Latest news with #HRANA
Time of India
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Truck drivers across Iran continue rare strike for sixth consecutive day
Representative Image Truck drivers across Iran continued a rare and prolonged strike for the sixth consecutive day on Tuesday, demanding better working conditions in a sector vital to the country's economy. While labor strikes are permitted under Iranian law, the scale and persistence of this protest are unusual. The strike, which began in the southwestern port city of Bandar Abbas, has quickly expanded nationwide, with reported stoppages in Isfahan, Shiraz, Tehran Province, and Kermanshah, according to Persian-language media and monitoring groups outside Iran. Drivers are voicing frustration over surging insurance premiums, low freight rates, high fuel costs, and poor road safety, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA). Images shared on social media appeared to show rows of idle trucks in major cities, though these visuals have not been independently verified. The rights group Dadban reported incidents of security forces confronting demonstrators, and the Fars Province prosecutor confirmed the arrests of individuals allegedly blocking roadways. The state-aligned newspaper Kayhan dismissed the strike as being manipulated by 'opportunistic elements,' while Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf acknowledged the truckers' critical role in the supply chain and urged the government to address their grievances promptly. Road transport is essential for food distribution across Iran's vast terrain.
The Guardian
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Iranian directors of My Favourite Cake given suspended jail sentences for ‘spreading lies'
An Iranian court has handed two Iranian film directors suspended jail terms over a film that angered authorities in its home country but was acclaimed in Europe and the US, rights groups said on Thursday. Maryam Moghaddam and Behtash Sanaeeha were convicted earlier this week by a revolutionary court for their film My Favourite Cake, the Human Rights Activist News Agency (HRANA) and Dadban legal monitor said in separate statements. The film, which competed at the 2024 Berlin film festival and won prizes in Europe and the US, shows the romantic awakening of a woman in Tehran who notably appears without the headscarf that is obligatory for women in Iran. The pair were sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for five years, and a fine on charges of 'spreading lies with the intention of disturbing public opinion', Dadban said. In addition, they were sentenced to one year in prison, also suspended for five years, and all equipment ordered confiscated for the charge of 'participating in the production of vulgar content'. Another fine was ordered on the charge of 'showing a film without a screening licence', it added. The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran commented on the verdict, saying: 'Artists in Iran endure significant hardships, including increasing censorship, arbitrary detentions and the constant threat of legal repercussions for expressing dissent through their work.' Even before their conviction, Moghaddam and Sanaeeha were banned from leaving Iran to attend the Berlin film festival and then promote the film when it was released in Europe. 'We wanted to tell the story of the reality of our lives, which is about those forbidden things like singing, dancing, not wearing hijab at home, which no one does at home,' Moghaddam said earlier this year. News of the verdict came as the Cannes film festival announced that the new movie by another leading director banned from leaving Iran, Jafar Panahi, would be screened at its 2025 edition. Another recent Iranian film, Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig, which explicitly deals with the 2022-23 protest movement, resulted in the director and several of its actors fleeing the country, and those who remained unable to leave and subject to prosecution.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Iran hands directors suspended jail terms over acclaimed film
An Iranian court has handed two Iranian film directors suspended jail terms over a film that angered authorities in the Islamic republic but was acclaimed in Europe and the United States, rights groups said on Thursday. Maryam Moghadam and Behtash Sanaeeha were convicted earlier this week by a Revolutionary Court for the film "My Favourite Cake", the Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) and Dadban legal monitor said in separate statements. The film, which competed at the 2024 Berlin Film Festival and won prizes in Europe and the United States, shows the voyage of discovery of an elderly woman in Tehran who notably appears in the film without the headscarf that is obligatory for women in Iran. The pair were sentenced to 14 months in prison, suspended for five years, and a fine on charges of "spreading lies with the intention of disturbing public opinion", Dadban said. In addition, they were sentenced to one year in prison, also suspended for five years, and all equipment ordered confiscated for the charge of "participating in the production of vulgar content". Another fine was ordered on the charge of "showing a film without a screening licence", it added. "Artists in Iran endure significant hardships, including increasing censorship, arbitrary detentions, and the constant threat of legal repercussions for expressing dissent through their work," said the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran, commenting on the verdict. Even before their conviction, Moghadam and Sanaeeha were banned from leaving Iran to attend the Berlin film festival and then promote the film when it was released in Europe. "We wanted to tell the story of the reality of our lives, which is about those forbidden things like singing, dancing, not wearing hijab at home, which no one does at home," Moghadam told AFP in an interview earlier this year. News of the verdict came as the Cannes Film Festival announced that the latest movie by another leading director banned from leaving Iran, the prize-winning Jafar Panahi, would be screened at its 2025 edition. Another recent Iranian film, Mohammad Rasoulof's "The Seed of the Sacred Fig", which explicitly deals with the 2022-2023 protest movement, resulted in the director and several of its actors fleeing the country, and those who remained unable to leave and subject to prosecution. sjw/srm
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Yahoo
Iranian musician flogged 74 times over protest song in support of women's rights
March 6 (UPI) -- Iranian musician Mehdi Yarrahi received 74 lashes as part of his sentence a song supporing women's rights and opposes the Middle Eastern country's draconian hijab laws, his lawyer said. Yarrahi, a singer-songwriter known for his protest music, was arrested in late August 2023 and sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, with one year enforceable, along with a fine and 74 lashes. In December, Yarrahi was released after completing his one-year sentence. On Wednesday, he received the remaining 74 lashes, his lawyer, Zahra Minuei, confirmed in a Farsi-language statement. "Today ... the last part of the sentence ... was fully and completely implemented," Minuei said. "Mr. [Yarrahi's] case was closed." According to Iran activist-run Human Rights News Agency, Yarrahi was arrested on charges of spreading propaganda against the regime, encouraging corruption and depravity and producing and distributing immoral content, among others, following the release of his song, "Roo Sarito," which translates to "Your Headscarf" in English. The Tehran regime deemed the song "unlawful" and "contrary to the values and norms of Islamic society, HRANA reported following Yarrahi's arrest, citing Mizan, the news agency of Iran's judiciary. His arrest came ahead of the one-year anniversary of the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman who died in police custody after being detained for violating Iran's hijab laws and beatedn. Amini's death sparked mass women-led protests, which Yarrahi supported. "You brought glass to break our stone," Yarrahi said in a statement published to his X account on Wednesday thanking Minuei and others who had supported him. "Whoever is not willing to pay the price for freedom is not worthy of it. Wishing for liberation..." Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi described Yarrahi's flogging as retaliation for his support of Iranian women. "May we, as women, protest the regime's brutality against a dissenting artist, strengthening the chain of solidarity and putting an end to the misogynistic religious tyranny," she said on X. "Mehdi Yarrahi stood against the suppression of women's voices -- let us be his voice."
