Rouhani Raises Hopes for Diplomacy at First News Conference as President
By Samira Damavandi and Caroline Cohn At his first press conference as Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani indicated his willingness to reengage in diplomatic talks with the West, raising hopes for finding a solution to the current standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. Rouhani replaced outgoing President Ahmadinejad, whose bellicose anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rhetoric only exacerbated […]
In Iran, It’s Fun To Be A Rebel
If one asks the majority of Iranian youths why they want democracy, their immediate answers are surprisingly not freedom of speech, free elections or even a better economy. “Fun” is what most of them desire the most. Having fun without being told their behavior is un-Islamic or an attempt to topple the regime. Since the […]
The MEK’s Propaganda Machine in Three Easy Steps
“The Green Movement, I understand from the testimony in Congress in July, has accepted Madame Rajavi,” said Canadian MP Carolyn Bennett on a talk show hosted last week by Jim Brown of the CBC. Wait, WHAT? The Green Movement has “accepted” Rajavi? Nothing could be further from the truth. The Green Movement has made it abundantly clear […]
Stop talking war, start talking…
We’re slowly reaching a critical point in the nuclear impasse with Iran. If you listen to Iran hawks on the right, Iran is hell bent on getting a nuclear weapon. They just know that’s what Iran wants, despite, as Roger Cohen suggests, no evidence or logical basis supporting their conclusion. Unfortunately, there’s been little to […]
Are Iran hawks pushing Tehran’s narrative?
Reading Seymour Hersh’s latest piece in the New Yorker, I can’t help but get déjà vu. Hersh reports that the recent (classified) 2011 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran’s nuclear weapons program reaches the same conclusion as the 2007 NIE that Iran had a nuclear weapons program but halted it in 2003. Despite the two conclusions, […]
Dorothy Parvaz is released, but will Iran open up on human rights abuses?
In welcome news, Dorothy Parvaz–the Al Jazeera English correspondent who was detained in Syria two weeks ago and later deported to Iran–was released yesterday. She arrived in Doha, Qatar on a flight from Iran and detailed her ordeal in an interview with Al Jazeera here. But while it is an immense relief that Parvaz has […]
Paying for the US-Iran Feud With Blood
In the summer of 2009, in the aftermath of the elections, there was obviously a lot going on in Iran. But one of the things that I remember made everyone hold their breaths in those months is probably not what you’re assuming right now. On July 15 2009, an Iranian passenger jet – a Russian-made […]
Military Attack on Iran: A Combination of Ignorance and Naivety
As always, those who talk about what US policy towards Iran should look like, are already prepared for failure of current US policy. Now Senator Joe Lieberman is preparing to “up the rhetorical ante” on Iran and endorse military actions if sanctions fail In an excerpt of what his staff has labeled a “major policy […]
Bad Hair Days Now Mandatory
In Iran, summer came with a severe crackdown on the Islamic dress code. Said Tehran’s police chief Hossein Sajedinia on the recent crackdown: The public expects us to act firmly and swiftly if we see any social misbehavior by women, and men, who defy our Islamic values… In some areas of north Tehran we can […]
Talented Iranian American Top Ranked in Film Competition
Ali Tabibnejad knew he was meant to be a film-maker since he was a child in Ahvaz. He would go into a room by himself and act out entire films. He imagined an entire film industry in his head: from different studios — different rooms in the house– to different theaters and directors. He would […]
A Half-Hearted Attempt at Accountability
A military court in Iran sentenced two men on Wednesday to death and nine others to jail for the torture of three protesters which resulted in their death last summer at the notorious Kahrizak detention center. According to the report on Jahan News, an additional 33 others were also accused of attacking a student dormitory […]
A Majlis of the IRGC, by the IRGC, and for the IRGC
The recent battle over Azad University and its assets is not only a sign of a growing division in Iran’s hardliners. If one looks more closely, the growing importance of the IRGC in Iranian politics is also becoming clearer. Originally created by Ayatollah Khomeini to be the Supreme Leader’s personal militia, the IRGC acts […]