(Newser)
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There's a new way to run afoul of the government in Iran: by filming chickens. With food lines lengthening and prices soaring due to international sanctions, Iran's leaders are warning filmmakers and broadcasters not to show people enticing things they might not be able to afford—because doing so could provoke the poor to attack the rich, reports the Telegraph. "They show chicken being eaten in movies while somebody might not be able to buy it," said the country's law enforcement forces chief. "Films are now the windows of society and some people observing this class gap might say that we will take knives and take our rights from the rich."
The price of chicken, a key part of the Iranian diet, has soared over the last year to $5.70 per pound. Red meat, fruit, and vegetable prices have all risen just as dramatically. Other Iranian leaders have asked for "cooperation" from the media to keep the public's anger over rising prices and other sanction-related troubles in check. But it may not be working: The Telegraph reports that a cartoon that ran over the weekend featured a 100,000 rial note pinned to each wing of a, you guessed it, chicken.
