Human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran for apostasy and other charges. Late November, 2018 prison warden Qarchak women prison in Varamin, near the capital Tehran attacked and bit three Dervish religious minority prisoners when they demanded their confiscated belongings back. In a 2008 report, the organization Human Rights Watch complained that "broadly worded `security laws`" in Iran are used "to arbitrarily suppress and punish individuals for peaceful political expression, association, and assembly, in breach of international human rights treaties to which Iran is party." For example, "connections to foreign institutions, persons, or sources of funding" are enough to bring criminal charges such as "undermining national security"
Administrative divisions of Iran Administrative divisions of Iran The first level of country subdivisions of Iran are the (; "ostānhā") provinces. Each province is further subdivided into counties called shahrestan (), and each shahrestan is subdivided into districts called bakhsh (). There are usually a few cities () and rural districts () in each county. Rural districts are a collection of a number of villages. One of the cities of the county is appointed as the capital of the county. According to the government of Iran, (Iranian calendar 1394), the figures are as follows: According to the Statistical Center of Iran, the figures are