Death Sentence for Iranian Journalist Attempt to Silence Opposition
"Ruhollah Zam’s death sentence is a flagrant and extreme attack on human rights, and yet another instance of the ongoing crackdown on freedom of expression, a free press, and… More
U.S.-Based Iranian Activists Face Government-Led Threats
"Masih and her fellow activists are astonishingly courageous in their determination to write and speak about women’s rights in Iran despite the ongoing threats they face." More
Nasrin Sotoudeh, Imprisoned in Iran
Nasrin Sotoudeh is a human rights lawyer and public intellectual who has faced harassment and intimidation for years and spent time in and out of prison. More
The PEN Pod: Connecting through Translation with Ali Araghi
“One function of translation we could think about is the way it shows how literature of other cultures have reacted to similar problems we are dealing with.” More
Iran Bans Print Media in Response to COVID-19
(New York, NY) – In response to an Iranian coronavirus task force's wholesale ban on print media, Summer Lopez, PEN America's senior director of free expression programs, issued the following… More
Five Ways Writers Can Protect Their Rights at the U.S. Border
In the wake of the killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, some 60 Iranians and Iranian-Americans were reported to have been stopped at the U.S.-Canada border and subjected to… More
Arrest of Writer and Translator Arash Ganji Is an Unwarranted Attack on Freedom of Expression in Iran
“The Iranian authorities have blatantly targeted Arash Ganji for his writing and work to foster free expression and cross-cultural literary understanding." More
Iran’s Abusive Internet Shutdown Illustrates Dangers of ‘National Internet’
“The Iranian government’s decision to impose a nationwide blackout on global Internet access in order to suppress news of anti-government protests is deeply abusive, completely unjustifiable, and clearly self-serving." More
Exiled Iranian Dissident and Journalist Lured Back to Iran, Detained
“The reported detention of Rouhollah Zam is another case of the Iranian government silencing and punishing any form of dissent, as reflected by the widespread recent crackdown on journalists,… More
Arrest of Iranian Writer’s Family Members “Deplorable Attempt to Intimidate Her”
“The arrest and detention of three of Masih Alinejad’s family members is clearly direct retribution for her work advocating for women’s liberty and a deplorable attempt to intimidate her… More