Opponents claim resumption of live export trade to country with 'notorious' animal welfare standards is a 'horrifying' blow Australia is set to end a 40-year boycott on live animal exports to Iran with the signing of a health protocol agreement. However, the move has drawn criticism from anti-live export activists who claim it is a blow to animal welfare Continue reading... ...
Azarpeik, who has been critical of the state's treatment of journalists and opposition figures, was picked up by judicial authorities in Tehran Iranian security forces have arrested Saba Azarpeik, a prominent journalist working for a number of reformist publications in Tehran, including Etemaad daily. Numerous sources said on Wednesday that Azarpeik was picked up from the offices of Tejarat-e-Farda,...
Roya Saberinejad Nobakht, from Stockport, reportedly sentenced to 20 years over Facebook comments Eight people, including an Iranian-born British woman, have been jailed in Iran on charges including blasphemy and insulting the country's supreme leader on Facebook. The opposition website Kaleme reported that two of the eight, identified as Roya Saberinejad Nobakht, 47, from Stockport, and Amir Golestani,...
Rendering Persian legends, archetypes, and ancient visual motifs into contemporary life, the self-taught artist is often concerned with psychological questions Ahmad Nasrollahi is one of Iran's most influential painters. His work has been exhibited and sold internationally. His work is innovative in technique and content. Subtly drawing Iranian legends, archetypes, and ancient visual motifs into contemporary...
Hekmati serving 10 years for aiding 'hostile governments' Death sentence and spying conviction already quashed A former US marine convicted of criminal charges in Iran after being accused of working for the CIA will appeal for a new trial after already seeing his sentence reduced once, an Iranian news agency reported on Sunday. Amir Hekmati, a dual US-Iranian citizen born in Arizona, was arrested...
Adam Chidell heads to Hormozgan Province to explore a new side of the country, first stop the port city of Bandar Abbas, sitting on the Persian Gulf As I arrived by ferry into Bandar Abbas or what the locals call just plain Bandar I was struck first by the thickness of the hot air, heavily laced with Persian Gulf salt. It was low tide and two boys played at the oceans edge, throwing silt and dodging...
The real battle is between popular politicians and an entrenched elite that is frightened by its electoral defeat It is not the first time the question of Iran's social mores has hit the headlines. Six young Tehranis got into trouble after their contribution to an internet phenomenon a lip-synched dance to an innocent pop song, Happy went viral on YouTube . They were arrested, forced to strip naked...
Arrests caused outrage and made headlines across world, prompted both Williams and President Hassan Rouhani to react Iran has released a number of Pharrell Williams fans arrested in connection with a version of his hit song Happy made on the rooftops of Tehran. It was not clear, however, if all of those involved had been freed. Continue reading... ...
Group allegedly involved in a video based on the song Happy, which inspired fans around the world to make their own versions A group of young Iranians who appeared in an Iranian online version of Pharrell Williams's hit song Happy have been arrested, it has emerged. Iran's state-run national TV on Tuesday broadcast a programme showing men and women, apparently Pharrell fans from Tehran, confessing...
The ritual, the taste, the history. Do Iranians make the best tea in the world? We want to hear your tea stories. Share your memories with GuardianWitness One of my fondest memories of growing up in Iran is having tea with my great grandmother in Shemiran . She presided over a long rectangular room in north Tehran seated on her prayer mat facing my grandfather's rose garden and fruit trees. I sat...
The culture, the memories, the taste, the Tehran Bureau have made the case for Iranian tea. Can you do the same? Tell us about the worlds best brews Who makes the best tea in the world? Kelly Niknejad Tehran Bureau editor, makes the case for Iran, the history, the culture, bringing family together. Memories of "a ceramic teapot with a drawing of a red rose warmed, soaked and sunk a spoonful of...
Our suggestions on who to follow on Twitter about Iran and people we would like to see tweet more - chosen by @SaeedKD Here at the Guardian we have our own team of people tweeting about Iran. My colleague Julian Borger, who is the Guardian's diplomatic editor, has a global security blog on which he writes about Iran's nuclear negotiations among other subjects. He's on Twitter @JulianBorger . Ian Black,...
The fate of the Bahai minority is not theirs alone, they represent all Iranians who do not conform in one way or another, says Ramin Ahmadi I am fourteen years old. It is southern Iran in the summer of 1977. Most people have not yet heard of Ayatollah Khomeini or an Islamic revolution. The high school building sits on an acre of dry land. We play soccer every day behind the school. The heat is oppressive,...
Discussion about financial compensation is expected to focus on damage to the embassy building when it was ransacked in 2011 Iran is prepared to discuss financial compensation for the 2011 attack on the British embassy in Tehran as part of an overall agreement to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries but it will not offer a formal apology. Majid Takht-Ravanchi, deputy foreign minister...
Despite talk of a defiant 'resistance economy', the consequences may be dire if a nuclear deal with the west does not come soon At the car repair shop on Soreana Avenue in central Tehran, Homayoon is happy to talk; after all, there is not much else to do. Business is bad, he says, as he wipes his hands with an oily cloth. It's the same for everybody. "It's not good at all. Petrol is expensive,...
Progress towards a comprehensive settlement slows to a crawl as detailed drafting begins It had been predicted that this would be the " sticker-shock conversation ", and that is how the latest round of nuclear talks turned out. The phrase, for those unfamiliar with American retail jargon, refers to the unpleasant moment a prospective buyer eyes the price label on an object of desire. In Vienna,...
From Reyhaneh Jabbari, to Balal, famous cases are shifting the discourse on human rights in the Islamic republic Earlier this spring, film director Asghar Farhadi wrote an emotional open letter on behalf of a woman who faced execution for fatally stabbing a man who had tried to rape her. Twenty-six-year-old Reyhaneh Jabbari has been behind bars for seven years after the man's relatives demanded capital...
New research lays bare discrimination faced by gay people in not a single country do they enjoy equal rights as heterosexuals LGBT rights around the world an interactive More than 2.7 billion people live in countries where being gay is punishable by imprisonment, lashes or even death, new research obtained by the Guardian shows. The stark figure from the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA)...
As west moves towards reconciliation with Tehran, Ottawa is making a big mistake by pursuing a wrong policy which isolates Iran and hurts its people Ever since Canada broke off diplomatic relations with Tehran, Ottawa has toughtened its stance on Iran, taking a similar approach to that of Israel. As the west seizes upon the opportunity to engage with the moderate president, Hassan Rouhani, Canada just...
How far should Iran go to resolve concerns over past weapons research to reach a comprehensive deal? As the senior negotiators from six world powers and Iran sat down in Vienna this week to try to draft a comprehensive nuclear settlement, the American delegation has sought to damp down expectations. Briefing the press before this week's round of talks, a senior administration official said : Everyone...