PROTESTS erupted at the weekend in the Kurdistan region of Iran after Zahra Mohammadi began a five-year sentence for teaching children in their mother tongue.
She presented herself at the court of Sanandaj in traditional Kurdish clothing and was transferred to prison.
“The person who goes to prison for their thoughts and activities will surely end up further strengthening their beliefs,” she said outside the courtroom where supporters had gathered.
KATAYOUN SHAHANDEH surveys Iran’s cultural heritage and explains what has been damaged and what could be lost
MOHAMMAD OMIDVAR, a senior figure in the Tudeh Party of Iran, tells the Morning Star that mass protests are rooted in poverty, corruption and neoliberal rule and warns against monarchist revival and US-engineered regime change
The Islamic Republic is attempting to deflect from its own failures with a scapegoating campaign against vulnerable and impoverished migrants, writes JAMSHID AHMADI


