Middle East

Dual Iranian-British national Alireza Akbari’s execution plunges Iranian Relations with the West to a new Low

Oxford (Special to Informed Comment) – On Saturday 14 January, the Iranian regime executed a 61-year old dual Iranian-British national and a former deputy defence minister, Alireza Akbari. The 15th branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Court, presided over by Abolqasem Salavati who had been the judge of numerous controversial cases and who has been sanctioned […]

China

Mad World: Global Flashpoints to watch in 2023 in the Era of ‘Polycrisis’

The Conversation

By Susan Harris Rimmer, Griffith University | – (The Conversation) – When 2022 began, there was trepidation about what might happen in at least ten regions. Topping most lists were concerns about tensions in Ukraine, Afghanistan and Ethiopia. What actually transpired in 2022 were some of the most shocking humanitarian scenes in modern history – […]

Authoritarianism

Iran Executions: the Role of the ‘Revolutionary Courts’ in breaching Human Rights

The Conversation

By Simon Rice, University of Sydney | – (The Conversation) – The Iranian government has attempted to brutally suppress the widespread protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody in September 2022. Central to Iran’s response have been the country’s “revolutionary courts”. They have conducted heavily-criticised trials resulting in at least […]

journalism

The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History (Review)

Marc Martorell Junyent

Review of Jeremy Bowen, The Making of the Modern Middle East: A Personal History (London: Picador, 2022). Greifswald, Germany (Special to Informed Comment) – Ali Abdullah Saleh, Bashar al-Assad, Hassan Nasrallah, and Muammar Gaddafi are just some of the prominent figures in contemporary Middle Eastern history that Jeremy Bowen has had the opportunity to interview […]

Featured

Far Right Israeli Government bans Palestinian flag, just as Apartheid S. Africa Banned ANC Flag

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Israeli parliament or Knesset on Tuesday approved the first reading of a law banning the raising of the Palestinian flag, pushed by the fascist wing of Israel’s new government. This measure includes a ban on Palestinians in Palestine waving their own flag while under Israeli military occupation. Despite the […]

Israel/ Palestine

Have Israeli Extremists Ben-Gvir and Smotrich set Sights on Ethnic Cleansing of Palestinians?

Middle East Monitor

By Feras Abu-Helal | – ( Middle East Monitor ) – At the end of last month, Benjamin Netanyahu formed the most extreme Israeli government since the Occupation of Palestine in 1948. The government includes two of the most racist and extremist politicians, namely Itamar Ben-Gvir, head of the Otzma Yehudit Party, and Bezael Smotrich, […]

Featured

Israelis mass to Protest “Thuggish” “Fascist” new Government, as it Proceeds to Ensconce Apartheid toward Palestinians

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The new, far right wing government in Israel, some elements of which are fairly characterized as fascist, has in a few short days already generated a lot of news. It has provoked large demonstrations against itself by anti-fascist Israelis; it has elicited a strong international condemnation when one of its […]

Authoritarianism

Will Iran’s Protest Movement Survive?

Golnaz Esfandiari

( RFE/RL) – Antiestablishment protests have raged across Iran for months, despite a brutal state crackdown in which hundreds of demonstrators have been killed and thousands more detained. Triggered by the death of a young woman died after she was arrested by Iran’s morality police in mid-September, the ongoing nationwide protests have become the longest-running […]

Israel/ Palestine

Is Israel Being Turned into a Jewish Theocracy?

Middle East Monitor

By Mohammad Makram Balawi | – ( Middle East Monitor ) = Benjamin Netanyahu, the longest serving prime minister of Israel, built his entire career on confronting Iran. His argument is, Iran is building a nuclear weapon and its intent on using it against Israel and wiping out the Jewish people and he is the […]