Published in Majalla Earlier this year, Iran was headed to its scheduled parliamentary elections. As has become common in recent years, the elections were severely restricted. Under the Islamic Republic, polls have never been free and fair, and a vetting body called the Guardian Council, whose members give their primary fealty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah …
Published in the Atlantic Since the death in May of President Ebrahim Raisi, Iran has been in the throes of a surprise electoral contest. Not for the first time, one of the loudest campaigns has belonged not to any of the candidates, but to opponents of the regime who advocate boycotting the vote. Among those …
Published in the National Iranian hardliners, known for their devotion to the Islamic Republic and its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sometimes like to accuse their opponents of being modelled after westerners. But last week, it was a hardliner presidential candidate, who on a televised debate, praised a European head of government and called for …
Published in the Atlantic A specter is haunting Iran’s presidential election—the specter of Donald Trump’s return to office. Although Trump has been out of the White House for more than three years, he seems to come up more than Joe Biden, and more than other foreign politicians, in debates among the six candidates in the …
Published in al-Majalla عندما يتوفى رئيس دولة ما في حادث درامي لتحطم طائرة هليكوبتر، من الطبيعي أن يتوقع المرء قدرا من الصدمة وتغييرات في البرامج. ولكن، حتى الأحداث الصادمة التي وقعت يوم 19 مايو/أيار الماضي لم تتمكن من إيقاف الساعة البيروقراطية للجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية. ففي 21 مايو/أيار، بدأ “مجلس خبراء القيادة” الإيراني اجتماعه كما كان …
Published in Al Majalla When a country’s head of government dies in a dramatic helicopter crash, one naturally expects a bit of shock and changes to the schedule. Yet nothing, it seems, can stop the bureaucratic clock of the Islamic Republic. On 21 May, Iran’s Assembly of Experts began its meeting as scheduled, but in …
Published in IPG Journal Die iranische Diaspora ist heillos zerstritten. Arash Azizi über das Scheitern der Proteste, den Einfluss aus dem Exil und den Umgang mit Reformern. Die Fragen stellten Hanna Voss und Alexander Isele. Die iranische Diaspora ist stark zersplittert und zerstritten. Wie genau ist die Opposition im Exil politisch gespalten? Was sind die Hauptströmungen und welche …
Published by the National Iran has been in the throes of a presidential election campaign since Sunday, when the Guardian Council announced the final slate of candidates to run for the second-highest office in the land. The Guardian Council, a panel of jurists and clerics appointed by Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, decides who is allowed …
Published by the Atlantic The Soviet despot Joseph Stalin once said that it is not the voters who matter most in elections but those who count the votes. When it comes to elections held in the Islamic Republic of Iran, the real power belongs to the small body of clerics and jurists called the Guardian Council, which …