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| My Favourite Cake directors Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha. Photograph: Mohammad Haddadi. Courtesy The Guardian. |
by Parvin Ardalan, Researcher on Iran at Freemuse
At the United Nations Palais des Nations in Geneva on 1 July, the Islamic Republic of Iran came before members of the Human Rights Council to defend its human rights record under the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the Council’s mechanism that requires each member state to undergo a peer review of its human rights every 4.5 years.[1] The review had been carried out in January 2025, and the report on the UPR outcome was presented for approval of the Council. In its oral statement, the Islamic Republic of Iran gave an orchestrated display of defiance towards human rights, as it refused to support over half of the 346 recommendations for improvements that had been made by over 100 UN states. It’s worth noting that only 16 recommendations related to freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, issues of special concern to Freemuse, of these just three were supported.[2]
The Israeli military attack on Iran and the 12-day war between Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran from 13 to 25 June 2025—marked by missile exchanges and intense airstrikes—escalated the longstanding hostility between the two countries from proxy wars to direct war. Iran asserted this aggression threatens its ability to implement human rights obligations under the UPR. This confrontation, which involved large-scale attacks by both sides and resulted in significant casualties and damage, further complicated the situation for freedom of expression and art in Iran. Restricted internet access, bans on citizens taking photos and videos, arrests for these actions, and charges of espionage have narrowed the space for cultural activity. Under the pretext of insecurity and with an emphasis on national security, strict control, a war atmosphere prevailed in the cities, and the judicial system of the Islamic Republic of Iran has intensified the atmosphere of repression in the war atmosphere that has emerged. The law has expanded the definition of espionage and intensified the legal prosecution of individuals, groups, religious and ethnic minorities.
12 Day War escalates attack on freedom of expression and the arts
During the same 12-day war, Reza Daryakenari, a designer, graphic artist, and artistic photographer, was arrested on June 22 in a café in Tehran. So far, no information about his condition or whereabouts has been provided to his family. According to security officials, over the 12 days of war, more than 700 people have been arrested in Iran on charges of collaborating with Israel.
Among the consequences of war are increased self-censorship and a shrinking space for freedom of art, expression, and activity. The war has not only weakened Iran’s international standing, but has also deepened the suppression of artistic freedom of expression within the country such as seen with the ongoing trial of rapper Toomaj Salehi who has faced renewed prosecution after being released from prison. He appeared before the Revolutionary Court in Isfahan July 1st, charged with “inciting people to war and killing each other with the aim of undermining the country’s security, propaganda against the system, and insulting sanctities.” The reason for these charges is the release of a critical music track called Typhus. During the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, he was also detained for several hours.
The cases of Toomaj Salehi, Maryam Moghadam, Behtash Sanaiha, and Zara Esmaili, among others, demonstrate violations of artists’ rights, freedom of expression, and art. Despite international protests against the sentencing of Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moghadam, the directors of the film My Favourite Cake, and Gholamreza Mousavi, the film’s producer, their sentences were upheld unchanged in the appeals court. In the initial trial, they were collectively sentenced to five years and four months in prison, along with fines.
The Islamic Republic of Iran continues to intensify its suppression of artistic freedom of expression, targeting musicians, filmmakers, and visual artists who challenge official narratives or address sensitive social and political issues by using a wide array of tactics to silence dissenting artistic voices, including arbitrary arrests, harsh prison sentences, torture, travel bans, asset confiscation, and forced confessions. These measures are often justified with vague charges such as “propaganda against the system,” “spreading lies,” or “insulting Islamic values.”
The targeting of artists is part of a broader crackdown on civil society that intensified after the 2022 “Woman, Life, Freedom” protests. These protests, sparked by the killing of Jina Mahsa Amini by the morality police, gave rise to an unprecedented uprising against compulsory hijab and state control over women’s bodies, as well as other restrictive laws, with many artists joining and emerging from within this movement.
Besides participating in the debate of July 1, NGOs could submit written statements to the UPR system, which are included in a report published by the UN Human Rights Council. The Islamic Republic´s proxy groups took advantage of this process to flood the review with a wave of false information. Almost half of all the statements submitted came from government-organized NGOs (GONGOs) based in Iran and controlled by the regime, and their misleading claims are now part of the UN’s summary report.
The unwillingness of the Islamic Republic of Iran to reflect upon the recommendations at the UPR and its suppression of artistic freedom of expression and nowadays—post 12-day war—arbitrary arrests on charges of collaborating with Israel, is yet another display of their classic “3D’s” of avoiding accountability: to deny, deflect and diffuse from the human rights abuses.
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| Iran defends human rights record at UN Palais des Nations, Geneva, on 1 July, during Universal Periodic Review. Courtesy Freemuse. |
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[1] For details of the UN UPR process visit: https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/upr/upr-home
[2] A state may ‘support’ a recommendation, indicating its agreement to consider the suggested improvements. Otherwise, it will ‘note’ the recommendation—effectively a refusal to consider its content.
Via Freemuse
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