Celebrated Iranian Actor Mohammad Ali Keshavarz Dies At 90
By Azadeh Karimi
Mohammad Ali Keshavarz, one of Iran’s most celebrated theater and film actors, died on June 14 at Tehran’s Atiyeh hospital, where he had been admitted a few weeks earlier with acute kidney...
Famous Iranian Cartoonist Hassan Tofigh Dies at 95
By Azadeh Karimi
Hassan Tofigh, the renowned Iranian cartoonist and the managing editor of the satirical weekly magazine Tofigh, died of a heart attack on May 31 at Tehran’s Asia Hospital. He was 95.
“Mr. Tofigh...
Black Lives Matter: Iranian-African-American Yara Shahidi Joins Campaign to Defund Police
By Nazanine Nouri
Yara Shahidi is a 20-year-old Iranian-African-American actor, model and activist who is currently a student of Harvard University. Together with celebrities such as John Legend, Jane Fonda, Natalie Portman, Lizzo, and Taraji...
‘Superabundantly Talented’ Author Ottessa Moshfegh Releases New Book
By Nazanine Nouri
Ottessa Moshfegh is an award-winning American author and novelist of Iranian descent who has published four books to great critical acclaim since 2014. Her latest -- "Death in Her Hands," described as...
Iranian Filmmaker Kioumars Derambakhsh Dies of Coronavirus at 74
By Reza Hamidi
The accclaimed Iranian photographer and documentary filmmaker Kioumars Derambakhsh died of coronavirus on March 31 in Paris. He was 74.
“Kioumars contracted coronavirus and was hospitalized a few days ago,” his brother Kambiz Derambakhsh, the...
Meet Iranian-Jewish Standup Comedian and Harvard Fellow Noam Shuster-Eliassi
By Tim Cornwell
Did you hear the one about Harvard University giving a grant to an Iranian-Jewish comedian to make a one-woman show in the name of bringing peace to the Middle East?
Noam Shuster-Eliassi’s working...
Bijan Saffari, Shiraz Festival’s Former Artistic Director, Remembered in Paris Exhibition
By Nazanine Nouri
An exhibition in memory of the late Iranian avant-garde artist, architect and artistic director Bijan Saffari -- who passed away on April 29, 2019 -- was held earlier this month at the...
Author Nazila Fathi Releases New Books, Aims to Educate Children of Iranian Diaspora
By Firouzeh Ramezanzadeh
Nazila Fathi is an Iranian-American author and a former reporter for The New York Times. Born in Tehran in 1970, she emigrated to Canada and then the U.S. after the controversial 2009...
Women’s Rights & Sexuality in Revolutionary Iran: Interview with Novelist Ingrid Leksand
By Nazenin Ansari
Born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1960, Ingrid Leksand (not the author's real name) moved to the UK with her family when she was five years old. Her father was an engineer whose...
Uber CEO Khosrowshahi Defends Company After 3,000 Sexual Assaults Reported in U.S. Last Year
By Nazanine Nouri
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is in the hot seat after his company disclosed in a long-awaited safety study earlier this month that 3,000 sexual assaults had been reported on its U.S. rides...
