Iranian Film ‘A Separation’ Wins Worldwide Acclaim

The Iranian film ‘A Separation’ has been racking up awards at film festivals around the world since its release last year, most recently garnering a Golden Globe. We ask how that success is viewed in the director’s home country, Iran.

Zahra’s Paradise: A Graphic Novel Explores Iran’s Political Problems

‘Zahra’s Paradise’ is the new graphic novel by an Iranian-American author. He tells host Marco Werman how he created a webstrip based on the images streaming out of the Iranian protests in 2009.

Iran’s beleaguered opposition

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What began in Tunisia and spread to Egypt may now be energizing the beleaguered opposition in Iran. Thousands of anti-government protesters rallied yesterday in central Tehran. It was the first major show of strength from Iran’s opposition in more than a year but hardline members of Iran’s parliament are determined to avoid a repeat of what happened in Egypt. Karim Sadjadpour follows Iran at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He tells anchor Lisa Mullins the regime’s resolve to crush the opposition is a short-term strategy. Download MP3

Iran’s cyberwar

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has announced new initiatives to improve cyber-freedom in countries like Iran. Lisa Mullins speaks with Iranian cartoonist and editor Nikahang Kowsar of Khodnevis.org about what the best use of the money would be and how both Iranian online activists and Iranian authorities use social media to thwart each other. Download MP3
PBS Tehran Bureau
Global Political Cartoons on The World

Iran cracks down on protesters

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Iranian security forces clubbed and tear-gassed demonstrators who marched today in Tehran and other major cities in Iran to protest against the regime. Anchor Lisa Mullins speaks with a protester who used the pseudonym “Behzad” about today’s events. Download MP3

Video: Iran protests
Live: Updates from the streets of Tehran

Iran’s failed revolution – one year on

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A year ago Iran was in political upheaval. Now Iranians are wondering what became of the Internet-fueled revolution that brought thousands to the streets of Tehran. Cyrus Farivar has some thoughts from Iranians, both at home and abroad. Download MP3 (flickr image: Hamed Saber)

• Exiled Iranian activists on the election anniversary
• Q&A: Iran protests
• Monitoring Iran from afar
• Follow Cyrus Farivar on twitter

Clinton: Iran is becoming ‘military dictatorship’

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Iran is “becoming a military dictatorship”, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said. She was speaking to students at a Qatar university during a tour of the region. She said Iran’s elite army corps, the Revolutionary Guard, had gained so much power they had effectively supplanted the government. Laura Lynch reports. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• On The World: Iran marks 1979 revolution
• Background Brief: Nuclear Standoff with Iran

Iran marks 1979 revolution

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Pro-government Iranians have been rallying to mark the 31st anniversary of the nation’s revolution. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used the rally to attack the West, and said Iran had produced its first stock of 20% enriched uranium. The opposition is trying to stage counter-demonstrations but faces a big security crackdown. The BBC’s Persian TV channel has been covering events in Iran, The World’s Laura Lynch visited the channel. Download MP3 (AP Photo:Vahid Salemi)

• BBC coverage
• BBC Persian
• On The World: Arrests in Iran ahead of anniversary

Iranian lawmakers criticize treatment of opposition

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A committee of the Iranian parliament has made a rare official criticism of treatment of opposition detainees held in the wake of the disputed election. The report said three detainees died at the notorious Kahrizak detention, and it blamed former Tehran prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi (pictured), a political ally of President Ahmadinejad. Matthew Bell reports. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• Iran crisis
• Reporter Cyrus Farivar on Internet policing in Iran

Iranian odyssey

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Journalist and filmmaker Maziar Bahari was detained in Iran last year while he was covering the post election demonstrations. He was held in Evin Prison for four months before being released. Bahari was in Boston over the weekend and anchor Jeb Sharp had a chance to talk with him. Download MP3

• From Newsweek: 118 Days, 12 Hours, 54 Minutes
• The Boston Festival of Films from Iran
• Jeb Sharp’s 2004 series ‘The US and Iran’

Clashes at funeral of Iranian dissident cleric

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Iranian reformists have reportedly clashed with police after the funeral of Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri in the holy city of Qom. Montazeri, who died aged 87 of natural causes on Saturday night, had decried President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election in June as a fraud. Marco Werman talks with correspondent Borzou Daragahi, who is just back from a visit to Iran. Download MP3

• BBC coverage
• BBC obituary: Ayatollah Montazeri

More protests in Iran

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Iranian security forces have clashed violently with opposition supporters in central Tehran, witnesses say. Police used batons and tear gas, according to the witnesses. There were also unconfirmed reports of security forces using live rounds. State media confirmed there had been clashes, though a foreign media ban means details cannot be verified. Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times is monitoring events from Beirut, Lebanon. Download MP3
(Photo: Associated Press)

• BBC coverage
• More info on the Iran crisis

Ayatollah vs. Ahmadinejad

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Could conservative Iranian clerics help bring about the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Iran? It sounds unlikely. But some of the country’s top clerics believe President Ahmadinejad is bringing Islam into disrepute – and they want him out. In our latest ‘Best of the BBC’ selection we feature an e-mail interview with Grand Ayatollah Hoseyn Ali Montazeri (pictured), one of Iran’s most respected clerics and an outspoken critic of Ahmadinejad. Download MP3

• BBC Radio Four’s ‘Analysis’ program
• More ‘Best of the BBC’ on The World

Iran’s elite troops

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Earlier this week, Iran disclosed that it was building a second uranium enrichment plant, despite UN demands it cease its enrichment activities. The site is believed to be near the city of Qom, guarded by Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards. The World’s Laura Lynch looks at the apparently growing role of the Revolutionary Guards in the Islamic Republic. Download MP3 (Photo: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)

• From the BBC: How Iran is ruled
• Background Brief: Nuclear Standoff with Iran

Haleh Esfandiari interview

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Iranian scholar Haleh Esfandiari has been based in the US since 1979. Two years ago she endured four months of solitary confinement in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. She had been in Tehran to visit her elderly mother when authorities began to interrogate her about her work at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. Jeb Sharp spoke with Esfandiari. Download MP3 (photo: Carol Zall)

• BBC coverage of Esfandiari’s detention
• ‘My Prison, My Home’ by Haleh Esfandiari