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Writings

  • Iran Says He is an Israeli Spy. His Former Cellmate Says He is Innocent

    Published by IranWire The name Mahmoud Mousavi-Majd wouldn’t have rung a bell for most of us until a few days ago. That is, until the Iranian judiciary published a picture of him and claimed that he had been working with US and Israeli intelligence spy on General Ghasem Soleimani: the former commander of Iran’s external operations who was… Iran…

  • Hotdocs Festival I Mayor (2020): Ramallah, Open City

    Published by Universal Cinema Among the absurdly bad faith (or shockingly ignorant) arguments made to justify the occupation policies of Israel toward the Palestinian people are those that point out at how vibrant and fun can life be in many of the Palestinian cities under Israeli occupation. How could it be so bad if they… Hotdocs…

  • Revealed: The Key Role Iran Plays in Syria’s Economy

    Published by IranWire The Middle East is perhaps the least integrated region in the world. Two of its biggest countries, Iran and Saudi Arabia, are involved in a cold war, and numerous blocks pit countries big and small against each other, making inter-state trade difficult. Where there are close economic ties, the relationships are often… Revealed:…

  • The new man of power in Iran’s parliament

    Published by the Atlantic Council According to an old dictum, the best leaders are those who don’t ask for the job. By such logic, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, the fifty-eight-year-old who became the new speaker of the Iranian parliament on May 28, is not very qualified. The conservative soldier-cum-politician has never hidden his ambitions for power.… The…

  • Khamenei’s Open Dream: Finishing Where Hitler Left Off

    Published by IranWire Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has many distinctive characteristics that ensure he stands out. He is the third-longest ruling leader in the world. He is one of the very few who claim a mantle of divine sovereignty. He is unique in asking for 300,000 of his own citizens, the Baha’is of Iran,… Khamenei’s…

  • UK’s Israeli Film And TV Festival Goes Virtual

    Published by Universal Cinema If it wasn’t for the pandemic, London’s Jewish Community Center (JW3) was going to have a busy week ahead. It had long been scheduled to host Seret, UK’s Israeli Film and TV festival from 21 to 30 May, 2020. But the three cheerful women who founded the festival eight years ago… UK’s…

  • True History Of The Kelly Gang (2020) | Anarcho-Freudian Fantasies In The Antipodes

    Published by Universal Cinema Magazine Ned Kelly, the late 19th-century Irish-Australian gang leader, has long had a hold on creative imaginations. Executed at the young age of 25 in 1880, Kelly had led a gang that fought the authorities head on in pre-confederation Colony of Victoria. He went on to become a legend of Australia’s bushranger… True…

  • May Day Without Crowds

    A Historian Reflecting on May Day and the Pandemic Published by Bare Life Review Long before I decided to become a historian, taking part in May Day always made me think historically. The commemoration of the workers’ rally in Chicago on May 4, 1886, the “holiday of the proletariat,” has long had that historic ring.… May…

  • Can Qasem Soleimani’s young daughter continue his path?

    Published by the Atlantic Council’s Iran Source  Late March marks the ancient holiday of Nowruz, the Iranian New Year. But with Iran one of the worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic, Nowruz had a somber tone this time around. Being avid users of Instagram, Iranians took to the photo-sharing app to share their mood on… Can…

  • Why sanctions on Iran should be lifted now

    Published by the New Arab What do Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, US Senators Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, the New York Times editorial board and Human Rights Watch have in common? They have all called for easing of the US sanctions on Iran which have hampered the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and thus endangered the… Why…

  • How Did Iran Become an Islamic Republic? [interview with Darioush Bayandor]

    Published by IranWire Iranians marked the 40th anniversary of the Iranian revolution in 2019. Many an academic conference around the world marked the occasion (including a workshop jointly held by my own New York University and Columbia University), but grand narratives or conclusive accounts of the revolution have been conspicuous in their absence. This is… How…

  • US sanctions on Iran put us all at risk during coronavirus

    Published by the New Arab

  • Why I am boycotting the Iranian elections in 2020

    Published by the New Arab Four years ago, in a meeting room in San Francisco, I joined a group of Iranian dissidents, including a number of former MPs, in a fractious debate on a familiar question: Should we, or should we not boycott the 2016 Iranian elections?

  • Is this Iran’s ‘Chernobyl moment’?

    Published by the New Arab Months before Ukrainian passenger plane PS752 was shot down over the Iranian skies, another Ukraine-linked historical disaster had preoccupied Iranians.

  • Disaster averted. But can there be peace between Iran and the US?

    Published by the New Arab That was close. The first week of the new decade has been a living hell for the people of Iran and all those worried about the prospect of a full-on military confrontation between Tehran and Washington.

  • You don’t need to mourn Qassem Soleimani to be deeply worried: Reflections of an Iranian dissident in exile

    Published by +972 magazine, January 5, 2020 In 18th century Vienna, where intellectuals and flaneurs liked to hob nob in the city’s fabled cafe scene, there was said to have been an infamous saying: “What’s in the newspaper today? Are the Turks killing or are they being killed?” The quote was meant to caustically symbolize…

  • British Baha’is with Iranian Background Deported from US

    Published by IranWire

  • At the UN, Iran Stands Accused of Human Rights Violations

    Published by IranWire

  • Zarif Meets Prominent Baha’i on South Africa Trip

    Published by IranWire On the evening of October 23, Foreign Minister Javad Zarif attended a reception at the Pretoria Country Club organized by the Iranian embassy in South Africa. While there, Zarif met with Iraj Abedian, one of South Africa’s most prominent economists. Abedian is of Iranian descent  — and he’s also a Baha’i, part of a… Zarif…

  • World Leaders Congratulate Baha’is on Bicentennial Celebrations

    Published by IranWire