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PDF-English Journal-4 July 2025-No16 Iranian director Soheil Beiraghi revealed on Instagram that he has been sentenced to four years and three months in prison. Alongside an image of his indictment, he simply wrote: “Because I refused to reproduce lies. That’s all.” He stands accused of “encouraging corruption” and “producing obscene content,” though the verdict remains open to appeal. Beiraghi’s new film, Bidād, tells the story of a young female singer who, in defiance of Iran’s ban on women singing in …

PDF-English Journal-3 July 2025-No15 On Wednesday, 10 Tir, Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, announced that the government has proposed a maximum of 8 million tomans (about $88) per square metre to repair homes damaged in recent Israeli strikes. According to him, over 200 families have been temporarily housed in Tehran hotels, with the municipality cooperating with the government and other agencies in reconstruction efforts. The plan includes the construction of new housing units, expected to take 18 to 24 …

PDF-English Journal-3 July 2025-No15 Amid intensifying anti-Afghan policies by the Islamic Republic of Iran, over 1,300 civil activists, journalists, filmmakers and Iranian and Afghan citizens have issued an open letter demanding an immediate end to the inhumane treatment of Afghan migrants in Iran. This letter, a response to a fresh wave of repression and discrimination, calls on the Iranian public not to remain silent in the face of this structural injustice—for silence, in effect, amounts to complicity with the Islamic …

PDF-English Journal-3 July 2025-No15 Abbas Araqchi, the Islamic Republic’s foreign minister, spoke to CBS with such theatrical zeal about uranium enrichment that one might think Iran has no other pain or problem, and our entire sense of “national pride” depends on this one achievement. He proudly claims that the Islamic Republic fought for enrichment and that this is a source of pride. But he didn’t bother to explain exactly where this pride can be spent. Perhaps it can buy us …

PDF-English Journal-3 July 2025-No15 A burning question these days is: why is Khamenei still in hiding? Why has he not appeared in public? Even if security concerns are a factor, that’s hardly the main reason. Speaking from a bunker poses no security risk. He’s the commander-in-chief and the regime’s supreme authority. Until recently, even trivial decisions required his approval. So why does he remain silent on issues like ceasefire, negotiations, uranium enrichment, Israel, Trump, and more? In my view, the …

PDF-English Journal-2 July 2025-No14 On Monday 30 June, a crowd of enraged Islamists gathered outside a satirical magazine office in Turkey, in an all-too-familiar ritual of outrage. Accused of insulting the Prophet of Islam, the satirical magazine LeMan has become the latest target in a growing trend of religiously fuelled censorship and state-enabled intimidation. The scenes were chilling: threats of violence, shouts of vengeance, and a refrain echoed time and again — “either we die, or we kill.” As in …

PDF-English Journal-2 July 2025-No14 Ebrahim Jabbari, an advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, commenting on the recent 12-day war, declared: “We knew the only thing that could bring down the regime was internal pressure. That’s why we focused our strategy on the domestic front.” A citizen from Sanandaj told Iran International in a voice message: “There are checkpoints all over the city. They stopped my son’s car and searched it for hours, without any reason.” When …

PDF-English Journal-2 July 2025-No14 Halvash, a news outlet covering Sistan and Baluchestan province, reported that on Tuesday, 10 Tir (1 July), IRGC forces launched an assault on the village of Gonich, near Khash, using drones, armoured vehicles and military-grade weapons. According to reports, during this raid a woman named Khan-Bibi Bamari was killed. Reyhaneh Bamari, who was pregnant, lost her unborn child. Eleven other women were injured, including: Madineh Bamari, Saba Bamari, Esra Bamari, Rahm-Bibi Bamari, Senj-Malek Bamari, Asal Bamari, …

PDF-English Journal-2 July 2025-No14 Ebrahim Jabbari, an advisor to the Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, stated: “Saying that the Supreme Leader is under pressure is not correct.” This may well be the final battle for the Islamic Republic’s survival. Beyond the crushing political, cultural and economic pressures bearing down on the regime, there is one more element that could deliver the ultimate blow to its existence: the extreme duress under which Khamenei now lives, hidden away for fear …

PDF-English Journal-1July 2025-No13 Alireza Panahian, a cleric affiliated with Khamenei’s office, welcomed the recent fatwas by some Shia Muslim leaders, declaring Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu “enemies of God” (mohareb) for allegedly threatening Ali Khamenei. He stated that according to these rulings, “Every Muslim, anywhere in the world, must be willing to give their life to kill them.” These new fatwas are no different from the cardboard cut-outs of Khomeini, Raisi, and Khamenei that appear at funerals for slain commanders …