Archives for 2009

Mansoor Moaddel, a valued colleague, is a sociologist and an important interpreter of the contemporary Middle East who has done a lot of work with polling and statistics, often finding counter-intuitive results. His response to Ballen and Doherty is therefore authoritative and since some continue to cite that op-ed in support of Ahmadinejad’s claims, I […]

The USG Open Source Center translates articles from the Iranian press on disturbances in Shiraz and Isfahan. I conclude that the protests are not just in Tehran; I’d take the charges of ‘vandalism’ with a grain of salt, but some of the protesters might well be angry and attacking government buildings. A third piece alleges […]

Iran expert Ali Ansari says he expects the protests to continue, saying that Iran is in for a “long hot summer.” Me, I wouldn’t be surprised if the regime rolls tanks and pulls a Tiananmen Square, as I told Neil MacFarquhar of the NYT, whose piece today I thought very perceptive. (Not saying that a […]

Mir-Hosain Mousavi, leader of the reform faction in Iran who maintains that last Friday’s elections was stolen, has rejected as inadequate the government’s offer of a limited recount of ballots. Note that the head of the Guardianship Council, to which this task has been assigned, is Aytatollah Ahmad Jannati, a notorious hard liner and partisan […]

Report on Tuesday’s Demonstration for Mousavi in Tehran from an eyewitness. Again, I was sent this by an academic, but will not give the name to avoid any repercussions for the individual. Today, under slate skies and despite official warnings that the permit to march had been denied, against rumors that orders had been given […]

An eyewitness writes from Tehran an account of Monday’s massive demonstration for Mousavi. I am not including his name because we don’t know how this will turn out and as a historian I have a duty to protect my interviewees, but it is not anonymous. I left my home in Tajrish along with my family […]

Borzou Daragahi reports from Tehran that supporters of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came out in the tens of thousands to chant “Death to America,” “Death to Israel,” and “Khamenei is our Leader.” This rally, called for 4 pm, was meant to upstage one scheduled at 5 pm by supporters of Mir-Hosain Mousavi. The latter crowd instead […]

President Barack Obama has weighed in on the Iranian presidential campaign, saying that Iranian voters, who were so hopeful should be heard. He also expressed regret about the violence that has broken out between reformists and hard liners. He also underlined that whatever the outcome of the current crisis, his administration will pursue tough, direct […]

A reminder to my American readers that Sunday June 21 is Father’s Day. An immodest proposal for those of you yet to do your shopping in this regard: if your father is hard to buy for, and likes history and foreign policy, why not get him a book? Or two? And what better gifts of […]