Systemic Repression of Artists and Writers in Iran under the Clerical Regime

In Iran, artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians and playwrights are constantly on a line to avoid censorship of any content deemed inappropriate by the power. And despite tensions with Western countries, many foreign works are broadcast there, including from the United Kingdom. The actress and director Elika Abdolrazzaghi has set out to ...

Systemic Repression of Artists and Writers in Iran under the Clerical Regime

Introduction: Culture in Chains In today’s Iran, words are crimes. The pen, poetry, fiction, music, and cinema—whenever they stray from the regime’s official language and draw closer to the people’s voice—are met with the wrath of the security apparatus. Artists, filmmakers, musicians, poets, writers, and journalists who speak of social realities now face, more than ever, heavy-handed threats, lengthy prison sentences, torture, and psychological…