Iran

In a sign of growing cooperation between Iraq and Iran, the Iraqi armed forces took control of Mujahadeen-e-Khalq’s (MEK)- also known as People’s Mujahideen of Iran (PMOI)-  main compound north of Baghdad, camp Ashraf.  It is believed that a number of high-ranking officials and leaders of the MEK, including Ahmad Hanifnejad, brother of the founder […]

Today both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times carried stories on the prison abuse going on in Iran.  The New York Times reported: Some prisoners say they watched fellow detainees being beaten to death by guards in overcrowded, stinking holding pens. Others say they had their fingernails ripped off or were forced […]

The images coming out of Iran -protests against the disputed presidential election and the brutal crackdown by the government forces- show the intensity and fervor with which Iranians are pursuing more freedom and democracy.  These images also provide an important insight on the role Iranian women are playing.  I thought this article published in the […]

I have to admit I have been a little taken back by the latest developments in the Iranian politics.  I thought that the power struggle brewing between President Ahmadinejad and the hard-line politicians was now over with Mr. Mashaii’s resignation from the position of first Vice President.  I was wrong.  Ahmadinejad has now appointed Mashaii […]

Iranian clerical regime has one less controversy to deal with as Mr. Mashaii resigned from his post of first Vice President.  As discussed in my previous post, Mr. Mashaii was President Ahmadinejad’s pick, but he was severely criticized by the clerical regime for stating in 2008 that Iranians are friends with Israelis.  The resignation was […]

All across the world today, people are showing their solitary to the Iranian people in their struggle for democracy, freedom and human rights.  In over 80 cities, from Austin, Texas to London to Tokyo, people are protesting against the disputed Iranian presidential election and the severe clampdown on opposition activities by the Iranian government.  The […]

Another power struggle is going on in Iran and its not reformist politicians against the hard-line political establishment.  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has maintained his choice of Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaii as first vice president over the objections of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Rahim-Mashaii upset hard-line clerics and politicians in 2008 by stating that Iranians were “friends […]

During her trip to Thailand, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has created quite a stir with her remarks on Iran.  In her harshest words delivered against Iran yet, Clinton warned that the United States would take “crippling action” and work to “upgrade the defense of our partners in the region.”  She warned Iran that […]

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 […]