Society

About 120,000 Iranians die each year from nutrition-related causes, an Iranian official said on Monday, as soaring food prices and declining consumption of key staples such as dairy, meat, fruits, and vegetables deepen the country’s public health crisis.

At least 1,500 engineering and technical faculty members have left Iran’s leading universities over the past five years, according to Karan Abri-Nia, secretary of the Iranian University Professors’ Trade Union.

Iran’s Health Ministry says milk consumption in the country has dropped to less than half the recommended level, warning of rising nutritional risks amid falling purchasing power and food insecurity.

Iran plans to activate about 80,000 trained volunteers in Tehran province to support social and religious outreach programs, including new coordination on hijab and public behavior, a senior official said on Thursday.

With the death of Nasser Taghvai, the Iranian film world has lost one of its last great moralists—a filmmaker who, through silence as much as cinema, taught the meaning of integrity.

The upcoming opening of Tehran’s new Saint Mary Metro station has sparked both celebration and controversy: hailed by some as a gesture of interfaith harmony and dismissed by others as a hollow publicity stunt to polish Iran’s image abroad.

Nasser Taghvai, one of Iran’s most distinctive and uncompromising filmmakers, died on Tuesday at 84, leaving behind some of the country’s most memorable cinema before choosing silence over censorship.

Toronto’s Iranian-Canadian community celebrated a milestone on Saturday with the official inauguration of “Little Iran,” a new cultural district in Willowdale within the city's North York district.

Tehran’s decision to skip a Gaza peace summit in Egypt has left many Iranians feeling further cut off from the world—another sign, they say, of leaders who mistake isolation for strength or dignity.

Iran will soon face a severe shortage of pediatric specialists, even in major cities, due to declining interest among general physicians in pursuing pediatric training, the head of Iran’s Medical Council warned on Sunday.

Iran’s judiciary has instructed law enforcement to identify and prosecute those producing and selling dolls deemed offensive to Shiite sanctities, after they appeared on online marketplaces and social media, the judiciary’s news agency reported.

Iran today stands at a crossroads between decay and renewal: the old order has not yet collapsed, and any new society has yet to fully emerge.

Mohammad Reza Bahoner, member of Iran’s Expediency Council, has recanted earlier remarks opposing mandatory hijab, calling it a "social necessity" and demanding punishment for those who challenge it during an appearance on Iran’s state broadcaster on Saturday.

Martin Scorsese and Jafar Panahi shared the stage at the New York Film Festival, where Scorsese appealed to streaming platforms to promote Iranian cinema and Panahi reflected on exile, censorship, and the resilience of Iranian artists.

Hardline clerics and lawmakers have accused Iran’s government of neglecting mandatory hijab enforcement, after outrage over a mixed-gender event reignited debate on public appearance and the state’s waning control over personal freedoms.

Most schools and kindergartens in Tehran remain at serious risk of fire, with only three out of more than 6,400 meeting minimum safety standards, a senior fire department official said on Saturday.

An Iranian lawmaker has proposed giving people additional credit in hiring and promotion for marriage and having children, saying family formation should be treated as a form of social contribution.

Iran is poised to implement a new anti-espionage law expanding government control over social media and online activity which could expand the death penalty for internet speech.