Culture

Iranwire – Last week  Mohammad Khazaee, head of the Iranian Cinema Organization, which works under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance, said he would shortly be naming a series of filmmakers and industry figures banned from working in Iran. Six days later the names remain unannounced, but sources who spoke to IranWire report that since then, a number …

RFL/RE – Iranian security officials have stepped up their pressure on filmmakers who signed a recent statement against state repression to force them to rescind their signatures. In case of refusal, the filmmakers have been warned they could be blacklisted and banned from making films in the Islamic republic. A blacklist is due to be released next week, officials have …

VOA – Some of the world’s most prized works of contemporary Western art have been unveiled for the first time in decades — in Tehran. Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line cleric, rails against the influence of the West. Authorities have lashed out at “deviant” artists for “attacking Iran’s revolutionary culture.” And the Islamic Republic has plunged further into confrontation …

Iranwire – In early summer 2016, a group of female singers – and the men who had worked with them – were summoned as a group to appear before the Culture and Media Court in Tehran. More than 50 individuals were originally named as would-be defendants, and most were subjected to multiple interrogations. Finally, in 2019, the Court issued a …

RFL/RE – Rights activist Maryam Karimbeigi has been sentenced to three years and seven months in prison for attending a concert by the popular Iranian singer Ebi in Turkey. Amir Raisian, Karimbeigi’s lawyer, told the Modara website on August 1 that the Islamic Revolutionary Court of Tehran recently handed down the sentence for the charge of “assembly and collusion with …

Iran-HRM – A security guard halted a concert by the Kamakan group in the middle of their performance in Tehran. In a video published on social media, a security guard is shown suddenly coming on stage while the group members were performing telling the band’s vocalist “Stop singing. We were told to halt it!”   In response to the group’s …

Iranwire – Last week the Iranian pop singer Sirvan Khosravi posted a fraught note on Instagram informing his 2.3m followers that two planned concerts in Ahvaz, Khuzesan would not be going ahead. It came after tumult at the gates the previous day, where as-yet unidentified parties tried to block fans from entering the venue. “I want you to know that we tried …

rferl.org – The mothers of several children who were scheduled to participate in a karate competition in the northeastern Iranian city of Mashhad have been barred from watching the event in person as security officials enforced a government ban on women entering stadiums in the country. Video of a security officer stopping the mothers from entering a sports hall where …

RFL/RE – Iranian authorities have renewed their crackdown on dissent amid rising antiestablishment sentiment and near daily protests across the Islamic republic. Prominent government critics have been arrested in recent days, including reformist politician Mostafa Tajzadeh and acclaimed filmmakers Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Rasulof. Other activists have been summoned for questioning by the authorities in recent days. Analysts say the …

Iranwire – As is often the case in Iran, the country is in the grip of a series of events that are both shocking, and somehow not entirely surprising. Since Friday, July 8, at least 11 well-known public figures have been arrested. They include Mostafa Tajzadeh, a former deputy interior minister and trenchant critic of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei; six of …