Haleh Esfandiari on Iran’s Election Dyamics Haleh Esfandiari is the Director of the Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington D.C. Dr. Esfandiari taught Persian language at Oxford University and, prior to coming to the Wilson Center, she taught Persian language, contemporary Persian literature, and courses on the women’s movement in Iran […]
Every year, February 11-or 22 Bahman in the Persian calendar-is celebrated with great fervor in Iran, because this is the day when the 1979 revolution succeeded in toppling the dictatorship of Western-backed shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The annual holiday is a deeply significant and symbolic date for the regime as it provides them with the […]
Last week, the Wall Street Journal ran a story that showed just how desperate the Iranian government is getting. If harassing Iranian protesters living in Iran was not enough, the Iranian authorities are now threatening Iranians living abroad. As the article states: In recent months, Iran has been conducting a campaign of harassing and intimidating […]
The juxtaposition of the two images of former Vice-President Mohammad Ali Abtahi – one before his arrest and the other at his hearing- show the absurdity of the trials taking place in Iran. Abtahi, best known as the “blogging mullah,” is the ebullient cleric interviewed in the Daily Show. In the interview, as Jason Jones […]
Iranian political system is characterized by its duality of power: In the executive branch we have the dual offices of the President and the Supreme Leader, in the legislative branch we have the Parliament and the Council of Guardians, and in the military we have the regular forces and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). […]
Iranian former President Ali Akbar Rafsanjani is best remembered for his Friday prayer sermon on July 17th 2009, which gave the reform movement a “powerful boost”. In his sermon, he criticized the government for losing the trust of many Iranians, and called for the release of the protesters arrested since the election. As the highest-ranking […]
Here is an update on some of the stories I have previously blogged on: 1) Iran’s Role in the Latin America (July 30) The Iranian lawmakers have questioned the $280 million loan given to Bolivia. Their disapproval arises due to the Article 80 of the Iranian Constitution, which states that the Parliament must first approve […]
One reason why Iran has always fascinated me is due to the many contradictions and paradoxes found in the Iranian society. They overthrew the tyrannical Shah in a revolution, but ended up replacing him with a dogmatic theological regime. It is an Islamic Republic, but its most prominent holiday, Nowruz, is based on Zoroastrianism. It’s […]