IRAN NEWS))))))

Two journalists, Hoda and Zahra Towhidi, were arrested following a phone summons and transferred to Evin Prison to serve their sentences. Zahra and Hoda went to the Implementation of the Verdicts’ Branch 1 of the Prosecutor’s Office following a phone summons on May 31, 2023. They were subsequently arrested and transferred to Evin Prison to serve their sentences. The phone summons of Hoda and Zahra Towhidi took place without any official notification of the implementation of the verdict registered in the judicial system or communicated to their lawyers. The two female journalists were arrested during the initial days of the Iranian nationwide protests in 2022. After nearly three months of temporary detention, they were released on bail on December 17, 2022. Zahra and Hoda Towhidi were sentenced to one year of imprisonment by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court on charges of “assembly and collusion” and “propaganda against the state.”

In another news, Iranian journalists face systematic harassment, including incidents such as physical assault and forcefully grabbing the microphone from the hands of journalists. For example, a security officer from the Ministry of Health broke Faezeh Momeni's fingers. https://tinyurl.com/4a59cd59

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On Tuesday, May 30, four political prisoners, Arghavan Fallahi, her father Nasrollah Fallahi 66 years old, her brother Ardavan Fallahi, and a family friend Parvin Mirasan 65 years old, were accused of “waging war against God,” “corruption on Earth through extensive destructive actions,” and “assembly and collusion against internal and external national security.” Security forces arrested Nasrollah Fallahi, 66, and her daughter, Arghavan, 22, on November 4, 2022. Ardavan Fallahi, 24, had already been arrested on November 3. Additionally, their family friend, Parvin Mirasan, 65, was arrested and detained in November. They were interrogated under torture for over two months in detention centers in Isfahan. On February 12, 2023, they were transferred to solitary confinement in Ward 209 of Evin Prison. After one month, Nasrollah Fallahi and Ardavan Fallahi were transferred to Ward 4 of Evin Prison, while Arghavan and Ms. Parvin Mirasan were transferred to the women’s ward of Evin Prison.

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On Monday, May 29, Tayyebeh Nazari wrote on her Instagram account that her daughter, Maryam Arvin lawyer and activist, who had been arrested for defending her clients, was killed by drugs in prison under the pretext of injecting tranquilizers and sedatives. Tayyebeh Nazari added that the prison doctor had confirmed in a letter the injuries Ms. Arvin sustained in prison. This mother also emphasized that one week after her daughter’s death, Branch 103 of the Criminal Court handed down a 15-month prison sentence, a fine of one million Tomans, and 40 lashes for Ms. Nazari, in absentia, which was later suspended. Tayyebeh Nazari also addressed the violence during her daughter’s arrest and added: A female officer named Zahra Alizadeh, known as “Mobina,” along with an intelligence officer from the State Security Force named Hamid Zeydabadi, handcuffed Maryam Arvin in the corridor of the courthouse, removed her veil, and dragged her on the ground. https://tinyurl.com/22ncwwpf