Published by the Atlantic The Iranian presidency seems to be a cursed position. Of the eight men who have held it before the current president, five eventually found themselves politically marginalized after their term finished. Two others fell to violent deaths in office (a bomb attack in 1981, a helicopter crash in 2024). The only exception is …
Published by the National Iran is often in the news for its regional and international affairs, but in recent weeks a domestic political issue has dominated the headlines in the country – censorship of the internet. Ordinary Iranians have had limited access to the internet for very many years now. Thousands of websites are banned, …
Published by Al Majalla Donald Trump is still a few weeks away from the White House, but every decision he makes is watched closely by a host of stakeholders around the world. What we do know is that the president-elect is notoriously unpredictable, especially when it comes to Middle East policy. Observers are thus looking into his …
Published by the Atlantic Iran’s Axis of Resistance, an informal coalition of anti-Western and anti-Israeli militias, was already having a terrible year. But the loss of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad may have dealt the knockout blow. Syria was both the organizing ground and the proof of concept for the Axis. Assad owed his throne …
Published by the Atlantic A carnival of joy has erupted in Syria with the fall of the strongman Bashar al-Assad. Syrians have waited a long time and paid a heavy price for this jubilation. Thirteen years ago, the country’s revolution began with peaceful demonstrations; since then, by one estimate, more than 600,000 Syrians have lost their lives. …
Published by the Atlantic Until last week, Syria’s civil war was a classic example of a “frozen conflict”: A cease-fire in 2020 had stanched the fighting, but the sides had reached no permanent political settlement. Little happened that rose to the level of active warfare—and yet the country could not really have been said to …
Published by the National Iran’s President, Masoud Pezeshkian, has been in office for less than four months, a time dominated by Israel’s war in the region, including its direct exchange of fire with Iran. But last week his government put the focus on an evergreen domestic issue: the changing of Iran’s capital city. Every single Iranian …
Published by the Atlantic Passing judgment on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was never going to be simple for the International Criminal Court. Even harder than acting fairly and impartially would be appearing to have done so, in a conflict that stirs fierce passions the world over. On top of that, equality before the law is a basic principle of …
Published in the Atlantic When you hear that thousands of writers have signed a petition, you can already guess what they are calling for: What other than boycotting Israel could generate such enthusiasm among the literati? A staggering 6,000 writers and publishing professionals have signed a letter to address “the most profound moral, political and cultural …
Published by the National An old song about the city of Tehran praises it for being “always full of light”. But this isn’t how most Tehranis are experiencing their city this week. Like other parts of Iran, the city is going through government-organised electricity cuts. Its long highways have gone dark and every home has received a …