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Episode details

World Service,21 Mar 2026,54 mins

Iranians celebrate Persian New Year in wartime

Weekend

Available for 13 days

Iran marks the Persian New Year, Nowruz, as war grips the Middle East. We hear from our correspondent about conditions inside the country, which has been enduring a communications blackout. Also in today’s programme: Three months after Australia introduced its social media ban for under-16s, millions of accounts have reportedly been suspended; and a Russian family is forced apart by censorship laws introduced after the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Plus, US action star Chuck Norris has died at 86. Presenter Celia Hatton is joined by Sanam Naraghi Anderlini, executive director of ICAN, a Washington-based women’s rights and peacebuilding organisation, and Philip Coggan, a London-based financial journalist and author. (Photo: Iranian people shop at Tajrish Bazaar, ahead of Nowruz, in Tehran.19 March Credit: Majid-Asgaripour)

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