Ashura’s contested meaning in Iran
For Iranian Shi’a, Ashura has a diversity of meanings. Photo: Asr-e Ashura (“Eve of Ashura”), by Mahmoud Farchian. It is Muharram in the Islamic Republic of Iran, a time when Iranian Shi’a will be...
View ArticleYounesi downplay’s Rouhani administration’s authority to end house-arrest of...
The continued house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi highlight the “great divide” in Iranian politics, whereby President Hassan Rouhani is able to advance his non-confrontational foreign policy in...
View ArticleHow much leverage does Iran really have in nuclear negotiations?
Introduction In the wake of the extension of the Joint Plan of Action (JPoA) for another seven months by the P5+1 (the United Nations Security Council permanent five members plus Germany) and Iran in...
View ArticleRouhani calls for end to economy subsidising Iran’s adventurous foreign policy
In one of his most important speeches to date, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called for a reversal of the current situation in which the economy subsidises politics, critiquing hardline...
View ArticleThe Ukraine Crisis & Russia-Iran relations: Could Iran soon get the S-300?
The previously frozen Russian contract to supply the Islamic Republic of Iran with S-300 air defence systems may now be able to advance, thanks in part to the West’s conflict with Russia over Ukraine...
View ArticleOil price crash: A “second sanction” on Iran
Senior Iranian leaders are increasingly pessimistic about their country’s immediate economic future, and have lashed out against Persian Gulf crude oil producers like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab...
View ArticleShoigu in Tehran: Prospects for Russia-Iran Defense Cooperation in 2015
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu’s recent visit to Tehran was carefully observed by leaders in Washington and E.U. capitals. The mutual challenges of the Syrian civil war, Western economic...
View ArticleThe IRGC’s “Operation Spider” strikes at alleged cyber-criminals
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has cast a wide-net in its fight against cyber-crime, going after individuals with social media pages for alleged cultural misdeeds. Yet in the Islamic...
View ArticleYounesi downplay’s Rouhani administration’s authority to end house-arrest of...
The continued house arrest of Mousavi and Karroubi highlight the “great divide” in Iranian politics, whereby President Hassan Rouhani is able to advance his non-confrontational foreign policy in...
View ArticleHow much leverage does Iran really have in nuclear negotiations?
Introduction In the wake of the extension of the Joint Plan of Action (JPoA) for another seven months by the P5+1 (the United Nations Security Council permanent five members plus Germany) and Iran in...
View ArticleCould “maverick” representative Ali Motahari be thrown out of parliament – or...
On 29 November 2014, hardline conservative representative Javad Karimi Ghodoosi from the Persevering Front of the Islamic Revolution (PFIR) threatened that Iran’s parliament could consider reviewing...
View ArticleThe Islamic Republic’s quixotic quest to create “Islamic human sciences”
Former Speaker of Parliament Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel recently highlighted efforts to create “Islamic human sciences” to counter what he sees as the harmful impact of Western humanities and social...
View ArticleMir-Hossein Mousavi Speaks
Recent statements by former Iranian prime minister and Green Movement leader Mir-Hossein Mousavi and President Hassan Rouhani have raised questions about whether the president will be able to fulfill...
View ArticleRouhani calls for end to economy subsidising Iran’s adventurous foreign policy
In one of his most important speeches to date, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has called for a reversal of the current situation in which the economy subsidises politics, critiquing hardline...
View ArticleThe Ukraine crisis & Russia-Iran relations: Could Iran soon get the S-300?
By Anton Evstratov The previously frozen Russian contract to supply the Islamic Republic of Iran with S-300 air defence systems may now be able to advance, thanks in part to the West’s conflict with...
View ArticleHashemi-Rafsanjani tries to stir public interest in 2016 Assembly of Experts...
The Assembly of Expert (AoE) has not historically been a majour center for political contestation in Iran. This may be changing as questions about the country’s next supreme leader emerge and some in...
View ArticleBan on media coverage of ex-president Khatami highlights ongoing tensions in...
The judiciary’s ban on media coverage of Khatami, a former president of the Islamic Republic, is only the latest episode which highlights the ‘great divide’ in Iran. On 16 January 2015, Gholam-Hossein...
View ArticleIran’s top leaders increasingly aware of stark environmental future facing...
As Iran’s environmental situation deteriorates, the Islamic Republic’s political leadership has started to frame the environment as a major policy and even national security issue. In recent years the...
View ArticleAssembly of Experts win for Yazdi reaffirms conservative control of key...
In the recent race for the leadership of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi handily defeated his rival Ayatollah Ali-Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani. This was a clear victory for Iranian...
View ArticleIranian workers and the 1394 minimum wage: One step forward?
During the annual negotiations to set Iran’s average minimum wage, Iranian workers won a raise of 17 percent. While this is one of the biggest steps forward in recent years for the country’s struggling...
View Article