The Islamic Republic of Iran
Iran at a Glance Iranian Politics and the Legacy of Revolution Three decades after Ayatollah Khomeini realized his Islamic revolution, the Iranian street is still a lively arena of political...
View ArticleIran: A “Conservative” State
In some dictionaries, the word “conservative,” when applied to a country, has referred to a hardline state that is skeptical about attempts to promote tolerance in religious discourse, open societies,...
View ArticleDéjà Vu in Cairo
Egyptian Salafists shout slogans during a demonstration demanding the implementation of the Shari’a (Islamic law) in Cairo’s Tahrir Square on November 2, 2012. (AFP Photo) I arrived at the hotel at...
View ArticleAbulhassan Banisadr: The view from exile
Asharq Al-Awsat editor-in-chief in Paris with former president of the Islamic Republic of Iran. (Asharq Al-Awsat)Paris, Asharq Al-Awsat—The revolution that overthrew the shah of Iran in 1979 has been...
View ArticleKhomeini’s Granddaughter: I want to start a “color revolution”
File photo of Zahra Eshraghi, Iranian activist and granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. (Asharq Al-Awsat)Tehran, Asharq Al-Awsat—Zahra Eshraghi is an Iranian human rights activist who is well...
View ArticleIran: Rafsanjani backtracks on comments over anti-American slogan
In this picture taken on Saturday, May 11, 2013, former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani waves to media as he registers his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, while his...
View ArticleOpinion: Tehran should fear the Iranian people, not the West
During the week’s slower days in Iran, Thursday and Friday (which are tantamount to the weekend there), the news did not attract much attention. One of the top concerns was preparations to eat chelow...
View ArticleOpinion: The Revolution, 35 Years On
I was six years old when the 1979 revolution happened. I was in the first grade when most of the homes of the late Mohammed Reza Shah Pahlavi and his associates were opened to the public. With the...
View ArticleOpinion: Iran, the Revolution and “Iranian Modernism”
The relationship between Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution and modernity is a controversial one. Views on the issue can be divided into three categories: progressive, regressive and post-modern. From a...
View ArticleIran: A revolution of broken promises and forlorn hopes
An Iranian girl shows her hand painted with Iran’s national flag during a ceremony marking the 35th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, at the Azadi (Freedom) square in Tehran, Iran, 11...
View ArticleDid the BBC help overthrow the Shah?
Persian Service: The BBC and British Interests in Iran By Annabelle Sreberny and Massoumeh Torfeh I.B.Tauris, 226 pages London 2014 “It’s all the work of the English!” Even when said in jest, for many...
View ArticleOpinion: Embers of Khomeini’s Fire
What is happening in Yemen represents as great a threat, if not more so, than what is happening in Iraq and Syria, at least in the eyes of the Gulf states and particularly Saudi Arabia. The Houthis...
View ArticleOpinion: Karbala via Glasgow
Anxious to reach agreement with the P5+1 on Iran’s nuclear program, President Hassan Rouhani is trying to mobilize support for his divisive policy. Last month, he tried to woo nationalists with a...
View ArticleOpinion: Iran must confront its past to move forwards
Over the past week the Iranian authorities have marked the 36th anniversary of the Khomeinist revolution by deploying the heaviest propaganda artillery at their disposal. The official narrative is that...
View ArticleOpinion: Iran and the Yemeni Hornet’s Nest
Until a few weeks ago, Yemen hardly featured in the Iranian political landscape. Now, however, it gets top billing as the latest nation to embrace the Khomeinist ideology. “The people of Yemen have...
View ArticleBetween the Ayatollah and the Marquis
Khomeini, de Sade, and Me By Abnousse Shalmani Grasset, 177 pages Paris, 2014 If we are to believe Abnousse Shalmani, being a woman is hard work even in Western democracies boasting of gender equality...
View ArticleOpinion: The Ayatollah dreamed it, Obama delivers it
The late Ayatollah Khomeini dreamed it; President Barack Obama is trying to deliver it: the end of Pax Americana. The topic was at the center of a daylong seminar in Tehran last week attended by...
View ArticleDéjà Vu in Cairo
From ASHARQ AL-AWSAT. I arrived at the hotel at 4:30 p.m. I left my baggage in the room, picked up the map and … continue reading Déjà Vu in Cairo
View ArticleAbulhassan Banisadr: The view from exile
From ASHARQ AL-AWSAT. Paris, Asharq Al-Awsat—The revolution that overthrew the shah of Iran in 1979 has been called one of the pivotal events … continue reading Abulhassan Banisadr: The view from exile
View ArticleKhomeini’s Granddaughter: I want to start a “color revolution”
From ASHARQ AL-AWSAT. Tehran, Asharq Al-Awsat—Zahra Eshraghi is an Iranian human rights activist who is well known for her outspoken, feminist views. She … continue reading Khomeini’s Granddaughter: I...
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