LONDON: Women detained by Iranian security forces amid anti-government protests in the country are facing sexual and physical assault in prisons, a human rights activist has told the BBC.
Narges Mohammadi, deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, is serving a long jail sentence in Iran’s Evin prison.
She wrote a letter to the BBC detailing physical and sexual abuse of women detainees who were arrested following protests around the country, which began in September following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini.
Mohammadi said that one prominent woman activist had her limbs tied to a hook inside the vehicle transporting her to Evin prison. Once the activist was transferred, she was sexually assaulted by prison officers, resulting in bruising and scarring across her body.
A woman protester who was arrested also faced sexual assault while being transferred to prison on a motorcycle with two security officers, Mohammadi added.
The activist said: “Not revealing these crimes would contribute to the continuation of application of (these) repressive methods against women.
“Therefore, it seems that the assault on women activists, fighters and protesters in Iran should be widely and powerfully reported at the global level.
“In the absence of powerful independent civil organizations, the attention and support of the media and international human rights organizations and global public opinion (are) essential.”
In her letter to the BBC, Mohammadi hailed Iran’s “brave, resilient, lively and hopeful” women, adding: “Victory means establishing democracy, peace and human rights and ending tyranny.
“We will not back down.”
Iran state media has denied that authorities have sexually assaulted women protesters, claiming that all-female staff are responsible for overseeing women’s prison wards.
Iran women protesters sexually assaulted in prison, activist tells BBC
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Iran women protesters sexually assaulted in prison, activist tells BBC
- Narges Mohammadi, deputy head of the Defenders of Human Rights Center, is serving a long jail sentence in Iran’s Evin prison
- ‘We will not back down,’ she said in a letter
‘Not your war’: Omani FM on US and Israel undermining ‘active and serious negotiations’
- On Friday, Albusaidi appeared on US news show “Face The Nation” and said a peace deal between Iran and the US was “within our reach”
LONDON: Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who was leading indirect negotiations between Iran and the US in Geneva this week, tweeted his dismay at the attacks on Tehran this morning by the US and Israel.
“I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined. Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this,” Albusaidi wrote. “And I pray for the innocents who will suffer. I urge the United States not to get sucked in further. This is not your war.”
On Friday, Albusaidi appeared on US news show “Face The Nation” and said a peace deal between Iran and the US was “within our reach.” He also said, “I don’t think any alternative to diplomacy is going to solve this problem.”
An agreement to irreversibly halt nuclear stockpiling and enrichment was reached, according to Abdusaidi — a feat never before achieved, and one of US President Donald Trump’s most important demands.
“Iran will never, ever have a nuclear material that will create a bomb. This is, I think, a big achievement. This is something that is not in the old deal that was negotiated during President Obama’s time,” the foreign minister said.
“They will not be able to actually accumulate the material that would enable them to create a bomb … So there would be zero accumulation, zero stockpiling and full verification.”
Early on Saturday, the US and Israel launched coordinated military strikes against multiple targets inside Iran, marking a dramatic escalation in Middle East tensions. The operation — described by US officials as “major combat operations” — involved air and missile strikes on key Iranian military and government infrastructure, including areas in and around Tehran.
Trump framed the action as an effort to degrade Iran’s missile and nuclear capabilities and to remove what he described as “an imminent threat” to regional and global security.
