Ministry of Culture's Response to Protests Against 'Insults' by Yalasharat

Following a collective and strongly worded protest by Iranian filmmakers against the Hezbollah-affiliated publication Yalasharat, the Ministry of Culture of the Islamic Republic emphasized on Tuesday, September 29, that the publication's license had been revoked long ago and therefore is "legally not among the licensed publications." The weekly Yalasharat, linked to the Ansar Hezbollah group, was reportedly banned in January 2016 by a majority vote of the Press Supervisory Board, and has since been published under a temporary ruling from the judiciary. This publication was also suspended on August 2 for publishing an article titled "Who is a Cuckold?" about the Hafez Film Festival, but was reissued two days later by a court ruling. Thus, the recent response from the Ministry of Culture's spokesperson, which is limited to emphasizing that Yalasharat has had its license revoked and is essentially publishing without permission, could be seen as passing the ball to the judiciary. The Ministry's reaction came in response to a collective protest by Iranian filmmakers that occurred last Sunday evening at the 10th Critics and Writers Film Festival of Iran. At this event, director and actor Mani Haqiqi announced that he, along with Asghar Farhadi and Taraneh Alidoosti, would file a complaint against Yalasharat for the "insult" this publication directed at them, stating, "We would be happy if the Minister of Culture and the Chief Justice also come to our aid." Recently, Yalasharat published an article titled "How Did the Dirty Tsunami of Sexual Cherries Come to Cinema?!" which told a story of a "love triangle" involving two filmmakers named "Farhad" and "Ghobad" and an actress named "Shahrzad." The characteristics that Yalasharat provided for the characters in this story closely resembled the artistic activities of Asghar Farhadi, Mani Haqiqi, and Taraneh Alidoosti. Hossein Nooshabadi, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Culture, described Yalasharat's writings as "insulting" and emphasized that the Ministry's position on the matter has not changed. He pointed out that the revocation of Yalasharat's license was carried out by a board consisting of representatives from the three branches of government and the clerical establishment, and stated, "We continue to announce this position." Previously, several officials, including Ali Motahari, the Deputy Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, have protested that a publication is revoked by a responsible board but later receives a court ruling for renewed publication. The Deputy Speaker described the publication of Yalasharat under judicial order despite its license being revoked by the Press Supervisory Board as "questionable" and indicative of a dual authority in this area, stating that this action "does not align with common sense." On August 6, Motahari referred to the court's ruling for the temporary publication of Yalasharat as "questionable" and stated that if the court has the right to revoke the Press Supervisory Board's resolution, "the very philosophy of this board's existence becomes moot" and "it would be better to dissolve it." The judiciary of the Islamic Republic has not yet taken a clear stance on this matter.