For more of the latest Kurdish news, see these sources:
ANF English https://anfenglishmobile.com/
Hawar News https://hawarnews.com/en/
Rojhelat http://rojhelat.info/en/
Komun Academy https://komun-academy.com
CHRI https://www.iranhumanrights.org/
Iran Human Rights https://iranhr.net/en/
Kurdistan Press Agency https://kurdpa.net/en
Kurdistan24 https://www.kurdistan24.net/en
Rudaw https://www.rudaw.net/english
Al-Monitor https://www.al-monitor.com
KHRN http://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en
KMMK https://kmmk-ge.org/
Hengaw https://hengaw.net/en
NEWS
- 6 children injured by mine explosions in less than 40 days
- Novel crisis: Iran’s books shrink as US sanctions bite
- Iran intelligence ministry detains five Kurdish labour activists
- SOHR: Iranian groups set up bases in Tabqa
- Iran court condemns Kurdish political prisoner to life in exile
- Decapitated Child Bride Highlights Iran’s Lack of Protections for Girls and Women
- Hanar’s suicide: The tragic state of transgender community in Kurdistan
- Iran’s water woes worsen despite warmer Taliban ties
- Alleged leader of US-based Iran militant group goes on trial
- Iranian intelligence organization arrests director Nejad from Eastern Kurdistan
- Iranian authorities arrest two activists in Marivan and Saqqaz
- Turkey builds walls on Iranian border to disconnect Kurds
- Iran jails French ‘tourist’ for eight years for spying
- Rights Activist Narges Mohammadi Sentenced to Another Eight Years in Prison
- Iranian police shoot dead 8-year-old Kurdish girl
- Heavy snowfall in Kurdistan
- Dozens of human rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish areas in 2021
- Will Iran recognize Taliban government in Afghanistan?
- Golaleh Moradi imprisoned without a court order for nine months
- Refugees tortured on the border with Iran
- Three kolbars who went missing in Şemdinli region still unaccounted for
- Kurdish couple drowns in Greek river
- Teachers in Rojhilat and Iran take to the streets to demand end to violations of rights
- Pentagon says Iran is behind MuddyWater hacking group
- British Council employee released in Iran, dual nationals remain detained
- UN experts urge Iran to halt execution of juvenile offender
- Khadijeh Mehdipour sentenced to 20 months in prison
- Imprisoned Journalist Keyvan Samimi is Being Led to His Death
- Political prisoner in Iran sends solidarity message to prisoners in Turkey
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
- Another Foreign Citizen Nabbed by Iran Now Faces Possible Execution
- Interview: Suppressing Teachers’ Protests Would be a “Great Risk” for Iran’s Government
- Conference: Iran In Transition
- Iran urged to release rights defender Narges Mohmmadi
- Interview: “Serious Ramifications” for Women in Iran’s New Population Growth Law
REPORTS
- 2021: Anti-Personnel Mine Explosions in Kurdistan – A Statistical Report
- Arrest of 50 Kurdish citizens in January 2022
- Human rights
- Iran: At Least 46 Executed in January 2022
- 2021: Kolbars – A statistical report
- January 2022: Human rights violations in Iranian Kurdistan
- Iran: Execution of 48 Kurdish citizens in 2021 + statistic
- 2021: At least 10 Kurdish prisoners tortured to death + list of names
- Annual Report 2021
———————
NEWS
- 6 children injured by mine explosions in less than 40 days
14 February 2022 | Hengaw
At least 6 children under the age of 18 in the border areas of Mehran, Dehloran and Qasr-e-Shirin were severely injured and even disabled by mine blasts in less than 40 days, according to the statistics registered by Hengaw Human Rights Organisation.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/6-children-injured-by-mine-explosions-in-less-than-40-days
- Novel crisis: Iran’s books shrink as US sanctions bite
13 February 2022 | Rudaw
For literature lovers in sanction-hit Iran, a new novel has long provided a brief respite from a grinding economic crisis triggered by international pressure imposed over Tehran’s contested nuclear program.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/13022022
- Iran intelligence ministry detains five Kurdish labour activists
12 February 2022 | KHRN
Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has arrested at least five Kurdish labour activists in the scope of the new wave of arrests in Sanandaj, in Kurdistan province.
