Iran

Iran releases a top actress who was held for criticizing the crackdown on protests

3:50pm January 04, 2023

by The Associated Press

Taraneh Alidoosti, the 38-year-old star of the Oscar-winning 2016 film The Salesman was released from Tehran's notorious Evin Prison nearly three weeks after her arrest.

Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Arash Ashtiani as Rahimi and Sharifi in Holy Spider.

A man killed women he deemed 'immoral' — an Iranian film fictionalizes the story

7:00am January 04, 2023

by Diba Mohtasham

The real-life "Spider Killer" murdered 16 women in Iran between 2000 and 2001. The case inspired Holy Spider, which has resonated abroad during a time of amplified state violence in Iran.

People protest against the Iranian government at a demonstration in Istanbul, Turkey, on Saturday. In recognition of those allegedly executed by the Iranian government, protesters wore nooses around their necks and held photographs of people who have been killed.

World News

More Iranians face possible execution as authorities seek to crush continuing unrest

12:05pm December 20, 2022

by Peter Kenyon

The executions are Tehran's main response to protests that have swept the country since September, and are seen as a sign that Iran's clerical leadership intends to continue a violent crackdown.

Three TikTok phenomena of 2022: the pop star Bad Bunny; an Inuit mother and daughter who teach how to say yes with your eyebrows; and one of the Iranians who cut their hair in solidarity with 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in custody after being detained by Iran's morality police for allegedly wearing her hijab inappropriately.

Health & Safety

Popular global TikToks of 2022: Bad Bunny leads the fluffle!

4:32pm December 19, 2022

TikTok is more than just goofy dances and challenges. Here are some of the most widely viewed — and engaging — global TikToks of the year.

Taraneh Alidoosti arrives for a movie premiere at the Cannes film festival in southern France on May 25. Iranian authorities arrested Alidoosti, one of the country's most famous actresses, on charges of spreading falsehoods about nationwide protests, state media said Saturday.

Iran arrests a top actress who expressed solidarity with a man executed over protests

1:16pm December 17, 2022

by The Associated Press

Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning movie The Salesman, was detained after she made an Instagram post about the first man recently executed for crimes committed during nationwide protests.

Christian Pulisic of the United States (right) shoots to score his side's first goal past Iran's goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand during their teams' World Cup match.

U.S. beats Iran 1-0 in a must-win World Cup match

7:47pm November 29, 2022

The U.S. had to beat Iran to advance in the World Cup. Iran had to just tie in order to move on. The U.S. will go up against the Netherlands in the Round of 16.

Two anti-riot police officers wave the Iranian flags during a street celebration after Iran defeated Wales in Qatar's World Cup, at Sadeghieh Sq. in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Nov. 25, 2022.

U.S. soccer federation briefly alters Iran's flag to show solidarity with protesters

1:49pm November 27, 2022

by The Associated Press

The organization had displayed Iran's national flag on social media without the emblem of the Islamic Republic to show "support for the women in Iran" ahead of the two nations' soccer match.

Iranian soccer player Voria Ghafouri (right), then a member of the national soccer team, fights for the ball with Iraqi midfielder Hussein Ali during the AFC Asian Cup soccer match in Dubai in 2019. The semiofficial Fars and Tasnim news agencies reported on Thursday that Iran arrested Ghafouri for insulting the national soccer team and criticizing the government.

Iran arrests a soccer player for criticizing government and insulting the soccer team

1:55pm November 24, 2022

by The Associated Press

Voria Ghafouri, a prominent player who wasn't chosen to go to the World Cup, is an outspoken critic of Iran's authorities. Reports of his arrest came ahead of Friday's Iran-Wales World Cup match.

Sailors inventory urea and ammonium perchlorate found on a dhow intercepted in the Gulf of Oman. The U.S. Navy says it found 70 tons of a missile fuel component hidden among bags of fertilizer aboard a ship bound to Yemen from Iran.

World News

U.S. Navy seizes 70 tons of Iranian missile fuel from a sailboat to Yemen

10:42am November 15, 2022

by The Associated Press

The load — enough for a dozen medium-range ballistic missiles — was hidden among bags of fertilizer on a wooden ship called a dhow. It likely was bound for Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels.

A Ukrainian artilleryman fires a howitzer at a position on the front line near Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk region, on Oct. 31.

Ukraine updates: Iran admits sending Russia drones as electricity knocked out (Nov. 7)

1:21pm November 07, 2022

by NPR Staff

Catch up on key developments and the latest in-depth coverage of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.