Dissent

Iran: In Widening of Social Base of Protests, Oil Workers go on Strike in Support of Youth Demonstrators

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The student protests continued in Iran on Monday, as youth rallied at the University of Shiraz and at several campuses in the capital of Shiraz. They pledged to multiply their movement every time another youth was killed. Nearly 200 people have died because of the repression of the protests according […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: the hijab protests are now Massive, but a Revolution will need the Military to change Sides

The Conversation

By Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, SOAS, University of London | – More than three weeks after the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Ahmini for disobeying Iran’s strict laws, which make it compulsory for women to wear the hijab – or Islamic headscarf – protests continue to rage on the streets of all major cities. On Saturday, protesters even […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: Women Students Brand Regime Paramilitary “ISIL” as Protests Continue, with at least 185 Dead

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Dubai’s Al-Arabiya reports that on Sunday evening angry nighttime demonstrations broke out in numerous Iranian cities, as the wave of protests entered its fourth week. Videos posted to social media showed nighttime protests in the capital, Tehran, the Kudish cities of Sandandaj and Mahabad, and Zanjan. Several of the videos […]

Authoritarianism

Laws on Veiling in Iran over the Decades: the continuing Battle for Reform

The Conversation

By Sahar Maranlou, University of Essex | – Protests have quickly spread across Iran calling for a change in the law after the death of a 22-year-old woman, Mahsa Amini, in the custody of the morality police. The young woman was accused of violating rules on wearing hijab in public. The term hijab is an […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: ‘Hijab’ protests challenge legitimacy of Islamic Republic

The Conversation

By Scott Lucas, University College Dublin | – (The Conversation) – Three weeks after the violent death of 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police for the crime of wearing her hijab improperly, protests continue to rage across the country. These demonstrations defy both repression by security forces in […]

Authoritarianism

Young Unveiled Iranian Women Protesters Keep Mysteriously falling off Buildings, According to Country’s Police

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Like Russian officials and failed diplomats, who seem to fall off buildings at a dizzying rate, Iranian young women under the harsh, patriarchal rule of the ayatollahs have developed the same health condition. Or so it is alleged by the official Iranian press. Independent organizations such as Amnesty International beg […]

Authoritarianism

Hope for a New Day in Iran?

Nassrine Azimi

Hiroshima (Special to Informed Comment) — In 1975, when I was 16, my father’s work took our family to Turkey. It was hard parting. I was then in my junior year at Tehran’s famed Jewish high-school where, despite being a Muslim, I had thrived and made lasting friendships. Turkey in those days was struggling through […]

Authoritarianism

From the College Debt Crisis to Poor Health Insurance, America’s Pathologies are Rooted in the Right Wing Crackdown of WW I and After

Tomdispatch

By Adam Hochschild | – ( Tomdispatch.com ) – Donald Trump has had the urge to crush many things, including the last election. So I must admit I found it eerily amusing that, when the FBI entered his estate at Mar-a-Lago recently, they did so under a warrant authorized by the Espionage Act of 1917. […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: Security Forces Fire On, Kill Protesters: International Pressure Needed to End Use of Excessive, Lethal Force

Human Rights Watch

( Human Rights Watch ) – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have ruthlessly cracked down on widespread anti-government protests with excessive and lethal force throughout Iran, Human Rights Watch said today. Based on videos of protests, and interviews with witnesses and a security force member, Human Rights Watch documented numerous incidents of security forces unlawfully using […]