theguardian.com -In the autumn of 1962, the celebrated Iranian poet Forough Farrokhzad made what would be her first and last film. Regarded as a precursor to the Iranian new wave and now considered a classic, The House Is Black is a documentary about the members of a leper colony near the city of Tabriz in northwest Iran. Despite having been filmed nearly 60 years ago, and focusing …

Radiofarda – Radio Farda’s ongoing investigation of the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) death toll in Iran shows at least 3,100 more deaths occurred as of Monday bringing the total to 6,872 in comparison with the officially announced 3,739 number. According to the latest announcement of the Iranian Health Ministry on Monday the death toll rose by 136 in the past 24 hours …

Radiofarda – A remark by Iran’s Health Ministry Spokesman on Sunday calling China’s coronavirus figures and reports “a bitter joke” has led to a diplomatic and political uproar. Kianush Jahanpur on April 5 said statistics from China made many in the world think the new virus caused an illness “just like influenza”, even with fewer deaths”, and added, “If in …

Radiofarda – Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has accused the United States of “crime against humanity” for what he says is Washington’s role in blocking Tehran’s request for an emergency IMF loan. Revolutionary Guard general Ali Shamkhani tweeted April 5 that “America’s opposition to the granting of a loan by International Monetary Fund to Iran for securing needed …

Radiofarda – In a video clip from mid-February, circulating on social media in recent days, a former Islamic Republic minister, Parviz Fattah, has disclosed that Qods Force former commander Qassem Soleimani once asked him to help finance Fatemiyoun Brigade. The military unit, also known as Fatemiyoun Division, is a mainly Afghan Shi’a militia formed by the IRGC’s Qods Force in …

(AP) — Unknown gunmen fatally shot and stabbed a member of the militant Hezbollah group in southern Lebanon and an investigation was launched, Lebanese security officials said Sunday. The body of Ali Mohammed Younes was found next to his car Saturday evening near the southern town of Nabatiyeh, said two security officials. One of them said Younes was shot with …

Radiofarda – The quandary facing Iran’s government regarding a lockdown to contain Covid-19 or resuming business activities continues in full-force, as President Hassan Rouhani and some of his ministers fear a long, drawn-out economic shutdown. Following several days of speculations by the media and disputes among members of the government Rouhani announced on Sunday April 5 that “low-risk businesses” can …

Al-Arabia – The Iranian military did “well” by downing a civilian airliner in January, the spokesman for the parliament’s legal and judicial committee said on Sunday, adding that no arrests have been made in relation to the incident, contrary to official claims. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) shot down a Ukraine International Airlines jet on January 8, killing all …

Iran-HRM – March was a deadly month across Iran, with a large increase in the number of deaths from the Covid-19 disease and the spread of the coronavirus in Iran’s prisons. At least 14,700 in 237 cities across Iran passed away from the novel virus as of March 31. Iranian prisons and detention centers were one of the most vulnerable …

Iran-HRM – Political prisoner Soheil Arabi sent a letter out of the Greater Tehran Penitentiary on Saturday, April 4, 2020, announcing that he is going on hunger strike again to protest the authorities’ failure to deliver on their promise to send him to hospital, the abysmal prison conditions, his continued imprisonment and depriving him of prison leave during the coronavirus …