A SURGE IN CRACKDOWNS ACROSS IRAN - The Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs and Human Rights Activists’ (in Iran) hosted a discussion about the surge in crackdowns across Iran.

Just over a year into Ebrahim Raisi’s presidency, the human rights situation in the Islamic Republic standed grimmer than any time in recent years. In June, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for a crackdown similar to the early 1980s—a horrific nod to a time of unparalleled brutality.

At the same time, observers noted a resumption of public executions, the first in over two years, an uptick in the egregious persecution of religious minorities, namely the Baha’i, extreme pressure against women’s rights activists, and an unprecedented tightening of the Internet. This rise in repression is coupled with the ongoing spread of daily protests and demonstrations met with often violent repression by security forces.

ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 9/27/22