A Former Iranian Political Prisoner on Human Rights in Iran

Mehdi Arabshahi, was president of the largest student organization in Iran, the Daftar Tahkim Vahdat, and a former political prisoner who fled Iran after being held in solitary confinement for 100 days. He and Gissou Nia, Executive Director of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, discuss the status of human rights in Iran. Over the last few years, there have been a significant rise in human rights abuses in Iran with 624 executions in 2013, and over 75 executions since January 1, 2014, and more than 800 human rights defenders imprisoned; figures that are on the rise each and every day. Recently, UN Secretary General’s offered a sharp rebuke of Iran’s President Rouhani for failing to improve human rights in Iran since taking office in August.