Iran International
The protest by a guest on a program aired by Iran’s state television has ignited widespread debate over the Islamic Republic's emphasis on the veneration of death and its aversion to expressions of joy.
At the conclusion of each episode of the program The Black Box, guests are presented with a black box containing a folded white shroud tied with a black ribbon, along with a mock death notice featuring their photo. In this program, intended to be a light-hearted one-on-one talk show, guests are then asked to share their feelings about confronting their own mortality.
The shroud symbolizes the government’s Shia ideology, representing a wish for the recipient to achieve the honor of martyrdom or simply depart from an unworthy earthly life and go to paradise.
Around fifty episodes of the program have been aired over the past ten months with guests chosen from among recognized political, artistic, athletic, and academic personalities.
Many Iranians only heard the controversial program’s name a few days ago because Iran's ideologically driven state television has lost most its audience to satellite TV channels. Many Iranians turn to these both for news and entertainment.
The program drew widespread attention after a guest shared a video on social media. In his post, Hadi Amel, a popular television wrestling reporter, criticized the state broadcaster for the insensitivity of the gift he was presented with at the end of the show.
Amel revealed that he had protested immediately in the studio, demanding that the footage of the incident not be aired. Despite his request, he noted in his post, a re-run of the episode was broadcast last week. "It was unethical. They broke my heart," he said.
Amel’s post and a video clip of the controversial scene quickly went viral on Persian social media with thousands commenting.
In the aired program, Amel is visibly shocked upon opening the black box and discovering the gift symbolizing his "future." "I don’t like this. I don’t like talking about death," he says, placing the death notice face down on the table.
The presenter appears equally uncomfortable, turning to the production team and asking, "Is this what you wanted?" He then calls the gesture "bad taste."
“You wouldn’t kill so many people, commit such injustices, carry out executions, or engage in so much corruption if you truly understood the meaning of a shroud, a death notice, or the day of death,” a viewer said in an audio message sent to Iran International TV, addressing the Islamic Republic authorities. “You are the ones who should be gifted shrouds, as you are nearing your final day,” he added.
Shortly after, an excerpt from another episode surfaced on social media, showing the shocked reaction of another guest, Maryam Razzaghi-Azar, a prominent professor of pediatric endocrinology. Upon receiving the gift, she protested, stating that she did not want her children to see the shroud and death notice. She then insisted that the presenter tear it to pieces.
The intense public backlash compelled Peyman Jebelli, the head of the state broadcasting organization (IRIB), to address the controversy. Speaking to reporters, he acknowledged the criticism, agreeing that the gift was in poor taste. Jebelli also claimed to have reprimanded the producers responsible for the decision.
Despite the public outcry, pro-establishment figures and social media users argued that the criticism was unfounded because only two of the nearly fifty guests of the program were offended by the gift while some others, including ultra-hardliner lawmaker Hamid Rasaei, had even welcomed it.
Speaking to Iran International TV, prominent Washington-based Iranian sociologist Hossein Ghazian explained that the program’s controversy stems from its production and broadcast by a state-owned media outlet. He suggested that if a similar concept had been produced by, for example, a Belgian television channel, it might have been seen as creative. However, Iranians reacted negatively because the program is perceived as a reflection of the state’s ideology, he noted.
Ghazian argued that, within this ideology, life is viewed as a fleeting phenomenon unworthy of significant focus, while death is regarded as eternal. “In political terms, this implies that people should not expect much improvement in their living conditions from the government,” he added.
The IRIB has completely degenerated,” psychologist Azadeh Jazini wrote in an X post to fellow citizens. “This toxic system, which opposes life and happiness, has now stooped to presenting gifts that induce mental collapse. Stay away from this media outlet, not just for your own mental well-being but also to protect the mental health of your children.
Nizar Zakka, head of Hostage Aid Worldwide, was abducted in 2015 by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) after attending a conference in Tehran.
The US-Lebanese dual national was locked up four years in Iran’s notorious Evin prison, spending 18 months in solitary confinement, despite being officially invited to the country by a Vice President at the time.
Zakka was released June 2019 in exchange for Negar Qods Kani, an Iranian prisoner in the United States.
“The whole concept of hostage taking has been created and developed by the Islamic Republic of Iran. They (Iran) have built their foreign policy based on hostage taking,” said Zakka on this week’s episode of Eye for Iran podcast.
