Iranian cartoonist Hadi Heidari was released from prison on Tuesday April 26 after serving his sentence. Hadi Heidari The Fararo website reports that Heidari was arrested for the “Blindfold” cartoon, which was published in the Shargh daily three years ago. The publication of the cartoon led to a thr...

April 28, 2016 at 4:11 am Iran’s Ministry of Culture and Guidance has a ounced that despite earlier reports, instruction in painting will not be eliminated from art schools across the country. ISNA reports that following consultation between the ministers of culture and education, it has been decide...

Two hundred and eighty five permanent and contract workers are out of a job after the Varamin Sugar Factory completely shut down in March. ILNA reports that the Varamin Sugar Factory, one of the country’s most reliable industrial units, has been shut down since March 20, and management says keeping ...

Four of the Iranian jou alists arrested by the Revolutionary Guards and accused of being “elements of enemy infiltration” have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from five to 10 years. The arrests were described at the time as “illegal” by Iranian MP Ali Motahari. The Tasnim News Agency says the...

Iran’s interior minister has written to the head of the country’s three branches of gove ment to say the Guardian Council’s cancellation of the votes obtained by parliamentary candidate Minoo Khaleghi’s is “an error” that needs to be examined by Parliament. Minoo Khaleghi Seda va Sima reported on Tu...

April 27, 2016 at 3:50 am Eight hundred workers have been out of work for the past few days with the closure of Isfahan’s Niloo Tile Factory, while their wages remain unpaid for close to six months. Tasnim reported on Tuesday April 26 that according to one of the workers, the factory was shut down l...

April 27, 2016 at 3:52 am Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami was released after 50 days in hospital and will reportedly continue to receive treatment at his home. Abbas Kiarostami Kiarostami was reportedly released on Tuesday April 26 after four surgeries said to be related to complications caused b...

The number of people killed in road accidents in the past year across Iran is 16,500, according to Taghi Mehri, the head of National Road Traffic. Mehri told Seda va Sima that the rate of fatal accidents across the country is three times the median in developing countries. He said “speeding, drunk d...

Nazak Afshar, a former staff member of the French Embassy in Tehran, was released from Evin Prison on Sunday evening, April 24. Nazak Afshar Mizan Khabar reported that Afshar was released on Sunday but did not indicate whether the release is temporary. The Kaleme website later reported that Afshar w...

April 25, 2016 at 2:19 pm Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami is calling on Iranian voters to support the Rohani administration in the second round of parliamentary elections. Mohammad Khatami In a statement, Khatami highlights the sensitivity of the elections and urges even those who did not ...

The appellate court has overtu ed the decision of the preliminary court for jailed Iranian artist Atena Farghdani, reducing her sentence from 12 years and nine months to just 18 months. This means that she will have served out her sentence by May 12 and be set to be released. Atena Farghdani HRANA q...

Iranian media report that painting and sculpture are being eliminated from the programs of schools of fine arts in Iran. In a letter published in the Shargh daily, the head of Tehran Culture and Guidance has written to the head of the Ministry of Education’s Arts Education and Development section ab...

April 25, 2016 at 12:55 pm Nazak Afshar, a former staff member of the French embassy in Tehran who has been under arrest in Evin Prison since March, has been sentenced to six years in jail. Nazak Afshar The Kaleme website has reported that Afshar has been experiencing fainting spells in prison, and ...

The spokesman for Iran’s judiciary says Omid Kokabi’s sentence is final and he is “being provided with all necessary facilities”. ISNA reports that on Sunday April 24, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei said that Omid Kokabi, the physicist who has served five years in jail, was tried for espionage and his 1...

Tehran MP Alireza Mahjoub, who is also the head of Workers House, a ounced it will hold the May Day march and says, according to law, it does not need to obtain a permit. ILNA reports that Mahjoub said on Saturday that Workers House will work together with the ministry of labour to carry out the cer...

April 24, 2016 at 4:43 pm Iran has more than 200,000 prisoners, according to the deputy head of Parliament’s Judicial and Legal Commission. The Khaneh Mellat News Agency reported on Saturday April 23 that Hamidreza Tabatabai expressed conce about the growing number of prisoners in the country and ca...

One hundred and forty activists have issued a letter expressing conce over the health of political prisoner Amir Amirgholi in Evin Prison and called for his release. Amir Amirgholi The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) reported on Sunday April 24 that Amirgholi is in Section 8 of Evin Priso...

Asghar Farhadi’s latest film, The Salesman (Foroushandeh), has been accepted into the Ca es Film Festival. Shahab Hosseiny and Taraneh Alidousti in Asghar Farhadi’s “The Salesman” The lineup of films for the next festival had already been a ounced, with only one Iranian film on the list, Behnam Behz...

Shahidokht Molaverdi, the Iranian president’s advisor on women and family affairs, says the new plan to deploy 7,000 “undercover morality police” on the streets of Tehran is causing serious conce for families. On Saturday, ISNA reported Molaverdi’s account of a meeting she attended on April 22, wher...

Jailed Iranian cleric Mohammadreza Nekounam is suffering from health problems, and the special court for the clergy refuses to let him to be hospitalized. Mohammdreza Nekounam The Kaleme website reported on Saturday April 23 that prison food has had an adverse effect on Nekoonam’s blood pressure and...