Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – In 2005, in the summer of that year, while visiting Iran, I happened to meet an opinionated man. The first thing he asked me was whether I was coming from abroad. He could tell. I replied, yes. He told me, well you are lucky. Here we’re suffering. […]
Woman, Life, Freedom: Rachel, Shireen, Mahsa and Ayşenur
Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – A few days before the invasion of Iraq by American forces under G.W. Bush, on March 16, 2003, a young woman from Seattle, Washington, who had gone to Rafah, in Gaza to help Palestinians halt the demolition of homes died under the bulldozer of the Israeli army. […]
Remembering a Democratic Iran under Mosaddegh, which the US Overthrew
Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment) – When I was very young, in my early teens, I remember that we always had radio Iraq on. I remember that my parents and especially my father used to listen to it on his German Grundig radio. At that time, I didn’t really understand or grasp much. As a teenager, I […]
Israel’s Netanyahu Insulted — and endangered — US Protesters against his Gaza Atrocities, Lying that they’re on Iran’s Payroll
Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Netanyahu’s speech before a half full of the House of Representatives was a disgrace. It was not just a disgrace because he spewed his lies but because, in the middle of a genocide, those representatives of the American people rose and jubilantly accepted his lies. Before America […]
Can Iran’s New Reformist President Deliver?
Newark, Delaware (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Elections in Iran have predictable outcomes. The men picked by the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, engage in a quasi-debate on TV, but usually the hand-picked guy is bound to win. This year saw a minor upset. The 2024 presidential election took place after the former President and […]
Men in Power: Iran’s Raisi and the Death of a Enabler
Newark, Delaware (Special to Informed Comment) – In the words of the great poet Hafez, “Be happy that the tyrant did not make his way home” While all eyes were on Gaza and the genocide taking place, an event in the mountains of Iranian Azerbaijan changed the news. The death of President Ebrahim Raisi and […]
Israel and Iran: Itching for War, Playing with Fire
Newark, Delaware (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long wanted war with Iran and has all along been trying to get the U.S. involved, under different U.S. administrations. On Friday morning, Israel launched missile strikes on military bases near the Iranian city of Isfahan. A desperate Netanyahu, seeing Western […]
The Music of the late Iranian Singer Faramarz Aslani, Forced into Exile by a Puritan Revolution
Newark, Del. (Special to Informed Comment) – Amidst war and genocide in Ukraine and in Gaza, a new spring came along. For millions of Persian-speaking people, March 19 marked the beginning of Nowruz or new day this year. A holiday with Zoroastrian roots, Nowruz is celebrated in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and parts of India and […]
Iran and America: They weren’t Always Enemies
Review of Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet, Heroes to Hostages America and Iran, 1800–1988 (Cambridge U.P., 2023) When the subject of Iran and America comes to mind, two eventful episodes are often invoked by Iranians and Americans. The first is the CIA-led coup d’état of 1953, which toppled Mohammad Mossadegh’s democratically elected government; and the second is the […]
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