Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani denies Iran executes juveniles or persecutes Bahá'ís and accuses west of spreading promiscuity The chief of Iran's judiciary has accused the EU of spreading homosexuality and promiscuity in the country after the European parliament warned human rights abuses have continued under Hassan Rouhani's new administration. Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani, who heads the Islamic Republic's...
Akhlaghi recreates Iran's most notorious death scenes from the time before cameraphones, becoming an eyewitness to her nation's past. From the controversial poet who swerved her car to avoid a school bus and died in the process, to the mysterious end of Iran's beloved gold-medal wrestler, here's a selection of images from her astonishing series By An Eyewitness Part of Burnt Generation: Contemporary...
Tehran defends nomination as senior US lawmakers accuse Hamid Aboutalebi of involvement in 1979 hostage crisis Iran defended its nomination as ambassador to the United Nations on Tuesday after hawks in the US Senate passed legislation to ban the official from entering the country over his alleged role in the 1979 hostage crisis. The dispute over Hamid Aboutalebi, Tehrans pick as its envoy to the UN...
Islamic republic dismisses MEP accusations of freedom of speech restrictions and call for executions moratorium Iran has reacted angrily to a European parliament resolution calling on diplomats to shine a spotlight on human rights in their negotiations with Tehran as part of a new strategy towards the country. Iran's foreign ministry summoned the Greek ambassador on Sunday in protest at the resolution,...
The popularity of consumerist culture has raised dowry expectations to unrealistic extremes It drives poor families into the clutches of organ harvesters and loan sharks, compels betrothed couples to spend years in pre-marital purgatory, and pushes a nation known for strong family values to the brink of a population crisis. Still, for some Iranians, losing a kidney or signing off on a Faustian bank...
Ali Rehmat Assadi, an Iranian, arrested in Thailand and deported to UAE over abduction of Abbas Yazdi, who went missing last June An Iranian man suspected of helping to kidnap a British-Iranian businessman in Dubai has been arrested in Thailand and deported to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), according to an official source. Ali Rehmat Assadi will stand trial in the UAE on charges of abducting Abbas...
"When I shot these images, it was a dark time in Iran's history," says Newsha Tavakolian. "It was a time of extreme pressure on the public, especially on the youth, who were all struggling under the imposed restrictions." Curious about the isolated lives of the middle-class youth in Tehran, Tavakolian staged images based on the real stories of her friends and neighbours to depict a society that the...
Asked if he would again meet President Bashar al-Assad, party chairman John Shipton says answer is 'a flat no' Members of the WikiLeaks party will depart for Iran and Syria this week, paying their second visit to Damascus to distribute aid and run activities for children affected by the countrys ongoing civil war. The partys chairman, John Shipton, will be joined by Father David Smith, an Anglican...
Hamid Aboutalebi was member of student group behind seizure of American embassy in Tehran Iran has infuriated the US by nominating a new ambassador to its UN mission in New York who was a member of the student group behind the 1979 seizure of the American embassy in Tehran, when 52 diplomats were held hostage. Hamid Aboutalebi, a political adviser in the office of the Iranian president, is seen by...
The presidential election and US withdrawal are lilkely to have complex repercussions for the region's web of invisible networks Afghan watchers in the chancelleries of a dozen different states in south and west Asia know they are in for a long, tough weekend. Alongside them are spies, soldiers and business people, all keen for clues as to how the result of the presidential elections will affect the...
Annual LA event tries to promote Iranian heritage I really hate to talk about politics, said Kajeh Mehrizi, one of the four principals of the Toronto-based Kajart arts collective. Sporting a dapper mustache, he was every inch the artist doing his polite best to overcome an introverted nature and answer the questions of an inquisitive Afghan. We were at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, where Kajart...
Martin Dempsey, joint chiefs of staff chairman, flies to Israel Defence minister Moshe Yaalon ridiculed US foreign policy The United States' top military officer will visit Israel next week, and will meet the defence minister who has angered Washington by criticising its strategies in the Middle East and Ukraine. General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, will meet Israeli defence...
Black-market recycling is a profitable venture that yields millions for those at the top of the food chain In the evenings, as roaming roves of feral cats vie for food scraps in the side streets of Iran's large cities, 28-year-old Majid is hard at work. Shoulder-deep inside a rancid bin of unsorted garbage, he fills his bags with recyclable treasures, slouching under the weight of plastic and aluminum...
Saudi royals alarmed by US stance on Iran and Syria but officials say visit will 'reaffirm the importance' of US-Saudi relations Barack Obama landed at a desert camp in Saudi Arabia on Friday to mend bridges with the kingdoms monarch, King Abdullah, after months of tension between the pair. The Saudi royal family has been alarmed by Washingtons move toward a rapprochement with Iran as it seeks an...
Saudi Arabia is aggrieved with the US and the president will use his visit to assure the Kingdom that he is not neglecting them Barack Obama arrives in Riyadh on Friday seeking rapprochement with an aggrieved Arab ally whose interests are increasingly at odds with its key western backer. The US President's flying visit no more than an evening in the Saudi king's palace is his first since the ousting...
Hassan Rouhani speaks of 'two occupations' that have brought violence and extremism to the country The Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, described Afghanistan as an occupied nation while in Kabul to celebrate the Persian new year on Thursday, saying Soviet and Nato forces had brought violence and extremism to the country. Relations with the west have warmed slightly since Rouhani took office, but...
At least 778 executions were carried out across the world in 2013, according to figures out today from Amnesty International. See how the data breaks down by country Click here to view this image as a larger PDF At least 778 executions were carried out in 2013 - up from at least 682 in 2012 - according to the latest global report from Amnesty International . At least 778 people were executed in 22...
At least 778 executions were carried out in 2013, 538 of them in Iran and Iraq, according to Amnesty International report Iran and Iraq are responsible for a sharp rise in capital punishment, accounting for more than two-thirds of the world's executions last year. Although significantly fewer countries use the death penalty today than two decades ago, "killing sprees" in Iran and Iraq helped...
Merchants navigate between the lazy and business savvy - seemingly contradictory traits that define the bazaar ...
Merchants navigate between the lazy and business savvy - seemingly contradictory traits that define the bazaar ...