Category Archives: Iran

Western Progressives and the Protests in Iran

Posted on September 25, 2022 by nervana111

For 43 years, Iranian women have been forced to wear hijab, yet throughout the more than four painful decades, their agony has been downplayed by those claiming that hijab is a choice.   Following an initial dismissal of the protests in … Continue reading →

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The wider impacts of the death of Iran’s Mahsa Amini

Posted on September 22, 2022 by nervana111

The raging protests in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been detained for allegedly breaking strict hijab rules, represent a unique moment in the history of the twenty-first-century’s Middle East. The brave Iranian women unintendedly upended decades of … Continue reading →

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Podcast: Heyday of Turkey-Iran relations coming to an end

Posted on May 17, 2021 by nervana111

Here is my latest interview for Ahval’s Turkey Trends with Vahid Yücesoy, a PhD candidate at the University of Montreal with focus on Iran and Turkey. He highlighted how the heyday of relations between Turkey and Iran appears to be … Continue reading →

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Khamenei: Biden’s Preferred Dictator?

Posted on February 6, 2021 by nervana111

Within less than a month of his inauguration, the new American president Joe Biden has taken several actions with one theme in common____ they all, directly or indirectly, serve the interests of the Iranian regime.  First, it was the appointment of Robert … Continue reading →

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Twitter Thread: Robert Malley as U.S. special envoy on Iran?

Posted on January 21, 2021 by nervana111

As reports emerged that Crisis Group”s Robert Malley is considered as President Biden’s new envoy on Iran. Here is why some observers see this potential choice problematic.

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Twitter Thread: The End of Iran’s Qassem Suleimani

Posted on January 3, 2020 by nervana111

The American President Donald Trump ordered the killing of the powerful commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, in a drone strike on the Baghdad International Airport. The death of Iran’s strong man is described by many … Continue reading →

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How Did Iran Win in Syria?

Posted on August 20, 2018 by nervana111

  Photo via Reuters   It is over – the Syrian revolution has ended. Forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad took full control of the province of Deraa, the birthplace of the 2011 protests. Now Assad has regained control … Continue reading →

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Iran Deal and the Empowerment of Islamism

Posted on May 16, 2018 by nervana111

Here is an English version of my latest piece in Al-Hurra on Iran nuclear deal, which I have rejected since 2015. You can read the Arabic version here   “The Iran Deal was one of the worst and most one-sided transactions … Continue reading →

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Twitter Threads on Iran Protests

Posted on January 3, 2018 by nervana111

Here are interesting Twitter threads on the current protests in Iran that I would like to share. 2. Lots of unrest in Iran's Kurdish areas. About 10% of Iran's population are Kurds, around half of whom are Sunni not Shia. … Continue reading →

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Iran’s election: False hopes of a moderate path

Posted on May 22, 2017 by nervana111

( Iran’s Supreme Leader Khamenei –via The Guardian)  Last Friday, Iranians voted in the country’s presidential election, favoring current President Hassan Rouhani with 56.9% of the votes, defeating his hardliner rival Raisi, who scored only 38.5. Reformist candidates have also … Continue reading →

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