Panahi’s lawyer, Farideh Ghairat, said: “We have no news. The verdict has not been confirmed to us.” The government-run newspaper Iran confirmed the ruling in its Saturday edition, saying: “The charges he was sentenced for are acting against national security and propaganda against the regime.”

The daily also said that a six-year jail sentence against another Iranian filmmaker, Mohammad Rassoulof, was reduced to one year in the same appeal.

In the UK, we have see the first stirrings of revolt from the trade union movement against austerity and cuts with the gargantuan March 26 demo and talk of coordinated strike action. The movement across the rest of Europe is further advanced. We have seen huge mobilisations in Ireland, Greece and Spain. The battle lines are drawn.

Given its explanatory power and practical programme, Marxism has huge potential in this period – a potential that is irresponsibly squandered by the sectarian in-fighting and opportunism of the Marxist groups. Communist University points a way out of this mess. Over eight days of intense and open discussion, comrades from a variety of left political backgrounds teach and learn from each other. Differences between comrades are debated in fiercely partisan ways – but without the fear of excommunication that characterises the confessional sects of much of the rest of the left. The aim is clarity and fight to show the relevance of contemporary Marxism to the huge battles the workers’ movement will soon be squaring up to.

Come and join us this year and make your contribution to the job of politically tooling our side up for war.