Monthly Archives: May 2024

Will Iran’s next president be a hardliner like Raisi or a moderate like Rouhani?

Publish in the National The death of Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash this month shocked the nation. But this shock has quickly given way to an intense struggle between various political factions vying for the second-most powerful job in the country, after that of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. With an election to pick …

What If Iran Already Has the Bomb?

Published by the Atlantic There’s rarely a dull moment in Iranian affairs. The past few months alone have seen clashes with Israel and Pakistan, and a helicopter crash that killed Iran’s president and foreign minister. But spectacular as these events are, the most important changes often happen gradually, by imperceptible degrees. One such change took …

صعود وسقوط إبراهيم رئيسي: من قاضي “لجنة الموت” إلى رئيس الجمهورية القتيل

Published in مجله الفراتس كان إبراهيم رئيسي في الثامنة عشرة من عمره عندما اندلعت الثورة الإيرانية في بلاده عام 1979. انحدر من أسرة مرجعيات دينية في مدينة مشهد المقدسة شمال شرق إيران. وفقد والده وهو في الخامسة. ثم سار على خطى أسلافه في الخامسة عشرة من عمره، فتابع دراسته الدينية في الحوزة العلمية في قم، أحد …

The Islamic Republic claims to support US student protests, but it crushed its own student uprising

Published by the Atlantic Council When pro-Palestinian student protests on US campuses led to instances of disciplinary action and police violence, one thing was immediately predictable: the repressive Islamic Republic of Iran will use this news to make two claims. First, it will argue that the United States and other liberal democracies are hypocrites who …

Le fiasco de la politique diasporique iranienne

Published in Conditions Ce texte a originellement paru dans New Lines Magazine.Les Iraniens d’aujourd’hui, tant en Iran que dans la diaspora, se posent deux questions étroitement liées : Comment la République islamique a-t-elle survécu et pourquoi le mouvement “Femme, vie, liberté” a-t-il échoué, malgré toutes ses réalisations importantes et significatives ? Ces questions sont devenues d’autant …

Is Iran a Country or a Cause?

Published by the Atlantic On April 21, a week after Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei met with his military commanders to gloat. The assault had failed to cause much damage in Israel, but Khamenei claimed victory and tried to give it a patriotic color. “What matters most,” he said, …