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Iran: A Monkey in Space, Journalists in Prison
Arseh Sevom –Everything has its place in Iran: monkeys in space and journalists in prison. And, oh what a prison! After prisoners complain of their conditions, parliamentarians visit Evin, calling it...
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Iran: Power Struggle, Shoes, Lost Revenues
This week we saw the arrest of the notorious Saeed Mortazavi following a very public power struggle on the floor of the parliament between the speaker, Ali Larijani, and the president, Mahmoud...
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Iran: Majid Tavakoli Honored as Most Forms of Criticism are Criminalized
Arseh Sevom — Student leader, Majid Tavakoli, locked up in prison in Iran, will be awarded the International Student Peace Prize in a ceremony in Norway on February 15. Authorities announce new...
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Iran: Wrestling with the BBC, the South Pole, and the IOC
Arseh Sevom — From the “not again” department, we hear news that the Intelligence Ministry won’t let up on the BBC and continues to arrest, hold, and harass journalists and filmmakers. Meanwhile,...
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Iran: All’s Not Well in the World of Cinema
Whether it is preventing filmmakers from making films or protesting the decisions of international festivals and awards committees, film has been in the news lately when it comes to the Islamic...
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Iran: Under Pressure Society Struggles
Arseh Sevom — This week the mother of Neda, the young woman whose death was captured on camera during the demonstrations following the 2009 presidential elections, reminds us of international women’s...
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Iran: Election and Its Discontents
Arseh Sevom — With election season on the horizon, speculation begins about likely candidates while officials create an atmosphere of insecurity with rumors and fear mongering. Civil society actors in...
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Iran: Mayday, May Day
The cost of currency combined with crippling sanctions is hurting all sectors of Iran’s society from business owners to pharmaceutical manufacturers to the population at large. Iron sellers went on...
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Iran: Election Fever and Workers Protest
Arseh Sevom — The elections are coming, which means candidates are finally registering, the internet is slowing, and paranoia is high. In the latest crackdown, dogs walked in public are being...
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Iran: Ultra Democracy, Engineering Makes it So
Arseh Sevom — Mohammad Reza Sardari and Tori Egherman. In the most “engineered” of election campaigns since the inception of the Islamic Republic, candidates are surprised to find themselves censored....
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House of Cinema Attacked
Arseh Sevom – July 15, 2013, was another in a long list of bad days for Iran’s beleaguered House of Cinema. On the order of the Ministry of Culture, the building that houses the organization was...
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Iran: Mourning Hikers, Hoping for Wisdom
Arseh Sevom — So many people were touched by the story of the three Iranian climbers who successfully opened a new way to the summit of Broad Peak, yet were lost on the way down. Social networks...
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Iran Sanctions — More Pain, Less Gain?
Arseh Sevom – It seems that the least productive U.S. congress in more than 50 years, agrees on one thing: loading sanctions upon sanction on Iran. The new laws seem to be counter-productive, are...
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Iran — Sanctions Lock Doors for Civil Society
Arseh Sevom –For many civil society actors in Iran, the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the international community have multiplied the hardships they face from their own...
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#Iran — I Want My Google Play
Arseh Sevom — Budget shortfalls have wreaked havoc on the state of Iran’s healthcare, which is facing more than one billion euros of debt. Since sanctions were loosened on personal electronics,...
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#Iran: Can Word Games Lead to Action and Real Change
Arseh Sevom–While the war in Syria may become an international war soon, Iran and America have been engaged in some pre-diplomatic word games. Will Ta’amol, the Persian word for mutual action, enter...
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#Iran — The Smell of Change
Arseh Sevom — As we were getting ready to post this week’s review, we heard the good news that Nassrin Sotoudeh and eight other political prisoners had been released from prison. Author Pejman...
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#Iran — Is Rouhani The One
Arseh Sevom—Could Hassan Rouhani be The One? Cartoonist Mana Neyastani taps into the zeitgeist with his image of Iran’s most recent president as Neo from the Matrix. Since Rouhani’s inauguration, a...
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#Iran — Has the Time Come for a Thaw in Relations with Its Own People?
Arseh Sevom — In this week’s overview, we learn that the short term political aims of sanctions have long term effects on the most vulnerable. Improved relations may actually lead to some ease in US...
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#Iran: Let’s Make a (Nuclear) Deal
Arseh Sevom — Nuclear negotiations are eclipsing other news in Iran. There are hopes that an agreement can be reached and that at least some of the sanctions will be relaxed. Attention to foreign...
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