Rights campaign urges Iran to free detained teenager and her mother

A campaign supported by more than 800 Iranians at home and abroad is calling for the release of detained teenager Bita Shafiee and her mother.

The public appeal, published this week under the title Campaign to Support Bita Shafiee, warns that the teenager remains in detention while being held separately from her mother, Maryam Abbasi-Nikoo, who is also imprisoned.

“Bita Shafiee is a child in prison, separated from a mother who is herself incarcerated … Iran, as a member of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is obliged to uphold fundamental human rights,” the statement reads.

The signatories demanded immediate action to secure the release of both detainees and a transparent account of their legal status and health. They stressed the need for prompt access to lawyers and family members, impartial investigations into any mistreatment, and an end to delays in providing medical or psychological care.

Call for independent monitoring

The campaign says that safeguarding children’s rights “is not contingent on political beliefs” and that all citizens, regardless of family background, are entitled to legal protection, counsel and freedom from arbitrary arrest.

Security forces detained Shafiee, a former political prisoner from Shahinshahr, on November 13. Abbasi-Nikoo was arrested days earlier on November 10 by Intelligence Organization personnel of the Revolutionary Guards. She had previously been detained in July 2022 on a charge of “insulting the prophet” before being acquitted.

Intensified crackdown after June conflict

Rights groups and media outlets report a widening crackdown in recent months, particularly after the 12-day war with Israel. Reuters reported on November 13 that the scope of political repression in Iran has expanded, citing activists who said the escalation was without precedent.

The petition’s organizers highlighted what they called the need for “cross-border solidarity” to press for the safety of the teenager and her mother. International pressure from human rights groups, professional associations and educational networks “can reduce the cost of repression and enable practical support for those at risk,” they wrote.

Most signatures came from inside the country, with additional support from Iranians in Sweden, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The petition reflects growing civic mobilization over arrests that critics say increasingly target minors and family members alongside political activists.

Iran family says executed nuclear scientist confessed after threats to mother

Dec 12, 2025, 08:30 GMT

A relative of Rouzbeh Vadi said the Iranian nuclear scientist executed in August confessed only after severe torture and threats against his mother, describing a prosecution built on a single coerced statement.

Vahid Razavi, a member of Vadi’s family, told Iran International that the researcher was detained about 18 months ago following a dispute at work and was later accused of spying for Israel.

“Rouzbeh was tortured intensely, to the point that bones in his leg and two ribs were broken, and then his mother was arrested and jailed,” Razavi said. Interrogators, he added, photographed her in custody and showed the images to Vadi “to extract a forced confession.”

“They had told Rouzbeh that if he did not confess to espionage and agree to appear in a televised interview, they would torture his mother.”

Vadi, who held a doctorate in reactor engineering, had co‑authored a 2011 research paper with senior Iranian nuclear experts later killed during the June conflict with Israel, according to his Google Scholar profile.

The judiciary said he was convicted of transferring classified information about one of the scientists killed in those attacks to Mossad.

According to Razavi, interrogators warned Vadi that unless he admitted to espionage and appeared in a televised confession, “they would torture his mother.” He said Vadi accepted what he called a fabricated charge under those conditions.

Televised confession questioned

Vadi, a member of the Nuclear Science and Technology Research Institute affiliated with the Atomic Energy Organization, was executed on August 6. The judiciary said at the time he had been “recruited via cyberspace by Mossad.”

The confession, Razavi said, broadcast on state television was the sole basis for the conviction. He said authorities “moved quickly” after the 12-day conflict in June and carried out the execution without notifying the family.

Razavi also questioned state media remarks that Vadi received a black bag stuffed with cash. “In an era of digital transactions, why would a highly educated scientist accept cash in a bag?” he said.

Vadi, Razavi said, was portrayed as having copied sensitive files onto a hard drive and handed them over in a public park restroom. Such accounts, he argued, were “nonsensical” given the availability of secure digital platforms such as Signal or Telegram.

Rights organizations have long raised concerns about forced confessions obtained under torture in Iran’s judicial system.

Razavi described Vadi as intelligent, devoted to his family and focused on work, noting that he lived with his mother and had modest means. He said Vadi had no political involvement and was committed to supporting peaceful nuclear research.

Following the June war, Iranian courts have arrested, tried and executed several people on espionage charges involving Israel. In one recent case, political prisoner Javad Naeimi was executed on October 18 in Qom. These executions have drawn criticism from international human rights groups and UN rapporteurs.