TEHRAN — Iranian media say state TV has stopped broadcasting a series after protesters in the southwest claimed it insulted a prominent local tribe. IRNA said Sunday that state TV suspended Sarzamin-e Kohan, or The Ancient Land. The series is set in the 1940s, 50s and 60s when Iran was a monarchy, before its 1979 revolution. The hard-line Javan daily says a crowd in Ahvaz, capital of oil-rich Khuzestan province, gathered in front of the governor's office demanding an apology from the state broadcasting company. Other protests have been reported in neighboring provinces. The protesters reportedly claim the series defames the large and powerful Bakhtiari tribe. A Bakhtiari family in the series is depicted as corrupt, nouveau riche and monarchist. In another development, Austrian Airlines announced on Sunday it will resume flights to Iran in March after it stopped flying to the country early last year for what it said were commercial reasons. The airline confirmed local media reports that flights to Tehran would resume from March 11, attributing the decision, in a statement on its website, to the “current stability” in the country. Iran's Arman daily quoted the deputy head of the Civil Aviation Organization, Mohammad Khoda Karami, as saying flights by Austrian Airlines “will be operated five times a week to Tehran”. The airline in its statement said it had ended flights to Tehran in January 2013 “for commercial reasons”. — Agencies
