IRAN: Ahmadinejad Aims to Provoke Constitutional Overhaul
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s confrontational approach towards the Iranian parliament could turn into a wider systemic crisis and is provoking appeals for a much more resolute intervention by Supreme...
View ArticleIran’s Two Executives Play a Lose-Lose Game
The very public disagreement between Iran’s Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the sacking of the intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, is turning out to be a...
View ArticleIRAN: Khatami Calls for National Reconciliation
Amid intensified factional fighting among conservatives who dominate the presidency, the parliament, and the office of the Islamic Republic’s Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an appeal for national...
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The Tale of Iran’s “Critical” Election
Iran’s Mar. 2 parliamentary elections were touted by many Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the most “critical” event since the establishment of the Islamic...
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The Tale of Iran’s “Critical” Election
Iran’s Mar. 2 parliamentary elections were touted by many Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the most “critical” event since the establishment of the Islamic...
View ArticleOP-ED: What to Make of the Latest Iranian-Turkish Row
Turkish-Iranian relations have been rocky since the deepening of the Syrian imbroglio, but the latest row suggests a new low. In no uncertain terms, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and...
View ArticleOP-ED: Some Thoughts on the Nonaligned Movement Summit in Tehran
It must be considered pure fortuity for the Islamic Republic of Iran that the decision to hold the Nonaligned Movement (NAM) summit in Tehran was made three years ago in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt....
View ArticleIran Debates Talking with the U.S.
As the Iranian leadership prepares to engage in negotiations with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany (P5+1) over the fate of its nuclear programme, the conversation...
View ArticleTehran Mulls Almaty II Amid Hopes for More Give and Take
The meeting between Iran and the so-called P5+1 (five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany) that took place in late February in Almaty, Kazakhstan was described as positive and...
View ArticleIranian People Caught in Crossfire of Dueling Messages
Since Barack Obama became president of the United States, messages marking the Iranian New Year – Norouz – celebrated at the onset of spring have become yearly affairs. So have responses given by...
View ArticleRafsanjani Shut Out of Iran’s Presidential Race
With the disqualification of former president and current chair of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani by a vetting body, the Guardian Council, Iran’s presidential campaign is opening with...
View ArticleIran’s Reform-Centre Alliance Will Transcend Election
The decision by the reformist candidate Mohammadreza Aref to withdraw his candidacy – and in effect open the path for the centrist Hassan Rowhani to become the unified candidate of both the centrists...
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Iranians Vote for Hope and a Change of Course
Iran's Jun. 14 elections garnered voter participation rates close to 73 percent. Credit: Mohammad Ali ShabaniIran’s Jun. 14 presidential election results, announced the day after voting was held, were...
View ArticleIRAN: Domestic Conflict Shifts into Higher Gear
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*By Farideh FarhiHONOLULU, U.S., Dec 16 2009 (IPS) Although the tumult that has gripped Iran since the contested Jun. 12 election has never abated, two recent occurrences have...
View ArticlePOLITICS: Whither Iran?
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*By Farideh FarhiHONOLOLU, Hawaii, Dec 31 2009 (IPS) The confrontation that took place in the streets of several large cities in Iran on the occasion of Ashura has brought the...
View ArticleIRAN: Is a Ceasefire in the Making?
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*By Farideh FarhiHONOLULU, Hawaii, Jan 26 2010 (IPS) As Iran nervously awaits the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on Feb. 11 – the day that has traditionally drawn...
View ArticlePOLITICS: Iran’s “Now What” Moment
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*By Farideh FarhiHONOLULU, Hawaii, Feb 17 2010 (IPS) After eight tumultuous months, during which attention from all sides of Iran’s political spectrum as well as anxious...
View ArticleIRAN: New Budget May Add to Uncertainties, Political Strains
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*By Farideh FarhiHONOLULU, Hawaii, Mar 19 2010 (IPS) Iran’s 347-billion-dollar budget for the 2010-11 fiscal year, finally approved by the Guardian Council in Tehran Tuesday –...
View ArticleTalk of a Nuclear Deal Gains Steam in Iran
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*By Farideh FarhiHONOLULU, Hawaii, May 11 2010 (IPS) President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s return to Tehran after attending the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review meeting...
View ArticleNew Hardships Intensify Debate Over Iran-Iraq War
Analysis by Farideh Farhi*By Farideh FarhiHONOLULU, Hawaii, U.S., Aug 3 2010 (IPS) Ongoing factional disputes and mounting international sanctions have ignited heated debates among Iran’s elites about...
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