Socially

By Edward Carny

In keeping with the Islamic Republic of Iran’s self-image as a bulwark against the Jewish state of Israel, it is well-known among Iranian athletes and other professional competitors that they are effectively disallowed from engaging in friendly competition with Israeli opponents. Of course, such discrimination is not permitted by any of the international bodies governing competitive events in which Iran participates. So in practice, adherence to this rule often involves faking an injury ahead of competition, deliberately losing in a prior round, or simply forfeiting a match.

By Mahmoud Hakamian

On Tuesday, a report by Buzzfeed News made reference to a “looming” ban on the photo and video-sharing social media platform Instagram, following an upsurge in official statements portraying the site as a conduit for criminal activity and a source of moral decay. If the ban does go into effect, Instagram would join a number of other popular social media sites that have already been blocked by the Ministry of Technology, including Twitter, Facebook, and the instant messaging app Telegram, which joined the list last spring, following mass protests that ostensibly used Telegram for organizing.

By INU Staff

INU - Over 12,000 people have been killed in car accidents in Iran in the first eight months of the Persian year, which began on March 21, according to the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization (ILMO).

The state-run ISNA news agency reported on January 5 that the ILMO figures showed that 12,261 people (9,587 men and 2,674 women) were killed in road traffic accidents between March 21 and November 21; a 0.9% increase on last year’s figures. The number of people injured in these accidents has also risen 9.5% compared with last year.

By Edward Carney

Iran’s National Cyberspace Council recently announced approved plans to block access to Instagram, the last major social networking service to be officially tolerated inside the country. As with other services such as Twitter, the assault on Instagram comes in spite of the fact that high-ranking government officials maintain an active presence on the network. President Hassan Rouhani, for instance, has two million followers whom he addresses in both Persian and English. Rouhani, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and other leading officials also continue to use the already-banned services to communicate with an international audience, as well as with the many Iranians who use technical workarounds to evade the ban.

By INU Staff

INU - On New Year’s Eve, the Iranian regime started the year by moving to ban Instagram in the name of national security concerns.

The regime’s National Cyberspace Council approved steps to block the popular app, adding it to its already considerable list of banned social media platforms, that includes Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Telegram. The move is similar to previous crackdowns, with internet providers ordered to block access to these services.

The next uprising could topple the theocracy and achieve Iranians’ long-sought dream of democracy

This year has been one of the toughest for Iran in three decades, with the regime having to deal with political, social, economic and military challenges. Large-scale protests and strikes erupted in multiple cities — including major ones such as Isfahan, Tehran, Karaj, Shiraz, Rasht and Tabriz — in what Iranian activists describe as the continuation of a nationwide anti-regime movement. Dr. Majid Rafizadeh stated in his article which appeared in Arab News on Dec. 23, 2018.