Glossary of repression in Iran

About this glossary

Plain-language definitions of the people, institutions, laws and events recurring across this site. Each term links to its dedicated page where one exists. Machine-readable copy: /data/glossary.json.

Basij

Paramilitary volunteer militia subordinate to the IRGC. Mobilised to enforce dress codes and crush street protests; estimated 600,000 active members.

Bonyad

Para-statal religious foundation outside government oversight. Bonyads control an estimated 20–40% of Iran's economy and answer directly to the Supreme Leader.

Chastity & Hijab Bill

2023–24 Iranian law escalating penalties for hijab non-compliance to fines up to US$8,500, prison up to 10 years, and travel bans. Enacted December 2024.

Crimson Winter

Name given to the 2025–2026 nationwide Iran uprising. 42,000+ killed and 100,000+ detained across 200+ cities by late February 2026.

Death Commission

1988 panel of three judges that ordered the summary execution of thousands of political prisoners. Members included Ebrahim Raisi, later President of Iran (2021–24).

Etela'at

Ministry of Intelligence and Security (VAJA). Civilian intelligence service, distinct from the IRGC Intelligence Organisation.

Evin Prison

Tehran prison built in 1972; principal facility for political prisoners. Ward 209 (Etela'at) and Ward 2A (IRGC) are notorious for torture.

FARAJA

The unified Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran (formerly NAJA). Operates the Guidance Patrol.

Gasht-e Ershad

The Guidance Patrol or 'morality police'. See dedicated page: /morality-police.html.

Ghezel Hesar

High-security prison in Karaj used for executions of political and drug-related prisoners.

Guardian Council

12-member body (6 clerics, 6 jurists) that vets all legislation and election candidates. Effectively a constitutional veto on reform.

HRANA

Human Rights Activists News Agency — independent Iranian human-rights monitor compiling protest casualty data.

Hengaw

Independent Kurdish human-rights organisation documenting repression in Iran's Kurdish-majority provinces.

IHR

Iran Human Rights — Oslo-based NGO directed by Mahmood Amiry-Moghaddam, documenting executions and protest deaths.

IHRDC

Iran Human Rights Documentation Center — New Haven-based archive of primary-source evidence on Iranian state crimes.

IRGC

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — parallel military subordinate to the Supreme Leader; central to repression of protests since 1979.

Jin, Jiyan, Azadî

Kurdish for 'Woman, Life, Freedom'. The original form of the slogan chanted at Mahsa Amini's funeral in Saqqez.

Komiteh

Revolutionary Committees (1979–91) — armed neighbourhood enforcers that pre-dated the unified police; absorbed into NAJA in 1991.

MEK / NCRI

Mojahedin-e Khalq / National Council of Resistance of Iran — exile opposition group. iranholocaust.org has no affiliation.

Moharebeh

'Waging war against God' — capital offence under Article 279 of Iran's Penal Code, routinely used against protesters.

Noor Plan

FARAJA's April 2024 nationwide hijab-enforcement campaign. Uses street patrols and CCTV facial recognition.

OHCHR

UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Operates the Special Rapporteur on Iran.

Pasdaran

Persian for 'Guards' — common shorthand for the IRGC.

Qassem Soleimani

IRGC Quds Force commander killed by a US drone strike on 3 January 2020.

Quds Force

IRGC division responsible for extraterritorial operations, including support for Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis.

Saqqez

Kurdish-majority city in Iran's Kordestan province; birthplace and burial place of Mahsa (Jina) Amini.

Sepah

Persian for 'Corps' — informal shorthand for the IRGC (Sepah-e Pasdaran).

Sistan and Baluchestan

South-eastern province of Iran, home to the Baloch Sunni minority. Site of Bloody Friday (30 September 2022).

Speakers' Assembly

The Iranian parliament (Majles). 290 seats; vetted by the Guardian Council.

Supreme Leader

Highest political and religious authority of the Islamic Republic. Ayatollah Khamenei since 1989; Khomeini 1979–89.

Two Nights

Nights of 8 and 9 January 2026, when Iranian security forces opened fire on protesters in multiple cities. Rasht recorded the largest single-night toll.

Vali-ye Faqih

Doctrine of 'Guardianship of the Jurist' that places ultimate authority in the Supreme Leader; theological basis of the Islamic Republic.

Vozara

Tehran detention centre run by the Guidance Patrol where Mahsa Amini collapsed in custody on 13 September 2022.

Woman, Life, Freedom

Slogan (Persian: Zan, Zendegi, Azadi; Kurdish: Jin, Jiyan, Azadî) of the 2022 uprising triggered by Mahsa Amini's death.

Who does the repressing

The charges

• Moharebeh — “waging war against God”. Capital. Used where a protester is alleged to have drawn a weapon or caused fear, including in cases with no proven violence.
• Efsad-e fel-arz — “corruption on earth”. Capital. The broadest charge in the code, applied to organisers, publicists and financiers of protest.
• Baghy — “armed rebellion” against the state. Capital.
• Propaganda against the system — the standard charge for journalists, artists, teachers and social-media users; typically months to years in prison.
• Assembly and collusion against national security — the usual charge for organising, attending meetings, or being in a group chat.
• Insulting the sacred — used against writers, musicians and rappers; can carry the death penalty in combination with other charges.

Places that recur in the record

Words this archive avoids

• “Clashes” where unarmed people were shot — it implies symmetry that the evidence does not support.
• “Rioters” as a description of protesters — it is the state's term of art and appears here only inside quotation marks.
• “Died” where a person was killed by security forces.
• “Alleged” attached to facts established by two independent strands of evidence; it is reserved for genuinely unresolved claims.
• “Regime change” as an editorial position — this archive documents; it does not prescribe political outcomes.

Machine-readable definitions are published at glossary.json. Institutional explainers live in the knowledge base, and the sourcing rules behind these usage choices are in Methodology.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between the IRGC, the Basij and the police?

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah) is a parallel military and economic power answering to the Supreme Leader. The Basij is a mass volunteer militia subordinate to the IRGC, used for street-level suppression and neighbourhood surveillance. The police (FARAJA) is the ordinary law-enforcement body, which also housed the Gasht-e Ershad morality patrols. In crackdowns the three operate together, which is precisely what makes attributing a killing to a specific force so difficult.

What does Gasht-e Ershad mean?

“Guidance patrol” — the morality police unit responsible for enforcing compulsory hijab and dress codes in public. Its detention of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, and her death in custody, triggered the Woman, Life, Freedom uprising. Street patrols were scaled back afterwards and replaced in part by camera-based enforcement, fines and vehicle confiscation.

What are Evin, Qarchak, Kahrizak and Vakilabad?

Evin in Tehran is the principal prison for political detainees and the site of the 2022 fire. Qarchak, south of Tehran, is a women's prison notorious for overcrowding and lack of medical care. Kahrizak, a detention centre closed after deaths in custody in 2009, became a byword for torture. Vakilabad in Mashhad is associated with large numbers of executions, many drug-related.

Why does the site write “Islamic Republic” rather than “Iran”?

To separate a country and its people from the governing system that represses them. “Iran executed” makes a nation the perpetrator; “the Islamic Republic executed” names the responsible authority. The distinction matters to Iranians, and it is factually more precise.

How are Persian names transliterated here?

Names follow the spelling used by the monitoring organisation that first published the case, so that a reader can search the original source. Common alternative spellings are given alongside the main entry — Mahsa/Jina Amini, Zahedan/Zahidan, Sanandaj/Sine — because families and Kurdish, Baluchi, Azerbaijani and Arabic-speaking communities inside Iran often use different forms.