Introduction: Culture in Chains
In today’s Iran, words are crimes. The pen, poetry, fiction, music, and cinema—whenever they stray from the regime’s official language and draw closer to the people’s voice—are met with the wrath of the security apparatus. Artists, filmmakers, musicians, poets, writers, and journalists who speak of social realities now face, more than ever, heavy-handed threats, lengthy prison sentences, torture, and psychological abuse. Through the securitization of art, Iran’s judicial and intelligence institutions have transformed culture into a perceived threat to national security.
What this report documents is not an aberration of law, but the result of a deliberate policy aimed at silencing creativity, erasing cultural memory, and instilling fear among generations of artists.
Legal Framework of Cultural Repression
By broadly interpreting vague and politically charged charges such as “propaganda against the regime,” “assembly and collusion,” “insulting the leadership,” or “corruption on earth,” Iran’s judiciary has legalized the suppression of literature and art. Article 48 of the Criminal Procedure Code, which restricts the right to choose a lawyer in so-called “security” cases, has all but eliminated fair legal defense. In many instances, trials are held behind closed doors, without the presence of an independent attorney, and rely heavily on confessions extracted under duress. The outcome: art becomes a crime, and the artist a national security defendant. A defense lawyer representing imprisoned artists stated: “Even referencing one’s mother tongue or expressing environmental grief can be labeled a national security threat. No independent legal institution remains to provide effective defense.”
Systemic Discrimination: Gender, Ethnicity, Region
In Iran, not only is culture under strict censorship, but in ethnic regions it is effectively criminalized. A poet who writes in Arabic, or a writer using Kurdish dialect, is far more likely to face arrest or even execution. Any marker of independent identity—whether linguistic, gender-based, or artistic—is viewed by the security apparatus as a political threat.
Women writers, along with Kurdish, Arab, Baloch, and Azerbaijani artists, are especially targeted by state prosecution. Teaching in one’s native language, writing poetry in a non-Persian tongue, or participating in local cultural events may be deemed “acts against national security.”
According to respected human rights organizations, Iran consistently ranks among the world’s worst jailers of writers. In 2024, Iran imprisoned 43 writers, ranking second only to China. Of these, 13 (30%) were women, making Iran the leading jailer of female writers globally.
In the first five months of 2025 alone, at least 19 individuals from Iran’s cultural community were summoned, interrogated, or detained by government institutions. One poet has been sentenced to death; others face heavy prison terms. Many endure brutal interrogations and unlawful detentions merely for writing. These numbers reveal a state-sponsored and deeply entrenched policy of censorship and repression that extends far beyond isolated arrests. Its aim is to suffocate creativity and suppress critical thinking.
Prison Conditions: A System of Torture and Humiliation
Reports from Evin, Lakan (Rasht), and Sheiban (Ahvaz) prisons describe widespread abuse of incarcerated artists, including torture, prolonged solitary confinement, denial of medical care, forced placement in mixed-security wards, demeaning treatment by guards, and deprivation of contact with lawyers and family.
The ambiguity of charges enables arbitrary arrests, while systemic denial of due process, coupled with reliance on coerced confessions, has transformed the judicial system into a tool of authoritarian control. The legal process itself, designed to legitimize repression, constitutes a grave violation of human rights.
Documented List of Imprisoned Artists and Writers (May 2025)
- Peyman Farahavar
Poet and cultural activist from Gilan, born in 1988. Arrested on August 17, 2024, for critical poems and protests for social justice. Transferred to Lakan Prison in Rasht and sentenced to death in May 2025 in an unfair trial without access to chosen legal counsel, on charges of enmity against God and propaganda against the regime. A fruit vendor by trade, he was striving to support his 10-year-old son. He is known as “the voice of the forgotten Gilaks.” - Mokhtar al-Boushookeha-ha
Ahwazi Arab poet and writer. Arrested in 2010 by cyber police in Ahvaz. Endured severe physical and psychological torture at Sheiban Prison. Ultimately sentenced to death—later commuted to life imprisonment—solely for writing Arabic stories and poems.
In a letter published in January 2025, he wrote: “The beatings, especially to my abdomen, rendered me unconscious. I woke up handcuffed and shackled to a hospital bed. I heard a doctor tell the agents, ‘One more blow and his intestines may rupture. He could die.’ One interrogator smiled and said, ‘Even better!’ before continuing the assault.” - Mahvash Sabet
Poet, teacher, and member of the Baháʼí community. Serving a 10-year sentence due to her faith and poetry. Underwent open-heart surgery in January 2025. She writes: “Evin Ward is not a cage—it is a mirror that reflects the unclean face of the judge.” - Sarveh Pourmohammadi
Writer and teacher from Sanandaj. Sentenced to five years in prison for teaching Kurdish and engaging in cultural activities. - Fariborz Sadehi
Political poet from Kermanshah. Sentenced to 22 months in prison in 2025 for his critical poetry. - Mostafa Helichi
Poet from Bushehr. Arrested and severely tortured by cyber police for writing justice-themed poetry. - Reza Hezbavi
Arab poet and literature teacher from Khuzestan. Arrested for writing Arabic-language cultural poems. Denied adequate medical treatment. - Yousef Sadeh Nejad
Arab poet from Shadegan. Arrested in January 2025 for writing poems on poverty and ethnic discrimination. Transferred to Sheiban Prison. - Arash Ghollegolab
Poet and journalist. Participated in protest poetry gatherings. Sentenced in March 2025 to over four years in prison. - Mandana Sadeghi
Poet and journalist. Her poems and articles on women’s rights and social justice resulted in a four-year prison sentence. - Kourosh Karampour
Poet and literature instructor. Sentenced to two years for political writings in cultural media outlets. - Farzaneh Yahya-Abadi
Independent journalist from Mashhad. Sentenced to three months in prison for reporting on economic hardship and social protests. - Reza Mohammadi
Poet and husband of Mandana Sadeghi. Arrested and sentenced to three months for publishing posts in support of his wife.
Legal Analysis: Contradiction with International Obligations
By signing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), Iran has committed to guaranteeing freedom of expression and prohibiting torture. Execution for literary activities is the clearest example of what international law defines as arbitrary execution.
Article 19 of the ICCPR explicitly protects freedom of expression, including artistic and literary works, even when they are disturbing or controversial.
However, the Iranian regime’s constitution conditions freedom of expression on its “compatibility with Islamic principles” (Article 24) and the “non-harm to public interests” (Article 40). These vague conditions allow the regime to suppress virtually any form of dissent.
Conclusion: Violence Against Culture Is Violence Against Society
What is happening in Iran is a systematic project to erase cultural memory, redraw the boundaries of permissible thought, and destroy independent artistic identity. The continuous repression of cultural figures since the 1980s reveals a regime that sees art not as a tool for social cohesion, but as a threat. The execution of a poet or the imprisonment of a journalist is not merely about silencing an individual—it is a warning to an entire generation that dares to write, speak, or create. In this light, the voices of imprisoned artists must be recognized as the voice of a nation—a nation that, though imprisoned, still writes, composes, and endures in memory.
Call for Immediate International Action
The international community—including the United Nations and Amnesty International—has consistently monitored and condemned Iran’s human rights abuses, including the suppression of free expression, through the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. Yet the regime continues to target dissenters and artists alike.
This calls for stronger, alternative strategies from human rights organizations.
Global leaders, international human rights institutions, and cultural and literary organizations must unite in calling for the immediate release of all imprisoned poets, artists, and writers in Iran.
