Society

A prominent UK-based rights barrister has called for an independent investigation into the sudden death of Iranian lawyer Khosrow Alikordi this month after the case stoked outrage and rowdy protests at his memorial service.

A senior Iranian cleric said the northeastern city of Mashhad should be treated primarily as a religious destination rather than a leisure tourism hub, arguing that recreational tourists should visit other provinces such as northern province of Mazandaran instead.

A study on female genital mutilation (FGM) in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province finds the practice is sustained chiefly by family dynamics, gender stereotypes and local customs that often outweigh religious mandates.

Iran is facing growing shortages of vital medicines and could see a sharp deterioration in supplies within months if current conditions persist, an industry official said on Saturday.

Efforts to ease Tehran’s water shortage through transfers from a nearby dam will only partially address the crisis and could fail entirely if dry conditions persist, a senior water researcher said, warning that years of overuse and policy missteps have depleted reserves.

Iran’s presidential chief of staff said the government has begun revoking all forms of unfiltered internet access granted to select users – including senior officials – as scrutiny intensifies over privileged connections unavailable to the general public.

A fast-spreading wave of H3N2 influenza has left hospitals across Iran under pressure, with more than 100 deaths reported since mid-November – most involving unvaccinated patients, health authorities said on Thursday.

Mixmag, a leading electronic music magazine, has named Iranian DJ, producer and composer Nesa Azadikhah among its top DJs for 2025, noting her expanding role in electronic music and her support for Iranian artists.

At least five thousand contract workers at the South Pars energy hub in Asaluyeh staged one of the largest labor protests in Iran in years on Tuesday, defying heavy security pressure and warnings from authorities.

A dramatic cultural opening is sweeping across Iran, not as a government reform but as a bottom-up movement driven by a young generation that is less willing to be intimidated by the state, Iran analyst Omid Memarian told Eye for Iran.

A prominent Iranian tech CEO has been sentenced to 74 lashes and had his company’s business license revoked after authorities accused the firm of hosting a mixed-gender party where women appeared without hijabs.

Iran’s Deputy Health Minister Alireza Raisi said more than 170,000 people have gone to emergency wards since the start of December because of heart and respiratory problems caused by air pollution, describing the situation as a “serious and widespread public health crisis.”

Homayoun Sameh Yah Najafabadi, the Jewish representative in Iran's parliament, said on Monday that he had been summoned by security agencies over Jewish users’ likes and comments on Israeli content.

Power politics in Tehran has reached a stage where even the most routine public affairs—a film festival, an environmental report or the World Cup draw—spiral into controversy, as if the system cannot tolerate anything resembling normalcy.

Rap has moved from the margins to the spotlight in Iran, where it is being promoted on streaming platforms, entertainment shows and Instagram feeds tied to state interests and seen by millions.

Half a century of rule built on clerical authority has secularized Iran, available data suggests, with most still believing in God but not in the theocracy.

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi’s clandestinely filmed It Was Just an Accident was shortlisted on Monday for four major Golden Globe awards, even as he faces a new prison sentence in Iran after being convicted in absentia by a Revolutionary Court.

President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged on Sunday that his government has been unable to lift longstanding internet restrictions, saying he has ordered the deactivation of so-called “white SIM cards” that granted unfiltered access to a circle of state-linked users.