Iran.us

Iran's clerical establishment has made it clear that it will not condone the insubordination that marked the country's last presidential contest, and has taken steps over the interim to ensure the 2013 election goes as planned. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE

An Iranian director sentenced to prison in 2010 for antigovernment propaganda has appeared at the Cannes film festival for the screening of a new film about censorship, which he shot in secret in Iran. The circumstances of Mohammad Rasoulof's visit to Cannes on May 24 and the location where he now lives remain strictly confidential.

As Iran prepares for another election that is unlikely to be fair or free, it is time to end sanctions on personal communications devices that undermine the democratic aspirations of ordinary Iranians.

Former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, whose attempt to run in the upcoming presidential election was quashed by the Guardian Council, has thanked his supporters and, without referring to the reasons for his disqualification, he urged them to nurture the "unity that has risen among moderate reformist and conservative forces."

Representatives of the Iranian cities of Golpaygan and Langarood have warned the agriculture and health ministers that recent imports of wheat and rice are contaminated and could cause widespread health complications.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the disqualification of candidates in Iran's presidential election shows the country's religious leaders are interested only in reinforcing their own power rather than giving voters a choice of opposing views. With Iran's disqualification of more moderate candidates, Kerry says Iran's Guardian Council showed no regard for popular will.

After hundreds of disqualified city council candidates appealed their rejection, the Supreme Board of Election Monitoring for Municipalities in Tehran Province announced that 312 of those applicants were finally approved to run in the elections.

Iran's mission in the UN rejected reports about its involvement in cyber attacks against the US companies, calling for boosting international laws to confront such attacks. His remarks came after the New York Times in an article claimed that cyber attacks against the US companies are on the rise.

Iran is the second largest producer of sponge iron in the world, said Deputy Head of Iran's Steel Alloy Company Assadollah Farshad. Iran ranks third in Asia and 11th in the world in terms of iron reserves.

The Isfahan University of Technology has closed seven fields of study to female applicants. ISNA reports that the university is now refusing applications from female students in certain branches of agriculture, natural resources engineering and water resources. These programs are now only open to male applicants.