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.
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.
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.
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.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi says there is a risk of radiation release at nuclear facilities bombed during the 12-day war in June, contradicting earlier assurances from Tehran.
Iran’s judiciary opened proceedings against an unnamed Iranian dual national charged with spying for Israel, local media reported on Monday.
Iran’s judiciary says it has filed a case against a veteran ecologist and former adviser to the Department of Environment, after he said the government could fix Iran’s high-pollution mazut fuel with the cost of developing ten missiles.
The US and Israeli naval forces on Sunday launched their annual joint wargames aimed at countering threats in the Middle East, the Israeli military said, two days after Iran’s naval forces held similar drills in the Persian Gulf.
The Israeli military said on Sunday it had uncovered what it called an Iran-directed secret money-exchange network run by Gaza-born operatives in Turkey, alleging it funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas leadership.
Iran’s foreign ministry on Sunday confirmed that 55 Iranian nationals have been detained and are being deported from the United States, marking the second group expelled in recent months under President Donald Trump’s tightened immigration policies.
Iran’s foreign ministry denounced the Middle East section of Washington’s newly released national security strategy on Sunday, with spokesman Esmail Baghaei calling it Israel’s national security document while saying Tehran would nonetheless study the text.
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.
Iran’s parliament speaker on Saturday condemned a GCC statement rejecting Iranian sovereignty over three Persian Gulf islands, warning that neighbors should not test the Iranian people's will to defend their territorial integrity.
Simultaneous visits by senior Turkish and Saudi officials to Tehran last weekend were widely seen as a move by the two US allies to explore new channels to manage rising regional tensions through dialogue with Iran.
FIFA has confirmed that Iran will play all three of its 2026 World Cup group-stage games in the United States, including two at Los Angeles, where the large Iranian-American community is expected to give Team Melli a rare home-style advantage.
Iran and Russia have signed a new cooperation agreement on artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, Iranian state media reported, expanding their technology partnership as both countries deepen strategic ties under Western sanctions.
An Iranian lawmaker says a sharp fall in the country’s oil revenue has disrupted imports of essential goods and created new pressure on the economy.
International Security and Law Analyst
Iran International
Iran International
Iran International
Iran International
Iran International
Iran International
Host of nightly show The Program
The Iran projected on social media these days—brunch parties, rooftop concerts, fashion shows—is real, but only as a tiny fragment of the country’s reality, where most ordinary people struggle to make ends meet.
This week marked the anniversary of a vast Berlin rally in October 2022 gathering tens of thousands filled in solidarity with Iran’s Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement—a day that now feels almost impossibly distant.
