Iran

79 million people
4,520 USD GNI (PPP)
Internet:
Not Free
Press:
Not Free
Not Free

Population and GNI data source

News & Updates

In the News

Lifting Iran’s Electronic Curtain Means Keeping Up with the Cyber Army

Feb 7 2013 - 11:47am

With the upcoming presidential elections in Iran on 14 June 2013, the international community—particularly election monitors and free expression activists—should be very worried about the plight of Iran’s netizens. They rely heavily on circumvention tools, such as virtual private networks (VPNs) and proxy websites, to access the tens of thousands of websites blocked by Iran’s centralized filtering system, but observers say this practice is not keeping pace with Iran’s expanding capability for online repression.

Issues: 
Freedom of Expression, Internet Freedom, U.S. Foreign Policy
Regions: 
Middle East and North Africa
Freedom Alert

Iran Must Cease its Intimidation, Ill Treatment of Baha'i Mothers and Infants

Jan 3 2013 - 5:27pm

Two children and their mothers Zahra Nik-A’in and Taraneh Torabi, who were imprisoned in July for following the Baha’i religion, recently fell ill in Iran's Semnan Prison and were transferred to a hospital. A third Baha'i mother, Mona Majidi, was sentenced in December and is also confined with her infant child in Semnan Prison. Freedom House calls on the government to immediately end its inhumane imprisonment of these women and children and its persecution of religious minorities.

 

Issues: 
Human Rights Defense, Religious Freedom, Rule of Law
Regions: 
Middle East and North Africa
China Media Bulletin

China Media Bulletin: Issue No. 77

Dec 14 2012 - 3:50pm

Freedom House’s weekly update of press freedom and censorship news related to the People’s Republic of China

HIGHLIGHTS
* New propaganda chief reemerges, seeks better techniques
* China ranks third in world on jailing of journalists
* Surveillance, psychiatric detention limit academic freedom
* Huawei–Iran ties reported, ZTE wins state funding for expansion
* Study analyzes keyword censorship during mass incidents

Issues: 
Freedom of Expression, Internet Freedom, Media Freedom
Regions: 
Asia-Pacific
Freedom Alert

Iranian Authorities Must End Unjust Imprisonment of Sotoudeh

Dec 3 2012 - 4:21pm

Freedom House expresses concern with the deteriorating health of Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, and calls on Iranian officials, in particular Jafari-Dowlatabadi, the Public Prosecutor General for Tehran, to end the unjust imprisonment of Sotoudeh, cease its harassment of her family, and allow her immediate access to medical care.

Issues: 
Civil Society, Freedom of Association, Human Rights Defense, Rule of Law
Regions: 
Middle East and North Africa

Signature Reports

Freedom in the World

Freedom on the Net

Freedom of the Press

Countries at the Crossroads

Special Reports

Leaping Over the Firewall: A Review of Censorship Circumvention Tools

Internet censorship poses a large and growing challenge to online freedom of expression around the world. Censorship circumvention tools are critical to bypass restrictions on the internet and thereby to protect free expression online.
 
This document provides a comparison among different circumvention tools, both in terms of their technical merits, as well as how users of these tools describe their experience with them. The countries included in this report are Azerbaijan, Burma, China and Iran.

 

Issues: 
Freedom of Expression, Media Freedom
Regions: 
Asia-Pacific, Middle East and North Africa

Programs

Iran

Freedom House supports Iran's pro-democracy movement and human rights defenders as they resist the Iranian regime's surveillance and repression.

Issues: 
Freedom of Association, Freedom of Expression, Human Rights Defense, Media Freedom
Regions: 
Middle East and North Africa