Iranian luminaries have joined a campaign calling on the UN secretary-general,Ban Ki-moon, to intervene against the international sanctions that have badly hit the imports of medicineto their country.
The Oscar-winning film-makerAsghar Farhadiand the acclaimed directorAbbas Kiarostamiare among dozens of prominent Iranians who have participated in the appeal by sending an electronic postcard to Ban in protest at a shortage of medicine in the Islamic republic, one of the unintended consequences of western sanctions.
The leader ofIran's reformist movement, Mohammad Khatami, the painter Aydin Aghdashloo, the economist Saeed Laylaz and the actors Alireza Khamseh and Niki Karimi have also backed the petition.