Authorities in Iran ordered the closure of a shelter for child labourers outside the capital Tehran and arrested staff months after the spread of a video online appearing to show the abuse of a child there.
A video emerged in January showing two employees at a facility in Karaj violently assaulting a child laborer before forcibly dragging him into their vehicle.
The head of the facility and a security guard were detained, Iran's Welfare Organization, a government body said on Thursday.
"A child named Maroof, a resident foreign national, attempted to escape with a serrated knife after being locked outside a small gate while staff were tending to the yard," the organization said in a statement.
"Upon his return to the facility, security personnel sought to retrieve the knife, but the child was beaten during his attempt to flee again," it added in a statement.
Eight children were transferred to another facility, Iran's domestic media reported following the center's closure.
Iran's Welfare Organization hosts orphans and disadvantaged children, many of whom beg and work menial jobs, at centers throughout the country.
The abuse of child laborers in Iran has been a persistent rights issue in recent years as standards of living have dropped and migrant numbers have increased.
The incident followed a similar incident in November 2020, when another online video appeared to show a man coercing two child laborers working as fortune tellers to dance and expose themselves in exchange for money.
Reliable official statistics on the total number of child laborers in Iran remain elusive.
The latest official estimate on the total number of child laborers stood at around three million according to Reza Shafakhah, secretary of the children's rights committee of the human rights working group of the National Union of Bar Associations.
This figure contrasts with an earlier report from late April, in which Mohammadreza Heydarhaei, head of the Office for Social Victims at the Welfare Organization of Iran, cited the presence of 120,000 child laborers across the country.
A 2023 report indicated that 15% of the child population was engaged in labor, with at least 10% of these working children lacking access to education, depriving them of essential learning opportunities.
The primary factor driving the rise in child labor is widely attributed to "household poverty," which compels children to work in order to support their families' financial needs.
The report emphasizes that child labor is both prohibited and criminalized under international and domestic laws, placing a clear obligation on the government to take action to address the issue.
Effective monitoring and prevention of child labor remain difficult, especially in cases involving domestic work, labor in hazardous or unsupervised areas, crime such as drug trafficking, and the sexual exploitation of children.
One of the country's largest independent anti-poverty organizations reported in October 2022 that many minors were recruited to attack protesters during nationwide protests in exchange for basic food supplies.
Members and supporters of Imam Ali's Popular Student Relief Society (IAPSRS), a charity organization, alleged that authorities employed children as part of their efforts to suppress anti-government demonstrations.
For Iran, the most crucial demand can be summed up in one word: money. Both pragmatists like President Masoud Pezeshkian and hardliners like Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei need financial resources to ease Iran’s socio-political crisis.
While the US has shown a willingness to offer financial relief to Tehran in certain instances, it remains hesitant to support an Islamic Republic that could destabilize the region through its proxy networks or direct actions.
Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh, a seasoned Iranian politician and former head of the parliament's Foreign Relations and National Security Committee, has remained one of Tehran's few vocal critics regarding its ties with Moscow. In his latest interview, Falahatpisheh asserted that "there will be no negotiations between Iran and the US during Pezeshkian's upcoming New York visit, despite both countries wanting a new agreement."
In several parts of the interview, Falahatpisheh fiercely criticized what he calls "Russia's treason against Iran," a stance he's emphasized since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He specifically condemned Russia's repeated interference in potential US-Iran agreements, its contentious positions on Iranian islands in the Persian Gulf, and its handling of Iran's interests in the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict. Falahatpisheh questioned Russia's intentions, asking, "What else does Russia need to do to prove that its primary concern is its own interests, not Iran's?"
In a previous interview, Falahatpisheh charged that "Putin is counting on Iran's irrational policy" of unilateral reliance on Moscow. Elsewhere he has accused Moscow of taking advantage of Iran's isolation while also pushing Tehran further into international isolation. However, he reiterated that Tehran's distrust of Washington is also justified.
