Iran

Istanbul (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Tunisia’s President Kais Said has strengthened relations between Tunisia and Iran are to an unprecedented level. Tunisia, in response to Iran’s announcement of visa waivers for 28 countries including Tunisia, has also lifted visa requirements for Iranian nationals. Tunisia is one of the few majority Sunni Muslim countries […]

Afghanistan

The Push To Recognize ‘Gender Apartheid’ As A Crime

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

Written by Michael Scollon with reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi | – (

Iran

Iran’s new Reformist President offers Hope to the West and Cover for the Conservative Establishment

The Conversation

By Arshin Adib-Moghaddam, SOAS, University of London | – (The Conversation) – Good news for democracy in Iran – words which in recent times, particularly in western news reports, are rarely seen in the same sentence. But the election of Masoud Pezeshkian as president of Iran must be seen as a positive development. Pezeshkian is […]

Climate Crisis

Water Shortage: Was Iran’s late President Raisi a Martyr to Climate Change?

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Tarique Niazi | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died on May 19 while returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a hydropower project in a remote corner of northwestern Iran. Why would a head of state brave the hazardous conditions of unseasonal blizzards in a mountainous region to […]

Featured

Can Iran’s New Reformist President Deliver?

Fariba Amini

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 […]

Elections

Amid Astonishing low Turnout, Iranians Mull Continuing Presidential Election Boycott in 2nd Round

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Kian Sharifi | – ( RFE/RL ) – More than 60 percent of Iran’s electorate did not vote in the June 28 presidential election, despite it being billed as an important poll given the role that the next president could play in the succession to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. With no candidate managing […]

Iran

Why Iran’s Upcoming Presidential Elections Matter

Foreign Policy in Focus

By Abolghasem Bayyenat | – ( Foreign Policy in Focus ) – Iran is set to hold extraordinary presidential elections in about two weeks following the death of President Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash in northwestern Iran last month. Out of a list of 80 presidential nominees, the Council of Guardians, which is in […]

Iran

How Iran’s Leaders are using the “Martyrdom” of President Raisi in the Election Campaign

The Conversation

By Sahar Maranlou, Royal Holloway University of London | – (The Conversation) – Thousands of Iranians came out on the streets to mark the funeral processions of Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi in Tehran, Mashhad, and Tabriz, after he died in a helicopter crash alongside the foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian. During these processions, huge banners were […]

Iran

Iran: President’s death has set Hardliners Jostling for to Replace aging Supreme Leader

The Conversation

By Afshin Shahi, Keele University | – (The Conversation) – The death of Iran’s president, Ebrahim Raisi, in a helicopter crash in May plunged Iran into political uncertainly. Raisi’s death has set off an intense power struggle within the Islamic Republic. Iran’s consitution requires that a new president should be chosen within 50 days of […]