Iran’s self-proclaimed centrist President Hassan Rouhani has failed to effectively challenge repressive elements in the Islamic Republic’s regime since he was re-elected with a landslide in May last year or deliver the greater freedoms he has promised since first being elected in 2013, the Freedom House watchdog said on January 16.

Like its neighbour Turkey, Iran is one of the the 49 countries around the world (25% of all nations) deemed to be 'Not Free' in the US-based NGO’s latest annual Freedom in the World survey. On an aggregate score scale of 0-100 (where 0 = least free), Iran’s ranking hardly changed, comparing the 2017 and 2018 analyses. It edged up to 18 in the newly-released analysis as against the score of 17 recorded by the previous one. The country’s freedom rating, political rights and civil liberties scores (marked from 1 to 7 where 7 = least free) did not change at all. Each was given a score of 6.

In its executive summary assessment of Iran’s latest ranking, the analysis states: “Although there have been modest improvements on some human rights issues under Rouhani, including a gradual reduction in the number of imprisoned journalists, the regime maintained restrictions on freedom of expression, both offline and online, during 2017. For example, authorities continued to arrest and coerce administrators of reformist channels on the popular messaging application Telegram.

“In late December, when protests prompted by deteriorating economic conditions spread to cities across the country and aired bold demands for political change, officials responded in part by restricting access to Telegram and another popular app, the photo-sharing platform Instagram.”

The late-year protests led to violent clashes with security forces in some locations, leaving 25 people dead. Rouhani urged protesters not to engage in violence, but pushing back against the hardliners’ argument that the demonstrations were all about hardship in the country very much caused by the government’s economic management, he called for their legitimate political grievances to be addressed.

Freedom House’s analysts criticised the pragmatist Rouhani—who won reelection with 57% of the vote against hardline cleric Ebrahim Raisi’s 38%—for making controversial appointments to his cabinet such as that of Information and Communications Technology Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, a former intelligence official who helped to develop Iran’s surveillance infrastructure and has been accused of involvement in interrogations of detained dissidents.

The Freedom in the World 2018 report also suggested that “the regime’s ongoing practice of detaining and prosecuting foreigners and dual nationals, including US citizens, on spying charges is seen as an effort by the security and intelligence establishment to thwart closer international ties”.

Another significant event during 2017 noted by the report was parliament’s passing last August of an amendment to the country’s drug-trafficking law. It is thought that up to 5,000 inmates on death row could consequently be spared capital punishment. Iran, with a population of 80mn, carries out hundreds of executions each year, including of convicts who were juveniles at the time of their alleged crimes.

In December, Tehran’s police chief said city authorities would no longer arrest people—usually women—for breaching rules on personal appearance, instead mandating education sessions by police officials, the survey said. “However, the change apparently applied only to the capital, and repeat offenders could reportedly still face detention,” it added.