The former lawmaker’s frequent criticism of Iran’s relationship with Russia could serve as a safety valve controlled by hardliners to balance their pro-Moscow stance. Alternatively, it might reflect an effort by moderates to highlight Russia's unreliability, encouraging Khamenei to reconsider or adjust his reliance on Moscow. By framing the distrust of America within this context, moderates signal their loyalty to Khamenei, whose foreign policy is anchored in skepticism toward Washington, while attempting to shift focus away from blind trust in Russia.
Falahatpisheh, like many Iranian politicians, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, believes that the 2015 nuclear deal (JCPOA) is effectively "dead," with any remnants likely ending by 2025. However, he emphasized that "the United States still needs a new agreement with Iran." He also warned that Russia will likely go to great lengths to block any US-Iran agreement. Ironically, Iranian hardliners—often described as far-right—continue to back Russia and its stance on Ukraine, despite their shared opposition to the West.
Individuals like Falahatpisheh accuse hardliners of "ignoring the country's national interests" and charge that many of them benefit from the sanctions. However, Iran's continued isolation and its reputation as Russia's accomplice could cost Tehran dearly as it has already ruined the possibility of a rapprochement with Europe. Iranian observer Kourosh Ahmadi says "Iran's current situation with the West offers a win-win situation for Russia."
Pro-Russian hardliners in Iran still have the upper hand in Iran's media landscape. Observers noticed that the state TV interrupted Foreign Minister Araghchi's latest interview as soon as he began discussing Russia's positions on the Armenia-Azerbaijan disputes and the shipment of ballistic missiles from Iran to Russia. The state TV anchor immediately said: "That is all we have time for in this program" and closed the show.
The charges brought against Behrouz Ehsani Eslamloo and Mehdi Hassani include "armed rebellion (baghi), waging war against God (moharebeh), spreading corruption on earth, membership in the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization, collecting classified information, and collusion against national security."
The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported that the sentences were formally communicated to the men's lawyers.
Ehsani, 64, was arrested on November 28, 2022, at his home in Tehran and was subsequently transferred to Ward 209, the Ministry of Intelligence’s detention center in Evin Prison.
Hassani, 48, a married father of two, was arrested on September 9, 2022, in Zanjan while attempting to leave the country. He was also taken to the same intelligence agency's detention center in Evin Prison. Both men endured months of interrogation before being moved to the public ward of the prison.
Since the founding of the Islamic Republic, political activists and civil dissidents have been routinely arrested, tortured, and imprisoned. The situation has worsened since the nationwide protests, known as the Women, Life, Freedom uprising, which began in September 2022. The government has cracked down on civil and political activists, increasing the number of arrests and accelerating the issuance and execution of death sentences.
In recent months, the Islamic Republic sentenced two female political prisoners, Pakhshan Azizi and Sharifeh Mohammadi, marking the first death sentences for female political prisoners in 15 years.
Leila Morrovati, a political analyst based in Finland, told Iran International that the international community must take unified action to stop the wave of executions in Iran.
Last year, over 850 executions were carried out, and according to Iran Human Rights, Iranian authorities executed 249 people in the first six months of 2024.
"Now it is the responsibility of international organizations, especially governments, to take coordinated measures to prevent these executions. The global community must be made fully aware of what is happening in Iran," Morovati said.
Amnesty International’s latest annual report noted a rise in executions in Iran, stating that nearly 75% of all recorded executions globally in 2023 took place in the country. The report highlights that since the Women, Life, Freedom uprising, the Iranian authorities have increasingly resorted to the death penalty as a tool to impose control and suppress the growing unrest among the population.
Several have voiced their discontent over social media to fighters being brought to Iran and Iranian doctors sent to Lebanon to treat Hezbollah operatives in the wake of two targeted attacks this week.
One citizen, in a video sent to Iran International, commented: "The Islamic Republic blinded Iranian protesters and didn't allow them treatment, but treats Hezbollah's wounded in Iran."
