Human rights

JESSICA GOW/TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images

Sweden summons Iranian ambassador over dual national sentence

The Iranian-Swedish national was arrested during Iran’s June war with Israel for allegedly spying on Israel’s behalf.

Iranian soldiers keep watch at a patrol post in Zabol, southeastern Iran, near the Afghan border, on Oct. 10, 2012.

Analysis

Militant merger in Iran’s Baluchistan signals new threat to Tehran

The group’s outreach to broader ethnic communities reflects a strategic bid for wider legitimacy and a role in the wider struggle against the Islamic Republic.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

A fan waves a Pride flag before the soccer match between the Seattle Sounders and the Portland Timbers at Lumen Field, on June 3, 2023, in Seattle, Washington.

Culture

World Cup: Iran fumes over LGBTQ+ themes as Jordan qualifies for first time

Morocco is hoping to build on its historic run in 2022, with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and others in the region similarly vying to build on recent successes.

Security personnel from the Syrian Ministry of Interior stand outside the Justice Palace ahead of the first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year, in Aleppo on November 18, 2025. The first trial of more than a dozen suspects linked to massacres that left hundreds dead in Syria's Alawite coastal heartland earlier this year began on November 18, an AFP journalist in the courtroom said. The massacres in March, whic

Feature

A year since Assad’s fall, Aleppo trial tests Syria’s transitional justice

Syria recently launched its first open trial on the deadly sectarian violence in March, but questions about judicial independence and political influence make the upcoming hearings a major test of accountability in post-Assad Syria as the first anniversary of Assad’s fall approaches.

Alessandra Bajec

By Alessandra Bajec

Latest News

Turkey sentences journalist over 4 years in jail for threatening Erdogan

Prominent Turkish journalist Fatih Altayli is pictured in this undated image.

Saudi Arabia lifts travel ban on US citizen Saad Almadi

An undated image of Saad Ibrahim Almadi.

Fed up with Netanyahu, more Israelis seek European passports

Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Israeli settlers arrested after injuring 4 Palestinians in West Bank rampage: What to know

A Palestinian man tries to extinguish flames from a burning truck after an Israeli settlers attack in the village of Beit Lid, east of Tulkarm, in the occupied West Bank on Nov. 11, 2025.

A woman looks out from the window of her damaged building after an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, Palestinian territories.

Analysis

Israel warns Hamas to stay out of Gaza conflict with Islamic Jihad

Shortly after striking and killing three Islamic Jihad seniors, Israel sent Gaza-based Hamas warnings to stay out of the expected conflagration.

In Tel Aviv, reporting on national security, Israeli politics, defense

Protesters chant slogans next to a hangman's noose as they wear a photograph of Majid Reza Rahnavard, 23, during a demonstration by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran outside the German Foreign Ministry on December 12, 2022 in Berlin, Germany. Iranian authorities said Rahnavard was executed by hanging earlier today as punishment for killing two Iranian security members during recent street riots. Popular protests have been ongoing in Iran since the September death of Mahsa Amini. (Phot

Iran executes two men accused of blasphemy for 'insulting Islam'

Iranian authorities have executed at least 150 people this year alone, according to human rights organizations.

A participant faces riot policemen wearing a rainbow flag during a Pride march in Istanbul, on June 26, 2022. - Turkish police forcibly intervened in a Pride march in Istanbul, detaining dozens of demonstrators and an AFP photographer, AFP journalists on the ground said. The governor's office had banned the march around Taksim Square in the heart of Istanbul but protesters gathered nearby under heavy police presence earlier than scheduled. (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN / AFP) (Photo by KEMAL ASLAN/AFP via Getty Ima

Erdogan slams Turkey's LGBTQ community, weaponizes homophobia ahead of vote

Homophobia and transphobia have unprecedentedly taken a prominent stage in the campaign period ahead of Turkey’s consequential elections.

People flee the southern part of Khartoum as street battles between the army and paramilitaries continue, on April 27, 2023.

Biden issues new Sudan executive order authorizing sanctions

President Joe Biden paved the way for sanctions on members of Sudan’s warring factions but stopped short of imposing them.

Turkish pop star Gulsen performs during a concert in Aydin, Turkey on March 27, 2022.

Turkey hands pop star Gulsen jail sentence over religious schools joke

The sentence is widely seen as the epitome of the culture wars that the country has witnessed under Erdogan.

A Palestinian man rides his bike past a mural depicting Khader Adnan, a Palestinian hunger striker and top figure in the Islamic Jihad group in the occupied West Bank, in Gaza City on May 2,2023. - Khader Adnan began a hunger strike on February 5, 23, died on May 2, 2023, the prison service said in a statement, adding that he was "affiliated with the Islamic Jihad". (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED / AFP) (Photo by MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)

Palestinian Khader Adnan dies in Israeli jail after 87-day hunger strike

Rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip after Palestinian Khader Adnan died on hunger strike in Israel's Nitzan prison.

Protesters hold a giant rainbow flag as they march along Oxford St ahead of the pontifical requiem Mass for Cardinal George Pell on February 02, 2023 in Sydney, Australia. Cardinal George Pell, a former senior Catholic Church official who was accused of sexual violence in Australia and then cleared, died on 10 January 2023 aged 81 years old. His body was returned to Sydney after his funeral at the Vatican and will lie in state at St. Mary's Cathedral on Feb. 1 and 2. (Photo by Roni Bintang/Getty Images)

Culture

In a shift, Saudi Arabia to 'welcome' LGBTQ tourists

The Saudi Tourism Authority said that authorities do not ask for personal details in this regard. The position follows social changes the kingdom is undergoing, though it is difficult to determine the exact status of LGBTQ people in the country.

Egypt frees long-held Al Jazeera journalist amid thaw with Qatar

The release of Hisham Abdelaziz comes as Egypt and Qatar are working to normalize their relations after years of tension, even as Cairo continues its crackdown on journalists.

This photograph taken on Feb. 8, 2023, shows a large banner with a portrait of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele.

Belgium looking into Iran's request for prisoner swap

Belgium and Iran seemingly advance toward a prisoner exchange deal, though Brussels is warning that contrary to Tehran’s statements this could take time.

Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock listens to a statement during a special session of the UN Human Rights Council on the situation in Iran, at the United Nations in Geneva on November 24, 2022. (Photo by VALENTIN FLAURAUD / AFP) (Photo by VALENTIN FLAURAUD/AFP via Getty Images)

Germany scrambles to stop Iran from executing dual citizen

After a top Iranian court upheld the death sentence of dual citizen Jamshid Sharmahd, German Foreign Minister Annalean Baerbock says Berlin is making every possible effort to stop the execution.

Syrian refugees prepare to leave Lebanon toward Syrian territory.

Lebanon deports dozens of Syrian refugees amid spike in racist rhetoric

The deportation of more than 50 Syrians to the war-torn country comes amid growing anti-Syrian sentiment in Lebanon.

Israeli Justice Minister Yariv Levin (R) listens to MP May Golan during a session at the Knesset, Jerusalem, March 20, 2023.

Who is May Golan, Israel's self-styled 'racist' considered for NY consul general?

The Likud party confirmed Minister without portfolio May Golan, known for her strong support of the judicial overhaul, was proposed the much-coveted position of consul general in New York.