Iranians fed up with heavily censored internet, state poll finds

Witnesses said police, Basij militia and Revolutionary Guards manned checkpoints and turned people back from access routes in Fars province.

Iran has long declined to recognize Cyrus Day in its official calendar, and has in past years restricted access to Pasargadae and, at times, Persepolis to discourage large gatherings around the Achaemenid-era sites.

Security curbs around the October 28-31 anniversary -- linked by some accounts to Cyrus’s entry into Babylon in 539 BCE -- have become routine since large crowds rallied at the tomb in 2016.

The latest closures came amid renewed public debate inside Iran over how to commemorate pre-Islamic heritage.

Ghader Ashna, secretary of the Public Culture Council at the culture ministry, told the ISNA news agency that over the past year no formal request had reached his body to add “Cyrus Day” to the national calendar, but said any proposal would be reviewed by a dedicated working group and the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution.

Separately, ISNA quoted cultural scholar Bahman Namvar-Motlagh as saying that honoring Cyrus did not contradict Iran’s Islamic identity and could help bolster social cohesion if handled without “excess or confrontation.”

He framed interest in Cyrus among younger Iranians as part of a broader search for common symbols of national unity in a tense regional environment.

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Rights activist and Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi marked the day with a message on Instagram describing Cyrus as a “cultural symbol” associated with tolerance and justice, and contrasted that legacy with Iran’s record on political freedoms and capital punishment.

Exiled opposition figure Reza Pahlavi, the son of Iran’s last shah, told supporters at a Toronto event earlier this month that a future post-Islamic Republic order should elevate the 2020 Abraham Accords into what he called “Cyrus Accords,” recasting Iran as a promoter of regional peace rather than conflict.

Cyrus the Great, who founded the Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE, is widely cited in Iran’s schools and popular culture as a touchstone of nationhood. The Pasargadae site and Persepolis -- both UNESCO-listed -- draw steady domestic and foreign tourism, though access has at times been restricted on sensitive dates.

In 2024, heritage outlets connected to the state reported fencing and concrete barriers on the road to Pasargadae ahead of the October commemorations.

Iranian scientists and officials have separately warned that land subsidence from groundwater over-extraction is emerging as a long-term threat to several heritage sites, including areas around Persepolis and the Tomb of Cyrus.

Geologists cited this month reported cracks and surface fissures in Fars and other provinces, saying cumulative deformation could damage historic fabric over years if water withdrawals are not curbed.

Cyrus Day is not an official holiday, but diaspora communities and some Iranians at home mark it annually with cultural events and online campaigns.

The Islamic Republic’s leadership has historically promoted an Islamic “ummah” identity and has sometimes viewed mass gatherings at pre-Islamic monuments as politically sensitive, especially amid periodic anti-government protests.

Iranian state bodies did not immediately issue a statement on Wednesday’s access limits in Fars.

Centering around the Islamic veil which conservatives view as a sacrosanct symbol of Iran's Islamic identity which they are empowered to force on society, the dispute exposes deepening cultural and political rifts inside the country.

The image, which was intended to represent the alleged victim symbolically, drew ire from conservative elements who accused the newspaper of allegedly insulting Islamic values and undermining the hijab.

State TV presenter Mohammad-Reza Shahbazi harshly criticized the choice, saying, “Virtuous and veiled women are pure from the filth you wallow in day and night, which sometimes reeks like this (rape case). Put up a picture of one of your own kind instead.”

Editor-in-chief Mohammad-Javad Rouh said the alleged victim did not wish to reveal her identity and that using an unveiled photo as a symbolic image was not possible under the Islamic Republic’s media restrictions.

Rouh rejected claims that the paper had targeted the hijab.

“We did not speak against the hijab, nor did we intend to create controversy,” Rouh said. He added that the newspaper had fulfilled its journalistic duty by interviewing both the complainant and the accused’s lawyer in what he called “a balanced, professional report.”

The hardline website Mashregh News claimed, citing an informed source, that Iran’s Press Supervisory Board had already issued three formal warnings to Ham-Mihan in recent months.

It alleged that one of the paper’s violations was serious enough to be referred to court and that “a judicial verdict is imminent," without elaborating.

Mashregh further accused the paper of intentionally publishing the rape case article by journalist Elaheh Mohammadi — who was imprisoned in 2022 for reporting on the death of Mahsa Amini — shortly before a potential suspension.

“The behavior of Ham-Mihan’s managers in assigning a project to a journalist with a history of arrest for security issues, whose past reporting triggered one of the country’s deepest crises, is now under review,” the outlet wrote.

Hardliners on the offensive

State-aligned outlets quickly turned the incident into a political storm. The official Mehr news agency said Ham-Mihan had been taken down for “violating professional ethics.” Tasnim, affiliated with the Revolutionary Guards, accused the paper of “a deliberate insult to the traditions of a large portion of Iranian women.”

Online, conservative commentators called the newspaper’s decision immoral.

Filmmaker Mikail Diani claimed it showed “malice and an effort to create social division,” while Fatemeh Raygani, a philosophy researcher, wrote on X that the report had “polluted the symbol of the black chador with a story of (alleged) sexual assault.”

Not the first time

The closure of Ham-Mihan underscores the precarious position of moderate media in Iran, where professional reporting on sensitive social issues can quickly provoke accusations of immorality or political subversion, leaving editors and reporters under intense scrutiny from authorities and the public alike.

Ham-Mihan, run by Gholamhossein Karbaschi — a senior member of the centrist Executives of Construction Party and a former Tehran mayor — was relaunched in July 2022 after previous suspensions.

It has faced closure twice before, in 1999 and 2008. Since its relaunch in 2022, it has drawn scrutiny for its coverage of gender and social issues.

