Iran: Mahsa Amini's Family Stopped From Traveling for EU Award

Facts

• Iranian authorities on Saturday prevented Mahsa Amini's family from traveling to France, where the late Kurdish-Iranian woman is set to be honored posthumously with the EU's top human rights award on Tuesday.¹
• Officers at Tehran's Imam Khomeini International Airport allegedly confiscated their passports due to a Ministry of Intelligence travel ban that would remain in effect until Jan. 20, 2024.²
• Only the family's lawyer was reportedly allowed to board the flight to receive the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, created in 1988 to recognize individuals or groups for their human rights work.³
• Amini was awarded the Sakharov Prize in October, along with the global 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement that followed her death.⁴
• Amini's family is said to have been under intense pressure from security forces since the 22-year-old died in the custody of Iran's hijab police on Sept. 16 last year.⁵
• Shortly before the first anniversary of her passing, Amini's father and uncle had reportedly been arrested in their hometown, Saqqez, while her family members were banned from mourning.⁶

Sources: ¹Guardian, ²Iranwire, ³NBC, ⁴BBC News, ⁵Iran International and ⁶UN News.

Narratives

• Anti-Iran narrative, as provided by Kurdpa. It's outrageous that Tehran has extrajudicially deprived Amini's family of their rights as Iranian citizens, preventing them from attending the award ceremony in France — a trip that had long been coordinated with relevant institutions — despite official calls against unnecessary travel bans.
• Pro-Iran narrative, as provided by PressTV. The West has again resorted to distorting the facts related to a sad incident in a smear campaign against Tehran. Such malicious allegations only prove that Western countries don't care about human rights and have no qualms about using women as a political tool against independent nations.

Predictions