Iran

( RFE/ RL ) – Protests have erupted in the northern Iranian city of Rasht following an attempt by government officials to arrest three women over violations of mandatory hijab rules amid reports that the country’s leadership has ordered the resumption of so-called “morality police” patrols. An Iranian morality policeman (right) speaks with a woman […]

Climate Crisis

Roots of Iraq’s Water Crisis: Upriver Dams along with Climate Change

McGuire Gibson

Response of McGuire Gibson, Professor Emeritus of Mesopotamian Architecture , University of Chicago, to Iraq’s Climate Crisis: America’s War for Oil and the Great Mesopotamian Dustbowl Juan: In your devastating post about Iraq’s drought, you could have given more attention to the crucial role of Turkey in flouting international law and damaging Iraq (and Syria) […]

censorship

Iran: New Charges against Journalists

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have brought vague “propaganda” and “national security” charges against three journalists, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should drop the charges, which stem from the journalists’ reporting and writing on social media, and end the ongoing harassment, prosecution, and punishment of those exercising their rights to […]

Featured

Will US-Iran talks in Oman allow the two Countries to avoid War?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Late in 2022, the Biden administration announced that it had given upon on negotiating a restoration of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA), which Donald Trump destroyed in May 2018 by ripping it up and slapping what amounts to a financial and trade […]

Feminism

Unveiling Resistance: The Struggle for Women’s Rights in Iran

Human Rights Watch

Tara Sepehri Far Iran and Kuwait Senior Researcher, Middle East and North Africa Division @sepehrifar ( Human Rights Watch ) – The sweeping public protests that erupted across Iran in response to the death of Mahsa (Jina) Amini in custody of Iran’s morality police last September have been characterized by many observers as the first […]

Climate Crisis

Climate Crisis: Iranian City, hottest in World on Thursday, hits Record for late Spring Heat, at 50.8 °C [123.44 °F]

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) The Iranian city of Zabol in the northern part of the Sistan and Baluchistan province won the global high temperature sweepstakes on June 22, according to the Spanish meteorological site OGIMET , coming in at 50.8 °C [123.44 °F]. It is the first time in 60 years that a city in […]

Authoritarianism

Iranian Protesters remain defiant in the Face of Violent and Brutal regime Oppression

The Conversation

By Afshin Shahi, Keele University | – The vibrant, brave and unyielding voice of dissent remains strong in Iran despite months of brutal repression by the clerical regime. The “women, life, freedom” movement is an insistent call for change that is meeting the Islamic Republic head-on with resilient defiance. Even as violence curbs the outward […]

Donald Trump

How the Exposure of highly classified Documents could harm US Security – and why there are Laws against storing Them insecurely

The Conversation

Gary Ross, Texas A&M University When Donald Trump pled not guilty on June 13, 2023, to federal criminal charges related to his alleged illegal retention of classified documents, it was his first opportunity to formally answer charges that he violated the Espionage Act. The Justice Department alleges that, after his presidency, Trump held, in an […]

Featured

Saudi Foreign Minister in Iran seeking $1 bn in Bilateral Trade, Security for Gulf Shipping, Justice for Palestine

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The London-based pan-Arab newspaper al-`Arab reports on the visit of Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud to Tehran, where he met with his counterpart, Hossein Amirabdollahian, as well as with President Ebrahim Raisi. It was the first such visit by a high Saudi official since Iran and […]