Iran’s endless crisis
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s re-election sparked controversy inside and outside Iran. The reformist movement led by Mir-Hussein Mossavi and Mahdi Karroubi had announced that the elections were biased and the conservative forces had intervened in the election process to secure the victory of Ahmadinejad. Read the rest of this entry »
Iran and the West, new escalation
The situation with Iran is changing and growing more complex before our very eyes.A confluence of events happened in the last few days and the situation must be reassessed accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »
Is it fear of diplomacy?
When President Barack Obama first made it clear that he wanted to engage Iran in dialogue without preconditions, it sent shockwaves through conservative circles in the United States, fuelling criticism and having him labelled, by his critics, as naïve and inexperienced. But did these words actually have an effect in Iran?
Some have begun to float the idea that they did, and were actually a contributing factor to the internal strife and crisis that came to pass on June 12 in Iran. Read the rest of this entry »
Between pragmatism and identity in Iran
The results of the 2009 Iranian presidential election did not only surprise the world, they also surprised the Iranians.
For years, reform forces within Iran have broken their backs in an attempt to gain political power and influence, and it appeared that 2009 would be the year this group would receive the social and political rewards for their years of hard and risky work. Read the rest of this entry »
أحمدي نجاد والعلاقات الأمريكية الإيرانية
إذا كانت مقابلة الرئيس الإيراني السابق محمد خاتمي مع محطة السي إن إن في أواخر عام 1997، والحديث عن ضرورة فتح المجال إمام حوار جدي بشأن العلاقة مع واشنطن والتأكيد بأن مشكلة إيران ليست مع الشعب الأمريكي وإنما مع السياسات الأمريكية - قد هدأت من حرارة التوتر بين واشنطن وطهران، فإن تصريحات الرئيس احمدي نجاد في أول مؤتمر صحفي له في أغسطس 2005 و تأكيده بأن إيران”لا تحتاج أمريكا” قد زادت من حرارة التوتر بين البلدين لتسير مسرعة نحو مواجهة لا يبدو أنها بعيدة Read the rest of this entry »