The ministry summoned and detained the activists named Eghbal Shabani on 9 February and Hajar Saeidi, Fardin Miraki, Issa Moradi, and Ramin Karimi on 10 February. https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/iran-intelligence-ministry-detains-five-kurdish-labour-activists/
- SOHR: Iranian groups set up bases in Tabqa
11 February 2022 | ANHA
The SOHR said the step is the very first of its kind by pro-Iran groups in the area. The village of Khirbet Hedla is in vicinity of the Tabqa Military Airbase. This follows withdrawal by the Russian forces from the base.
https://hawarnews.com/en/haber/sohr-iranian-groups-set-up-bases-in-tabqa-h29165.html
- Iran court condemns Kurdish political prisoner to life in exile
10 February 2022 | KHRN
An Iranian court has sentenced Kurdish political prisoner Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini to living eight years in internal exile in the Heris district of the northwestern province of East Azerbaijan after his release.
https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/iran-court-condemns-kurdish-political-prisoner-to-life-in-exile/
- Decapitated Child Bride Highlights Iran’s Lack of Protections for Girls and Women
10 February 2022 | CHRI
Mona “Ghazal” Heydari was 17 years old when her husband, Sajjad Heydari, decapitated her and paraded her head on a street in the Iranian city of Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province—at times smiling at a camera.
- Hanar’s suicide: The tragic state of transgender community in Kurdistan
10 February 2022 | KHRN
In recent days, the news of the suicide of a Kurdish transgender* woman named Hanar in Marivan, in northwestern Iran’s Kurdistan province, circulated on social media. One of the sources that published the news was the Instagram account of the Kurdistan LGBTIQ Community, which has been working for years to defend the rights of the queer** community in the Kurdish language.
- Iran’s water woes worsen despite warmer Taliban ties
09 February 2022 | Al-Monitor
Iranian and Taliban officials have issued conflicting claims about how water from a dam in southwestern Afghanistan will be used, amid worsening shortages in Iran and protests.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/02/irans-water-woes-worsen-despite-warmer-taliban-ties
- Alleged leader of US-based Iran militant group goes on trial
06 February 2022 | Rudaw
The alleged leader of the militant wing of a U.S.-based Iranian opposition group went on trial Sunday, state TV reported. He’s accused of planning a 2008 bombing at a mosque that killed 14 people and wounded over 200.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/060220221
- Iranian intelligence organization arrests director Nejad from Eastern Kurdistan
31 January 2022 | ANF
According to a report published by Kolbarnews, Kurdish director Miqlad Hesen Nejad was detained on Sunday without any justification.
- Iranian authorities arrest two activists in Marivan and Saqqaz
31 January 2022 | ANHA
The Firat News Agency reported that the Iranian authorities arrested the Kurdish teacher and activist Shayban Mohammadi, from the city of Marivan in Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan), and took him to an unknown destination, in the absence of any information about the reason for the arrest.
- Turkey builds walls on Iranian border to disconnect Kurds
27 January 2022 | ANF
Serhat Association for Migration Research (Göç-Der) co-chair Gülşen Kurt said that Turkey is building walls at its border with Iran with EU funding in a bid to severe connection among the Kurds rather than to avoid refugee influx.
- Iran jails French ‘tourist’ for eight years for spying
27 January 2022 | Rudaw
An Iranian court has sentenced a French man to eight years in prison on spying charges, his family and Paris-based lawyer said Tuesday, arguing that Tehran was using him as a “hostage” in talks with the West.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/27012022
- Rights Activist Narges Mohammadi Sentenced to Another Eight Years in Prison
24 January 2022 | CHRI
In an ongoing campaign to silence human rights defenders and crush dissent in the Islamic Republic, the prominent rights defender Narges Mohammadi, already serving time at Iran’s notorious Gharchak Prison for her peaceful activism, has been sentenced to another eight years in prison and more than 70 lashes, according to a tweet by her Paris-based husband.
- Iranian police shoot dead 8-year-old Kurdish girl
23 January 2022 | Hengaw
After Iranian police fired on a Kurdish family’s car in Zanjan in Iran, an 8-year-old girl was killed and her sister seriously injured.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/iranian-police-shoot-dead-8-year-old-kurdish-girl
- Heavy snowfall in Kurdistan
20 January 2022 | ANF
Hundreds of villages in Kurdistan have been cut off from the outside world by heavy snowfall. Traffic accidents have occurred in many places and flights have been cancelled.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/kurdistan/heavy-snowfall-in-kurdistan-57616
- Dozens of human rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish areas in 2021
20 January 2022 | Rudaw
At least 160 cases of Kolbar deaths and injuries were reported in Iran’s Kurdish populated areas in 2021, according to a report from a human rights group.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/20012022
- Will Iran recognize Taliban government in Afghanistan?
