Sir Lankan migrants trapped in Tehran

A group of Sri Lankan migrants are stranded in Iran after failing to cross the Iranian-Turkish border and smugglers have taken their passports and money.

Iran is a common route for refugees and migrants from Afghanistan and Pakistan trying to reach Europe, but this is the first time that Sir Lankan migrants en route to Europe have found themselves stranded in Iran.

The Hamshahri daily reported that the Sri Lankans had been scammed in their home country, where a fake migration organization had vowed to find jobs in Europe for the group.

The group arrived in Iran on a visa, then transferred to the Iranian-Turkish border, where they were forced to cross the border illegally – which they refused to do.

A Sri Lankan national, who spoke to the daily, said the traffickers beat them and took all their money and passports, leaving them in the middle of the mountains between Iran and Turkey.

Eventually, the group returned to Tehran, but since they had no money to buy their return tickets and pay the fines for overstaying in Iran, they were trapped.

According to Hamshahri, the Sri Lankan embassy in Tehran could not help the group return to their home country due to the economic crisis in their country.

The daily adds that the Sri Lankans stayed in Iran for more than a month without giving the exact date of their entry into the country or the number of people stranded in Iran.

Pressure on theater artists

The ISNA news agency investigated the situation of theater artists and the censorship that the administration of Ebrahim Raisi has imposed on them in recent months.

Since April, six plays have been banned by the Iranian government, the news agency wrote.

According to ISNA, the responsible offices of Iran’s Ministry of Culture gave no explanation for the bans. However, some of the pieces received new permissions after the artists agreed to make changes to their work.

Khooninzar was one such play that had nine rounds of “revision”, a term used by Iran’s Ministry of Culture instead of censorship.

This solo piece was about a young girl leaving a small town for the capital Tehran in search of a new life and the hardships she encountered.

Another case was Dad Anton Daughters, which was banned due to the short video the theater troupe made in Tehran’s main cemetery, Behesht-e Zahra, to advertise the play.

Behesht-e Zahra filed a lawsuit against the play, accusing the group of “desecrating Islamic values” and videotaping in the cemetery without permission.

Dangers of a New Nuclear Deal for Ordinary Iranians

A prominent political analyst and reformist writer has warned of three potential outcomes of a new nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that could negatively impact ordinary people in Iran.

In an opinion piece for the Etemad daily, Ahmad Zeidabadi warned that Iran’s gains from a new deal would be short-lived if the authorities did not strategize for the benefits of the deal.

‘These [conservative] the forces could start new adventures in other countries to create tension in Iran’s foreign relations”

-Ahmad Zeidabadi, Etemad

The outspoken analyst – who was jailed for six years after anti-government protests in 2009 – warned that conservatives and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which oppose any deal with the West , would be the first forces to try to neutralize the new agreement.

“These forces could start new adventures in other countries to create tension in Iran’s foreign relations,” Zeidabadi wrote.

Zeidabadi wrote that the authorities’ access to funds frozen in other countries and increased revenues from oil and gas exports could also cause other problems for ordinary people.

“The other danger is that the government will stop reforms to Iran’s economic structure and pour money into society to reduce pressure from opponents of economic reforms,” ​​he said.

He added that the final danger would arise if the authorities used all new sources of money to tighten their grip on Iranian society.