Censorship in Iran

By: Kayla Stellabotte and Murmie Baker

Iran• Iran is a country in the Middle East.

• Iran is 636,000 square miles, making it the second-largest country in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia is the largest), and the 18th largest nation in the world.

• It houses 77 million people.

• Ayatollah Ali Hoseini Khamenei is the supreme ruler of the country, while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the president.

• Iran has been a Theocratic Islamic Republic since Feb. 11th, 1979o A theocratic country is a country ruled by religious leaders.

Political Map of Iran

Physical Map of Iran

Censorship• Censorship - The act of examining books, movies, etc. and suppressing/deleting

offensive and/or unacceptable parts

• Types of censorship include banning certain internet sites, books, and media.

• Some examples of censored books are The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Faulkner, As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, and Ulysses by James Joyce.

• These books have been censored due to religious/immoral content.

• Journalists have been imprisoned to avoid critical news coverage in Iran.

• Certain publications have been banned.• Millions of websites and social networking sites have been banned on the Internet.

Relationships to Fahrenheit 451

• Fahrenheit 451 is not censored in Iran.

• Book burning incidents have been recorded in Iran as well as in the book.

• In Fahrenheit 451, books are censored, but movies and songs are censored in Iran as well.

• Religious books are burned in both the book and in Iran (books not pertaining to the acceptable religion)

• Other countries have burned books related to Iran’s religions (mainly Islam)

Sources• Cartlidge, Cherese. Iran. San Diego: Lucent, 2002. Print. Modern Nations of the

World

• "11 Banned Books Iranians Will Be Able to Read If the Rouhani Government Lifts

Censorship." The World Post. Huffington Post, n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.

<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/24/ iran-banned-books_n_4157973.html>.

• "Iran." Committee to Protect Journalists. CPJ, n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2014. http://cpj.org/reports/2012/05/10-most-censored-countries.php#4>.

• "Map: Iran." Infoplease. HighBeam Research, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. <http://www.infoplease.com/atlas/country/iran.html>.

• "Physical Map of Iran." Free World Maps. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. <http://www.freeworldmaps.net/asia/iran/map.html>.