November 11, 2019

200 Film Personalities Condemn Censorship in Iran: “Our Profession Has Been Under Attack”

More than 200 members of Iran’s film industry signed an open letter dated November 2, 2019, condemning state censorship and demanding “freedom of ...

September 24, 2019

Filmmaker’s Family Blocked From Boarding Flight in Tehran: “Iran is Sick and Making Everyone Sick”

Filmmaker Bahman Ghobadi poses ...

July 30, 2019

Iranian Heavy Metal Band Members Escape to Norway After Receiving Prison Sentences

Nikan Khosravi and Arash Ilkhani, members of the Iranian heavy metal band Confess, have left Iran to escape prosecution and prison for their ...

July 24, 2019

Mohammad Rasoulof’s Films Were Banned in Iran, Now He’s Been Sentenced to Prison

“We have to pay a price, and every person will pay some price,” says acclaimed filmmaker July 24, 2019 – The sentencing of award-winning filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof to one year in prison for the content of his films ...

June 20, 2019

Abdolreza Kahani: “We are Born Into Censorship”

In Iran, the Ministry of Guidance and Islamic Culture imposes a strict process of review and approval for all screenplays before films can be legally ...

April 19, 2019

Iranian Actress Asks Minister Why She Was Pulled from Film Set Based on “Order from Above”

Iranian actress Maryam Moghaddam (also referred to as Moqadam), has written an open letter to Iran’s Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance Abbas ...

February 22, 2019

Concert Cancellations Continue in Mashhad Due to Intolerance by Religious Conservatives

A concert by the popular Persian pop band Hoorosh was canceled by judicial order an hour ...

January 14, 2019

Musician Ali Ghamsari Banned From Performing in Iran After Refusing to Remove Female Singer

"Our Sing-Along Didn’t Violate Any Rules" After the Iranian authorities banned musician Ali Ghamsari from performing “until further notice” for refusing to ...

January 11, 2019

Famed Iranian Playwright Mohammad Rahmanian Charged for Allegedly Featuring Female Soloist

Complaint Brought by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Prominent Iranian theater director and playwright Mohammad Rahmanian has been charged with “propaganda against the state” based ...

March 30, 2018

Metal Band Member Sentenced to Six Years Prison in Iran Accused of Creating “Satanic Music”

Nikan Khosravi, a member of the Iranian metal band “Confess,” left Iran for Turkey to avoid being imprisoned for six years for ...

January 24, 2018

She’s a Professional Iranian Singer But is Banned from Singing on Stage in Her Country

“I am a professional Iranian singer but I am ...

December 30, 2017

Poet to Serve Two Years in Prison For Criticizing Iran’s Supreme Leader

Editor's Note: Mahdavifar’s two-year prison sentence was upheld by an Appeals Court on July 3, 2018. Poet Mohammad Mahdavifar has been ...

December 26, 2017

Iranian Authorities Confiscate Prominent Director’s Passport, Ban Him From Making Films

Award-winning director Mohammad Rasoulof has revealed that he has been banned from making films in Iran and is not ...

December 26, 2017

Independent Iranian Journalist Facing Prosecution For Criticizing Powerful Politician

Detained after criticizing a powerful local lawmaker, Sina Ghalandari, an independent journalist based in the city of Kuhdasht, Lorestan Province, has been released on ...

December 21, 2017

Three Years Later, Conservatives Are Still Blocking “I’m Not Angry” From Screening in Iran

After finally receiving approval to screen his movie “I’m Not Angry” in Iran, director Reza Dormishian’s film was ...

December 18, 2017

Iran’s Culture Ministry Successfully Pressures Iranian Director to Cancel Film Screening in Canada

Iranian director Abdolreza Kahani cancelled a screening of one of his films in Canada after Iran’s Ministry of Culture ...

December 8, 2017

Iran’s Culture Minister Says He’s Trying to “Transform” Conservative Clerics’ Views on Music

Before musicians can perform concerts in Iran without the threat of the authorities suddenly canceling them, someone has to convince conservative ...

December 8, 2017

IRGC Commander Turned Musician Says He Was Banned From Producing Music by the Intelligence Ministry

Hossein Zaman, a former Revolutionary Guards commander who has been banned from producing or performing music for more than 15 years, says the ban was put in place because Iran’s Intelligence Ministry wants to intimidate him into refraining from expressing his political views ...

November 5, 2017

Iranian Poet Sentenced to Prison and Flogging For the Charge of “Insulting the Sacred”

Poet and civil rights activist Reza Ekvanyan has been sentenced to three years in prison and 40 lashes for the charges of “propaganda against the state” and “insulting the sacred” by Branch 26 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, presided by Judge Mashallah Ahmadzadeh ...

October 9, 2017

Iranian Baha’i Singer Facing Prison Time After European Concert Tour

Behnam Rohani-Fard Interrogated “20 Times” in Solitary Confinement After being repeatedly interrogated while spending a month in solitary confinement, Iranian singer ...

October 4, 2017