Karbaschi told Eco Iran a few days ago that several of his reporters were summoned and threatened by Revolutionary Guards intelligence agents after publishing a piece on challenges facing female heads of households.

“What threat can a newspaper with a circulation of one or two thousand pose to the state?” he asked.

The dispute comes amid intensifying pressure on Iran’s press. According to the Defense of Free Information organization (DeFFI), at least 95 journalists and outlets faced legal or security action in the first half of 2025, with six reporters temporarily detained and collective prison sentences exceeding 22 years.

Some observers believe the main reason for the action taken against Ham-Mihan was reporting the alleged rape case itself.

Veteran reformist columnist Ahmad Zeidabadi wrote: “In a country where you can’t even report on a private criminal case, what need is there for newspapers at all? State TV and Kayhan (which is funded by the Supreme Leader’s office) are enough.”

“All kinds of ceremonies, gatherings, advertising or sale of items related to what is known as ‘Halloween’ are completely prohibited in all public and business places,” Iran’s Chamber of Guilds said in a statement, citing the need to protect “cultural, religious and social values.”

It said police would take legal action against violators, including closing venues and referring managers to judicial authorities.

The move comes amid long-standing unease among Iranian authorities over the growing popularity of Western holidays such as Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Halloween among younger Iranians.

Officials and clerics have often described such events as cultural imports that conflict with Islamic values.

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Young Iranians join global festivities

Despite the restrictions, public enthusiasm for Western-style festivities has continued to grow. In recent years, decorated shopfronts and cafes in Tehran, Isfahan and other cities have displayed Christmas trees and ornaments, while young people have gathered to mark holidays that once passed largely unnoticed.

The trend has fallen afoul with authorities. Two years ago, hundreds of Iranians gathered outside Isfahan’s historic Vank Cathedral, an ancient Armenian church, trying to attend a Christmas celebration before police dispersed the crowd.

Last December, social media videos showed people in Tehran’s shopping districts posing beside Christmas trees and taking photos with men dressed as Santa Claus, suggesting that such celebrations continue to grow despite official restrictions.

Christianity, Judaism and Zoroastrianism are officially recognized religions in Iran, but conversion from Islam remains punishable by death, and public displays of non-Islamic observances are tightly restricted.

The report is by Niloufar Hamedi, the journalist who — along with Elaheh Mohammadi — was jailed for covering the in-custody death of Mahsa Jina Amini, an act of reporting that helped ignite the Woman, Life, Freedom movement.

In her latest piece, They Rape You Once; You Die a Thousand Times, Hamedi gives voice to women who say that pursuing justice can be as punishing as the assault itself. Their accounts reveal a system that forces survivors to relive their trauma while offering little protection or empathy.

"Rape happens once, but its shrapnel pierces the survivor’s heart again and again," one woman, who remained anonymous for her safety, told Shargh.

For three years, she traveled nearly 900 kilometers from her hometown to Tehran to pursue her case, appearing repeatedly before lawyers, judges, and investigators.

The courts drag out the case, forcing survivors to recount their assaults again and again — a process that reopens their wounds and turns the pursuit of justice into another form of punishment, the women were quoted as saying in the article.

Another survivor, identified only as Sh, said: "The body’s natural defense tries to erase painful memories so you can move on — but in my case, I couldn’t erase anything. Each time I retold what happened, my whole body relived the trauma."

Death sentence for rapists

The newspaper report highlights a justice system that reopens wounds rather than healing them, and a penal code that offers only one punishment — death — leaving survivors with no other legal recourse.

"Many of us don’t want the perpetrator executed," one woman said, "but the law offers no other path."

Beyond the courts, the article explores a culture that blames victims and protects abusers.

Sociologist Mahsa Asadollahnejad told Shargh that humiliation is "the deepest wound" and that indifference allows it to spread.

Without naming officials, Hamedi’s report exposes a broader failure — laws that leave no space for mercy, a judiciary that retraumatizes, and a culture that silences.

Her restrained tone allows the women’s voices to speak for themselves, revealing the quiet persistence of systems that claim moral authority yet perpetuate harm.

The report published on Monday said the assault occurred at the Ferashtegan Mehr Kalar rehabilitation institute near the northern town of Kelardasht.

The girl was taken to a hospital on September 28 after severe bleeding.

Police initially claimed in their report that the girl was injured after a “pipe left in the restroom” hit her genital area, but hospital staff and the newspaper rejected this explanation as implausible.

Doctors told Ham-Mihan that the child, who was always in diapers due to her cerebral disability and difficulty walking, could not have caused such an injury herself and showed no bruises or marks typical of a fall.

Medical staff said the injury appeared deliberate, adding that “it seemed someone had scratched her body with nails, causing the bleeding.”

The Mazandaran Welfare Organization later confirmed that security cameras had captured “inappropriate behavior and deliberate physical abuse” of Dorsa by staff at the center.

The female director of the facility was arrested on charges of abuse and later released on bail pending trial.

Following the incident, provincial authorities revoked the institution’s license and ordered its closure. Dorsa was moved to another facility for children with mild intellectual disabilities, along with three other orphans.

Ham-Mihan noted that the now-defunct center had been established with charitable donations, and some donors have since demanded their contributions back from local authorities.

Activists say Dorsa’s case is not an isolated incident, citing other reports of abuse, assault, and even deaths of disabled residents at welfare centers across Iran.

They argue that oversight of such institutions should be transferred from the Welfare Organization to an independent body, warning that poor vetting and training of staff continue to endanger vulnerable children.

According to the Welfare Organization, nearly 59,000 people currently live in 1,190 centers and care homes under its supervision nationwide.