Hamas and Iran - which arms, funds and trains the Palestinian militant group - had high hopes for the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel which killed 1,200 soldiers and civilians and saw the abduction of 250 foreign and Israeli hostages.
Both framed the deadliest day in Israel's history as the beginning of the end of their hated enemy. But after Israel's fearsome incursion into Gaza devastated the enclave, killing nearly 45 thousand Palestinians, and air strikes pounded Iran and its allies for 15 months, Zakka says Iran is unlikely to view hostage-taking so favorably.
“It's a big lesson that (hostage diplomacy) will not work,” said Zakka.
One of Hamas senior leaders Khalil al-Hayya characterized the ceasefire deal as success for the group, defining it as a "historic moment."
"Our people have thwarted the declared and hidden goals of the occupation. Today we prove that the occupation will never defeat our people and their resistance,” al-Hayya said in a televised speech from Qatar.
Zakka said in fact Iran and its proxy lost their ability to negotiate with people's lives the moment a ceasefire was reached.
It is no coincidence that hostages are at the center of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, Zakka said, as Hamas is carrying on a tradition from the inception of the Islamic Republic after revolutionaries in 1979 seized the US embassy and dozens of US hostages in Tehran in 1979.
The Islamic Republic has for nearly five decades sought to trade foreign detainees with governments in exchange for prisoners or economic and political concessions.
Tehran's brief jailing of an Italian journalist last month, ongoing imprisonment of two French nationals and the recent death of a Swiss national in custody on espionage charges has underscored the issue. Iran denies it engages in hostage diplomacy.
The failure of Iran’s militant proxies and the agreement that on principle has been reached between both sides demonstrates that Tehran’s foreign policy tactic doesn’t have the sway it used to, according to Zakka.
Iran sees it otherwise. The IRGC referred to the ceasefire as a victory for Gaza and the Palestinian people.
A blood-splattered mural depicting Israeli hostages in Gaza was unveiled in Tehran last year with the message: “No hostage will be released,” written in Farsi and Hebrew. Now, it appears, they will.
If the Israeli cabinet and government formally approve the ceasefire, the first six-week phase will take effect on January 19.
The deal reached Wednesday would see the release of 33 hostages over the next six weeks in exchange for hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel. The Jewish state would pull back in parts of Gaza allowing the return of displaced Palestinians along with humanitarian aid.
Ceasefire role
“I am so happy. I love it. I did a lot. I worked a lot. Yesterday on Israeli TV Channel 12, they said that the ceasefire was made because of my advocacy and my work," said Zakka.
Zakka was in direct contact with President-elect Donald Trump, encouraging him to take a firm stance to bring back all the hostages, not just Americans among them.
Trump, Zakka said, listened.
“I asked President Trump to pressure Bibi Netanyahu,” said Zakka, "We explained to President Trump that if he would accept to make a deal for only four Americans and leave the rest behind, that would be like signing the death certificate for all the other hostages in Gaza. I told Trump that Bibi Netanyahu will kill everybody."
The conversations between Zakka and Trump took place over WhatsApp and email, he said.
Zakka said the bombing of Gaza also puts the lives of Israeli hostages in jeopardy too. When he was imprisoned in Iran, he said he used to pray for the Americans to bomb the IRGC facilities but with the devastation in Gaza, he realized that would put innocent lives at risk too.
"I feel so much for these people because they are bombed by Israel, their own country, and then taken hostage by Hamas, using them as a human shield."
Ending hostage diplomacy
The American-Lebanese technology expert and former businessman has made it his life's mission to make sure Iran does not engage in future hostage-taking and helping save the lives of other hostages.
Speaking on Eye for Iran, Zakka was in Damascus searching the underground cells for Austin Tice, a US journalist who disappeared during ousted President Bashar al-Assad’s rule.
He is now considered missing, and Hostage Aid Worldwide believes he is being held against his will in a safehouse. Zakka declined to elaborate to protect the investigation.
Zakka is also lobbying the United Nations (UN) to strengthen the International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages to include punishments for violators and for the UN manage talks with countries that engage in hostage diplomacy.
When Iran detained Italian reporter Cecilia Sala last month, for example, Italy negotiated directly for her release.
“We cannot let the Iranian regime negotiate with each country separately, take hostages, and get away with it," Zakka said. "We need to stand together as an international community against hostage-taking.”
To watch the full episode of Eye for Iran featuring Nizar Zakka, you can watch it on YouTube or listen on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Castbox or any major podcast platform.
