Iran bans Simpsons dolls but ok with Superman and Spiderman

Iran Herald (ANI) Tuesday 7th February, 2012

The Simpsons have joined Barbie on the list of dolls prohibited in Iran as part of a decades-long crackdown on signs of western culture.

But bizarrely, the fictional US superheroes Superman and Spiderman are being allowed on sale because they help "the oppressed".

"We don't want to promote this cartoon by importing the toys," the Daily Mail quoted Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults' secretary Mohammad Hossein Farjoo as telling Iran's Shargh newspaper.

He also said that any doll on which genitals are distinguishable, as well as dolls of adults, were banned and so were toys with speakers that blare out the voices of Western singers, or toy kitchen sets that include glasses for drinking alcoholic beverages.

Farjoo did not elaborate on what was wrong with the Simpsons specifically but said that dolls of Spiderman and Superman were authorised for sale.

"They help oppressed people and they have a positive stance," he said.

The move follows last month's decision to close down several shops in capital Tehran for selling Barbies.

The dolls were officially banned in the mid-1990s but had until recently been openly on sale. (ANI)