USS Nimitz ordered back to Persian Gulf after Iran's supreme leader threatens revenge over slain scientist

An Iranian teenager named Sahar Tabar has been sentenced to 10 years in jail. The 19-year-old, whose real name is Fatemeh Khishvand, rose to fame after posting heavily distorted photos of herself to Instagram which made her look like a “zombie” version of Angelina Jolie. She boasted 486,000 followers on the platform, before her account was deactivated, and now faces a decade behind bars as a result of her social media activities. Here’s 5 things to know about her.

Preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons will be one of the top foreign policy and national security challenges facing Joe Biden when he becomes president Jan. 20.

The Trump administration on Monday added China, Nigeria and Iran to the list of countries that engage in violating or allowing violations of religious freedom within their borders — part of U.S. efforts to end religious persecution around the world.  The State Department announced that the three countries would be named as "Countries of Particular Concern" under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentStrand Releasing has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Majid Majidi’s “Sun Children,” which competed at Venice and represents Iran in the international feature film race at the 2021 Academy Awards.Represented in international markets by Hengameh Panahi’s Celluloid Dreams, “Sun Children” has been critically acclaimed in the festival circuit, and its young leading actor Ruhollah Zamani won Venice’s Marcello Mastroianni Award for best young actor.

In the final weeks of the Trump administration, Iran is confronting growing pressure amidst concerns over the recent assassination of its top nuclear scientist and continued US financial sanctions “Iran, as stated before as our definite policy, will independently give a matching response to those who ordered and committed this with maximum pain for those who did this,” said Saeed Khatibzadeh, an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, of the assassination Friday of Iran’s top nuclear scientist.

Iran’s parliament Tuesday advanced a bill that would end U.N. inspections of its nuclear facilities and require the government to boost its uranium enrichment if European signatories to the 2015 nuclear deal do not provide relief from oil and banking sanctions.

Christopher Vourlias Vadim Perelman’s “Persian Lessons” will represent Belarus in the best international feature film race at the 2021 Oscars, Variety has learned.The WWII drama, which world premiered in the Panorama strand of the Berlin Film Festival this year, stars Nahuel Perez Biscayart (“Beats Per Minute”) as a Belgian Jew who narrowly avoids execution by a Nazi firing squad when he claims to be Persian.