ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iran’s state television has stopped broadcast of a historical drama series, following protests and calls for punishing the makers from the country’s large and powerful Bakhtiari minority.
Representatives of the Bakhtiaris objected to the broadcast of “Sarzamin-e-Kohan,” meaning “Old Homeland,” which provoked accusations that some of the dialogue was insulting to the tribe, which lives mainly in the southwest.
Iranian MP Ismaeil Jalili announced that the drama distorted the facts and insulted the Bakhtiaris.
The state television said it was stopping the series after 60 MPs submitted a letter to the head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), asking that the episodes be suspended and the makers punished.
About two weeks ago, the series provoked demonstrations in several cities and towns with Bakhtiari populations.
Following the protests, Iranian interior minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazeli said at a press conference that, “The demonstrations have been peaceful and there have not been any confrontations between the police and demonstrators.”
IRIB head Ezzatolla Zarghami said, “We have to pray to God to forgive us for what we did to the Bakhtiaris.”
The Bakhtiaris are part of Iran’s Lur minority, whose population is estimated at about seven million.
The TV drama told the story of the role of Iranian ethnic minorities in defending the country against the forces of colonial Great Britain.
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