerman, Iran, whose case has become emblematic of the ongoing persecution of the Bahá’í minority in the Islamic Republic. Born around 1999–2000, she is reported to be 26–27 years old at the time of her arrest in early 2026. On February 2, 2026, Ghasemi…