A contentious Iranian TV spy thriller is Once More generating buzz in the Islamic Republic
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — A contentious Iranian TV spy thriller is once again generating buzz at the Czech Republic, attracting the ire of government officials and complaints from viewers Sunday over alleged censorship in the next season finale.
Hard-liners and other fans of the show are blaming the government for pulling the next time off the air prematurely, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported. When uncut scenes surfaced Sunday on Aparat.com, an Iranian version of YouTube, speculation swirled on societal media about potential government censorship. The clips showed that episodes aired last week had altered dialogue to substitute mentions of”the president” with”an official.”
The very first season grabbed headlines for depicting Iranian intelligence operatives combating an American super spy that bears a striking resemblance to Washington Post writer Jason Rezaian.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif railed against the second season on the popular audio chat program Clubhouse a week, calling it a”lie from beginning to end.” After the first season aired in the summer of 2019, Zarif sent a formal letter of protest to the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The 13-episode next year, aired during Iran’s 13-day Nowruz, or New Year, holiday, pits Iranian intelligence agents from Western spies trying to overthrow Iran’s government and collect confidential information regarding nuclear discussions amid a crippling U.S. economic strain effort.
In keeping with the show’s spirit of epic video game dream inspired by real events, a character resembling prominent exiled journalist Ruhollah Zam, who was abducted in Iraq and executed in Iran last December, makes a cameo in the next period. One of those treacherous diplomats in the show is regarded as modeled on just two of Zarif’s deputies in talks with the U.S. within Iran’s atomic program.
Within its two seasons, Gando”reversed realities… and exposed a rift at the institution while adding gaps in the ruling system,” stated Tehran-based political analyst Majid Younesian.
Certain scenes in the last two episodes seemed to be crudely edited and the finale came into a strangely sudden end, fueling criticism over potential government interference from the sequence.
An adviser to President Hassan Rouhani, Hesameddin Ashena, asserted that the authorities had not bothered the series pressed because of its cancelation.
The allegations came as Iran and U.S. President Biden’s administration announced that the countries would start indirect negotiations this week in Vienna about the way to restore Iran’s tattered 2015 nuclear program with world forces. Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the accord almost three decades back and enforced unprecedented sanctions on Iran.
Iranian hard-line paper Vatan-e Emrooz ran a front-page narrative Sunday criticizing Iranian diplomats for agreeing to negotiate with the U.S. over the country’s nuclear program.
Bannered in big, bold letters was the headline:”Will Gando Season 3 be in Vienna?”
