Culture

Shabtabnews – In a twitter statement USCIRF wishes a happy #Nowruz to communities celebrating around the world. May this be a successful, prosperous, and healthy new year. USCIRF wishes a happy #Nowruz to communities celebrating around the world. May this be a successful, prosperous, and healthy new year. pic.twitter.com/3f5fEs5XLd— USCIRF (@USCIRF) March 20, 2022

Iranwire – An Iranian mathematician and philosophy lecturer has rejected his award for the country’s book of the year “in protest at censorship” in Iran. Kaave Lajevardi said in a post on his blog on March 15 that he informed officials of his decision after being named as the joint winner of the prize for his translation of John Locke’s book “An Essay Concerning …

Iranwire – Bijan Mortazavi, an Iranian composer and singer-songwriter, has released a new music video entitled Lalaie, orLullaby. First published by Radio Javan and later shared with IranWire, the track calls attention to the plight of refugees worldwide. According to the latest UN statistics, there are more than 82 million displaced people in the world today. That figure has grown by more than two …

RFL/RE – Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui is no stranger to state censorship. The prominent director has had to fight restrictions during his decades-long career, first under the one-party state of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and then under the current theocratic regime, which has enforced stricter censorship rules on artists and their work. Yet, a decision by authorities to prevent the …

Iranwire- Baha’is are the largest non-Muslim religious minority in Iran – yet they are not recognized by the Islamic Republic’s constitution. In the past four decades, they have been deprived of almost all their human and citizenship rights, from the right to an education to the right to own property and to employment. The situation of the Baha’is in Iran is …

Iranwire – Valentine’s Day is a relatively new addition to the Iranian calendar, but a popular one. In the last few years, stalls selling pink and red heart-shaped cushions and teddy bears, chocolates and flowers have become commonplace in the run-up to February 14, as have declarations of love in cards and messages, in person and online. The day has …

RFL/RE – A rare collection of color images made by a European woman who traveled throughout Iran as modernization and political upheavals forever changed the country. A boy lost in thought in a garden in Galandovak in the northeast of Tehran. A handsome boatsman on an unidentified coastline in Iran. Fishermen working in the shallows of the Caspian Sea in …

Iranwire – The Quarterly Journal of Strategic Studies recently published a study, Identity Policy, Education and National Security in Iran, which analyzes the content of the Social Studies textbook used in the first grade of high school. Space given in the book to national identity, religious identity and global identity are explored, and the results of this official study are a …

Iranwire – The United Nations’ World Mother Language Day falls a little over two weeks from now on February 21. In advance of this, close to a thousand Iranians who grew up speaking a minority language have already taken to Twitter to express their sense of loss and frustration at the marginalization of their mother tongue. The #Manofarsi (Me and …

Iranwire – Abbas Nikravan, a traditional musician from West Azerbaijan province, has been sentenced to three months in prison by Branch 102 of Salmas Criminal Court on the charge of “propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran in cyberspace”. The singer and philanthropist, who hails from the village of Nadarli in Shabestar county, was arrested by security forces on September …