Women can’t eat pizza on TV, men barred from serving tea to ladies: Iran’s censorship rules leave citizens baffled

Women cannot be shown consuming any red-coloured beverages, sandwiches or pizza on TV in Iran.

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New Delhi: In a bizarre development, Iran has banned TV makers from depicting women eating pizza on screen and men serving tea to women in workplaces. 

As per IranWire report, women cannot be shown consuming any red-coloured beverages, sandwiches or pizza. Under new censorship guidelines, women on TV cannot be depicted wearing leather gloves either.

Moreover, images of men and women in domestic environments will first be specially reviewed by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) directors before they can be aired. Amir Hossein Shamshadi, the chief of public relations of IRIB, divulged that these new guidelines were imposed following a recent “audit” of the organization, IranWire reported. 

To avoid facing backlash from the authorities in Tehran, some Iranian streaming sites will adhere to self censor. 

These censorship rules could be seen taking effect after Iranian talk show Pishgoo avoided showing actress Elnaz Habibi’s face on camera in September. During the show, only her voice was heard which irked many viewers including veteran actor Amin Tarokh who took to Instagram to complain. "I wish the guest's name had been subtitled, at least. Because we didn’t see her face at all, had the host not mentioned it [at the beginning], we’d have no idea which artist was being talked about! What pleasure is derived from getting a close-up look at the creators of the program, and a far-off one at the guest, just because they’re a woman? Especially a lady like this who’s very decent. All you get from the IRIB is a voice and no picture," the actor said.