Taxi Revolution in Tehran
A women’s Taxi service in Tehran is providing much needed jobs for war widows and divorcees, according to the BBC. It began with about 10 taxis, and now boasts over 700 cabs handling 2,500 jobs a day. Some customers say that they feel more comfortable with a woman behind the wheel, while others think the […]
Former State Dept official echoes neocon oil argument
The continuing saga of the only new idea neoconservatives have had regarding Iran. Though the blockade bill died in Congress, the idea of stopping oil exports to Iran continues… Former State Department negotiator Orde Kittrie spoke on Thursday about viable alternatives for pursuing peace with Iran at Johns Hopkins University’s School for Advanced International Studies […]
Clearly Not a Carpet-Bazaar…
Hooman Majd, author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, unleashed a stinging rebuke in the Huffington Post yesterday to Thomas Friedman’s New York Times op-ed, calling the columnist’s conclusions “offensively colonialist and racist generalizations.” The piece by Friedman was an explanation as to why he believes the next US president will have more leverage in […]
Just when things were looking up…
Iran has announced the opening of a new naval base just east of the Persian Gulf, strategically located near the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most important oil chokepoint. The Iranian naval chief, Admiral Habibollah Sayyari, has said that this move was intended to “enable Iran to block the entry of an enemy into the […]
Senator Lugar Breaks with McCain, Urges Diplomacy with Iran
“In some cases, even refusing to talk can be dangerous.” Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) said this today in a speech before the National Defense University in Indiana. The call by Senator Lugar for more robust diplomatic overtures to Iran came after he joined with Senator Obama in opposing the conventional wisdom in Washington that “hostile […]
Prominent Iranian American Testifies before Senate Committee
Washington, DC- “We have unearthed an anti-plaintiff effect that is troubling,” said Cyrus Mehri in testimony last Tuesday before a Judiciary Committee hearing entitled “Barriers to Justice: Examining Equal Pay for Equal Work.” The hearing dealt with different dimensions of federal court discrimination against employee filed lawsuits. Mehri is on the Board of Advisors at […]
What Do We Have to Look Forward to?
With the presidential election only 7 weeks away it appears to be a good time to ask: What changes on Iran policy do we have to look forward to respectively with each of the candidates and their running mates?
Earthquake in Iran 6 on the Richter Scale
Iran was hit by an earthquake of a 6.1 magnitude on the Richter scale this Wednesday. Authorities in Iran said that 5 people were killed and 45 injured. The majority of those affected by the earthquake were Qeshm villagers and port workers in the area. A state news agency claims that over 100,000 lost power […]
Rethinking the Message We’re Sending
“The ideology behind 9/11 has become mainstream in much of the Middle East” said Jim Sciutto, author of Against Us: The New Face of America’s Enemies in the Muslim World. Jim Sciutto in his first public appearance since the books publishing was hosted by David Gray from the New America Foundation yesterday. The book profiled […]