Dissent

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 […]

Authoritarianism

Iran: School and University Women Lead Rallies, Sit-ins Bareheaded, as Leader Khamenei Softens on Compulsory Veiling

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – On Monday in Iran, demonstrations, marches and rallies continued for the 17th day, spearheaded by high school and college students. Many universities entered a third day of class boycotts by students, who said they would not return to their studies until the government released imprisoned students. At some universities students […]

Authoritarianism

‘They Have Found The Courage’: Iranian Women Go Hijab-Less In Public Amid Protests

Golnaz Esfandiari

( RFE/ RL ) – Two young Iranian women posted a photo of themselves having breakfast at a restaurant in Tehran without hijabs. The same day, actress Fatemeh Motamed-Arya spoke at the public funeral in the Iranian capital without a headscarf. On September 27, a video emerged of a woman without a hijab marching on […]

Dissent

Iran Protests for Personal Freedoms Enter 3rd Week, as all Three Branches of Government Vow Crackdown

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Al Jazeera reports that President Ebrahim Raisi met Saturday with the Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and with the Chief Justice, Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Eje’i, about the wave of demonstrations that entered its third week this weekend. The heads of all three branches of civil government called on the police to […]

Authoritarianism

3 ways these latest Iran Demonstrations are different from past Protests

The Conversation

By Naser Ghobadzadeh, Australian Catholic University | – Once again, Iran is in the midst of political upheaval and civil unrest. The latest protests, triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after her arrest by the morality police, follow several other protests that have occurred in Iran over recent years. So what is new […]

Authoritarianism

Iranian Teachers’ Union charges Gov’t with Dishonoring Nation’s Girls, Recalling Theme of Constitutional Revolution of 1905-1911

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – So far, the wave of street protests staged in dozens of Iran’s towns and cities appear to have been spontaneous and to lack organization or clear leadership. These demonstrations continued on Monday night in Sanandaj, Tehran, and some other cities, according to the Twitter feed of Iran Protests Watch. Although […]

Dissent

Iran on fire: Once again, women are on the vanguard of transformative change

The Conversation

By Vrinda Narain, McGill University and Fatemeh Sadeghi, UCL | – On Sept. 16, 2022, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian woman, died in Tehran, Iran, while in police custody. Amini was arrested by the Guidance Patrol, the morality squad of the Law Enforcement Command of the Islamic Republic of Iran that oversees public implementation of […]