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President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in New York this week to attend a UN non-proliferation conference, prompting a fresh round of frightening speculation over the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran.

The focus on that potential danger should not obscure the fact that thousands of people are currently experiencing not just a threat of violence from the Iranian government, but the everyday dispensing of it. Opposition supporters, journalists, human rights defenders, ethnic and religious minorities, union members and even teachers inside Iran regularly endure harassment, surveillance, interrogations, nighttime raids, imprisonment, and torture.

Nearly one year after the flawed presidential election that kicked off the biggest and most sustained anti-government demonstrations since the Islamic Republic's founding, the human rights situation remains devastating. This past weekend, a massive police presence in Tehran and other cities prevented demonstrations by union members commemorating the May 1 workers' holiday. The crackdown comes after a wave of attacks and arrests against union members, especially teachers' trade associations.

Many influential trade union leaders, including Ebrahim Madadi, Ali Nejati, and Mansour Osanloo, continue to serve time in Iran's prisons for advocating for the right to establish independent trade unions.

Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad arrived in New York on World Press Freedom Day. Thi... >>>