19 January 2022 | Al-Monitor
While Tehran is proceeding slowly when it comes to establishing official ties with the Taliban government, recent talks highlight Iran’s interest in expanding its role in Afghanistan.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/01/will-iran-recognize-taliban-government-afghanistan
- Golaleh Moradi imprisoned without a court order for nine months
19 January 2022 | Hengaw
Kurdish citizen Golaleh Moradi is still being held in the women’s prison in Urmia, West Azerbaijan province. Golaleh Moradi was arrested nine months ago on charges of belonging to a Kurdish political party. She is also accused of being involved in the assassination of a member of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/golaleh-moradi-imprisoned-without-a-court-order-for-nine-months
- Refugees tortured on the border with Iran
18 January 2022 | ANF
People fleeing war and poverty continue to die trying to cross the Turkish-Iranian border and get one step closer to Europe. Countless reports by NGOs expose the torture suffered by refugees at the hands of Turkish soldiers.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/human-rights/refugees-tortured-at-the-border-with-iran-57566
- Three kolbars who went missing in Şemdinli region still unaccounted for
17 January 2022 | ANF
Because of their social hardship, kolbars (load carriers for daily wage) from Eastern Kurdistan engage in the life-threatening work of transporting electrical appliances, tobacco, tea and other products across the borders drawn through Kurdistan. Three of these kolbars are missing after a storm near the northern Kurdish village of Gelişim (kr: Şepeta Gerdî).
- Kurdish couple drowns in Greek river
14 January 2022 | Hengaw
On January 13, 2021, the Greek police were informed via a call for help that a couple had been swept away by a river after a severe storm with snow and rain. The couple were two Kurdish refugees named Djalil Rawangard and Somaya Djamkhana from Mariwan, Iranian Kurdistan.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/kurdish-couple-drowns-in-greek-river
- Teachers in Rojhilat and Iran take to the streets to demand end to violations of rights
14 January 2022 | ANF
In many cities of Iran and Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat), teachers have long been in the streets against the Iranian regime’s unlawful practices and human rights violations.
Teachers, whose demands were ignored, took to the streets again on Thursday.
- Pentagon says Iran is behind MuddyWater hacking group
13 January 2022 | Al-Monitor
Iranian intelligence is behind a group of cyber-attackers that have targeted private and government organizations across the Middle East.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/01/pentagon-says-iran-behind-muddywater-hacking-group
- British Council employee released in Iran, dual nationals remain detained
13 January 2022 | Rudaw
As the family and friends of a British Council employee and Iranian national celebrate her acquittal by Iran’s Supreme Court and safe return to the UK, a French-Iranian academic has been sent back to prison in the country that continues to hold the British-Iranian charity worker, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, among other foreign and dual nationals.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/130120221
- UN experts urge Iran to halt execution of juvenile offender
13 January 2022 | Al-Monitor
Hossein Shahbazi was 17 when he was arrested for fatally stabbing a classmate and was sentenced to death in a trial that reportedly relied on torture-tainted confessions.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/01/un-experts-urge-iran-halt-execution-juvenile-offender
- Khadijeh Mehdipour sentenced to 20 months in prison
12 January 2022 | Hengaw
According to the report received by Hengaw human rights organization, Khadijeh Mehdipour, a 34-year-old Kurdish activist from Ayvan, Ilam Province, has to begin her 20-month prison sentence in the Women Prison of Ilam…for “propaganda against the government”, “disrespect for the founders of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and “disrespect for the leader of Iran”.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/khadijeh-mehdipour-sentenced-to-20-months-in-prison
- Imprisoned Journalist Keyvan Samimi is Being Led to His Death
11 January 2022 | CHRI
The life of veteran journalist and political activist Keyvan Samimi is in danger as he continues to be unlawfully kept behind bars in Tehran’s Evin Prison despite state officials’ recommendations that he be released to receive treatment for serious health problems.
- Political prisoner in Iran sends solidarity message to prisoners in Turkey
10 January 2022 | ANF
Kurdish political prisoner Ebdulmutalib Ehmediyan was arrested on 4 October 2010 and sentenced to 30 years in prison on charges of being a member of an opposition group. He … sent a voice recording in which he conveyed his feelings of solidarity with all political prisoners from Northern Kurdistan.
