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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.
Express Tribune
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Iran directors get jail time for 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 Moghaddam 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, 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 told AFP in an interview earlier this year. AFP
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
The Guardian
05-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Iranian singer Mehdi Yarrahi given 74 lashes over protest song
Mehdi Yarrahi, a well-known Iranian protest singer who spoke out against the country's strict dress code for women, has been given 74 lashes as part of an agreement to end a criminal case against him. Yarrahi was initially convicted in January 2024 of acting unlawfully by releasing a protest song in September 2023 entitled Your Headscarf (Roo Sarito) on the first anniversary of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' uprising. He had also composed songs during the uprising, and has more than 1 million followers on Instagram. Yarrahi's one-year prison sentence was later converted to electronic ankle monitoring, which ended in December, leading to his release. However, the return of his 15bn toman bail, paid by a third party, was dependent on his flogging, which was carried out this week. At the time, Yarrahi wrote on X: 'I am ready to receive the sentence of 74 lashes, and while I condemn this inhuman torture, I make no request to cancel it.' The news of the lashes was shared on Wednesday by Zahra Minouei, the singer's lawyer. Minouei wrote on X on Wednesday that the last part of the sentences issued by the Tehran revolutionary court had been administered. Yarahi wrote on Instagram: 'You have brought glass to break our stone. Thank you for your constant support, dear ones, and the sincere companionship of the respected lawyers Mustafa Nili and Zahra Minoui. He who is not willing to pay for Bahá'í freedom does not deserve freedom. Wishing you freedom.' News of the medieval-style flogging caused widespread outrage on Iranian social media. Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi wrote on Instagram: 'The execution of Mehdi Yarrahi's flogging sentence is revenge for his support for the women of Iran. The flogging on Mehdi's body is a whip on the proud, resistant women of Iran and the flourishing and powerful soul of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' movement.' Masih Alinejad, a well-known US-based human rights campaigner, said: 'For every lash they strike, more women will take off their scarves. More voices will rise. And nothing will stop this revolution. To the west: negotiating human rights with barbarians won't save you. This regime is a virus, it will spread if you let it.' In 2024 at least 131 individuals were sentenced to a combined 9,957 lashes by the Iranian judiciary, according to the Human Rights Activists News Agency, an Iranian NGO.
