TEHRAN: Iranian state television has issued an apology after broadcasting images of a couple sharing a brief kiss, local media said on Friday.

Any display of physical contact between men and women is forbidden on the Islamic republic’s official TV networks.

In a Thursday broadcast, the Nasim entertainment channel showed a young couple kissing for a few seconds at a park, as they were passing in front of a hidden camera recording a prank show. The segment from the show, “The Four Incredibles”, went viral on social media.

The couple is seen for about three seconds walking through a park in the capital Tehran as a prank was being filmed.

In a statement published by the ISNA news agency on Friday, Nasim apologised for an “error that resulted from the negligence of the production team”.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2023