This week saw two separate incidents in which the communication devices of scores of Hezbollah forces exploded, leading to hundreds of casualties and multiple deaths.
The Tuesday explosions targeting pager devices belonging to the Iran-backed militant group occurred in Beirut, killing at least 12 people and injuring around 2,800 others, with 300 reported in critical condition.
The following day, more explosions targeted Hezbollah's walkie-talkie devices in various cities across Lebanon. According to Lebanon's Ministry of Health, these incidents left at least 37 people dead and many injured.
While Israel has not commented, the blame has been laid at the Jewish state. Just minutes before the attack, Israel released news of having foiled a Hezbollah plot to assassinate a former security chief in Israel.
The two countries have been involved in daily bombardments since October 7 when Iran-backed Hamas invaded Israel. In allegiance with Hamas, Iran's biggest proxy has since fired over 6,000 projectiles towards Israel, leading to a conflict displacing around 200,000 people on both sides of the border.
In response to the explosions, Pirhossein Kolivand, head of Iran’s Red Crescent Society, announced that 95 of the injured had been transferred to Iran for further treatment.
Kolivand also confirmed that two groups of Iranian doctors, including eye specialists, had been dispatched to Lebanon. In another interview, he noted that 12 doctors, along with nurses and paramedics from the Red Crescent, were also deployed to assist in Lebanon.
The decision to treat the Hezbollah forces has been met with a flood of backlash on social media. Masih Alinejad, a prominent journalist and women’s rights activist, reacted on X: "The hypocrisy is glaring: the same regime that intentionally blinded peaceful Woman, Life, Freedom protesters in Iran is now offering medical care to Hezbollah operatives who lost their eyesight to pager explosions."
In 2022, during protests over the killing of Mahsa Amini, Iranian security forces were accused of deliberately targeting protesters’ eyes, blinding many of them, in addition to killing over 550, including women and children.
Ehsan Karami, a former TV host and actor, voiced his frustration online: "Why should the people of Iran bear the cost of transferring and treating these individuals, who will undoubtedly receive the best medical care? Rubber bullets and eye removal are the share of Iranian youth, while exclusive flights and special treatment in Tehran are reserved for Hezbollah’s freeloaders."
Sociologist Majid Mohammadi also weighed in, saying: "Netanyahu played the role of God for those seeking justice for the brutal shootings by Basij militia and Special Units that targeted the eyes, hands, and legs of protesters in the Mahsa movement. Three thousand members of Hezbollah and their associates have suffered eye injuries (with 500 blinded), and many have had their fingers and hands amputated. Netanyahu brought smiles to the faces of the families of Iran’s martyrs."
A user identified as Leadsoldier highlighted the contrast between how Hezbollah fighters are treated compared to Iranian citizens: "While our brave young freedom fighters are wandering from place to place seeking treatment for their eye injuries, Hezbollah’s freeloading terrorists receive free care in the best hospitals in the country. This injustice weighs even heavier when we witness the meager income and unbearable pressure on our nation's nurses and medical staff."
International human rights organizations have also brought attention to the issue of eye injuries sustained by Iranian protesters. The Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley earlier verified that at least 120 people had lost some or all of their vision when Iranian security agents used shotguns, paintball guns, and tear gas canisters to suppress protests in 2022. While the Center stopped short of declaring that blinding protesters was a coordinated policy, the evidence indicated that many victims were shot in the face at close range.
The Iran Human Rights Organization (IHR) also corroborated the findings, stating that security forces “systematically” targeted the eyes of protesters, particularly women, during the protests. An IHR report confirmed 138 cases of eye injuries, including eight children under 18. The majority of the injuries resulted from pellets, with others caused by paintball guns and tear gas cartridges.
Iran is also in the midst of a dire health crisis with shortages of medicine and healthcare practitioners who are fleeing the country in droves in search of better working conditions and salaries.