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
- Another Foreign Citizen Nabbed by Iran Now Faces Possible Execution
08 February 2022 | CHRI
An Iranian-born German citizen, U.S. resident and political dissident, Jamshid Sharmad, who was abducted by Iranian agents in Dubai and forced to return to Iran in 2020, is at risk of being executed there while being denied the right to defend himself in court.
- Interview: Suppressing Teachers’ Protests Would be a “Great Risk” for Iran’s Government
03 February 2022 | CHRI
A grassroots teachers’ rights movement is gaining steam in Iran, where large street protests by teachers are increasingly sprouting across the country. “In Iran’s current economic situation, the financial burden on the teaching community is terrible,” said Sattar Rahmani…
- Conference: Iran In Transition
01 February 2022 | IHR
On the 43rd anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Iran Human Rights (IHRNGO) is organising a webinar with the aim of raising the debate on post-authoritarian transition.
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5078/
- Iran urged to release rights defender Narges Mohmmadi
28 January 2022 | Al-Monitor
Human Rights Watch called on Iran to “immediately and unconditionally” release Narges Mohmmadi, a prominent human rights campaigner sent back to prison this week.
Tara Sepehrifar, senior Iran researcher at HRW, said Friday that Mohmmadi’s “cruel detention and prosecution” was “clearly intended to crush her into silence at all costs.”
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/01/iran-urged-release-rights-defender-narges-mohmmadi
- Interview: “Serious Ramifications” for Women in Iran’s New Population Growth Law
20 January 2022 | CHRI
A new law ratified by Iran’s Parliament that’s officially aimed at population growth was designed to the detriment of women in the country, the prominent gender rights activist Mina Khani told the Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).
REPORTS
- 2021: Anti-Personnel Mine Explosions in Kurdistan – A Statistical Report
08 February 2022 | Hengaw
Anti-personnel mines killed or injured at least 43 civilians and workers in the border regions of Iranian Kurdistan. 15 civilians were killed in the landmine explosions. Using 2020 as a comparison, landmine accidents have increased by 50%.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2021-anti-personnel-mine-explosions-in-kurdistan-a-statistical-report
- Arrest of 50 Kurdish citizens in January 2022
06 February 2022 | Hengaw
In January 2022, at least 50 Kurdish citizens were arrested for political, civil or religiously motivated activities by forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/arrest-of-50-kurdish-citizens-in-january-2022
- Human rights
04 February 2022 | Kurdpa
Between 15 January and 04 February 2022 at least 25 human rights violations have been reported from Iranian Kurdistan.
https://kurdpa.net/en/news?Category=Human%20Rights
- Iran: At Least 46 Executed in January 2022
03 February 2022 | IHR
At least 46 people were executed in Iran in January alone, with 17 executed on drug-related charges. 15 men were Baluch minorities. This is significantly higher than the same period in the last four years.
https://iranhr.net/en/articles/5085/
- 2021: Kolbars – A statistical report
03 February 2022 | Hengaw
At least 215 Kolbars in the border regions of Iranian Kurdistan fell victim to the dangers associated with their work. These include armed attacks on Kolbars by majority Iranian border guards, natural hazards such as unsecured mountain trails or remaining anti-personnel mines in the border regions.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2021-kolbars-a-statistical-report
- January 2022: Human rights violations in Iranian Kurdistan
02 February 2022 | KHRN
Investigations carried out by the Kurdistan Human Rights Network (KHRN) show that many Kurdish civilians and activists from Iran have become victims of human rights violations in January 2022.
https://kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/january-2022-human-rights-violations-in-iranian-kurdistan/
- Iran: Execution of 48 Kurdish citizens in 2021 + statistic
23 January 2022 | Hengaw
At least 48 Kurdish prisoners were sentenced to death by the Iranian judiciary and were executed in prisons in Iranian Kurdistan.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/iran-execution-of-48-kurdish-citizens-in-2021-statistic
- 2021: At least 10 Kurdish prisoners tortured to death + list of names
20 January 2022 | Hengaw
At least 17 Kurdish prisoners died in prisons in Iranian Kurdistan in 2021, including 10 prisoners under torture.
https://hengaw.net/en/news/2021-at-least-10-kurdish-prisoners-tortured-to-death-list-of-names
- Annual Report 2021
18 January 2022 | KHRN
This report addresses the human rights situation in 2021 in relation to the Kurdish people in Iran. As in previous years, the rights of Kurdish people have continued to be violated due to their language, religions, culture, genders, sexual orientations, and class and political affiliations by the Islamic Republic’s discriminatory laws and repressive and violent crackdowns by its security, military, judicial, and executive institutions.