Middle East

‘Putting lipstick on a pig’: New Israeli PM Bennett is More Extreme than Netanyahu, so why is Washington Fawning over New Gov’t?

( Middle East Monitor ) – When former US President Barack Obama used an old cliché to denigrate his political opponent, the late US Senator John McCain, he triggered a political controversy lasting several days. “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig,” said Obama at a campaign event in 2008. […]

Iraq

This tiny minority of Iraqis follows an ancient Gnostic religion – and there’s a chance they could be your neighbors too

The Conversation

By James F. McGrath | – ( The Conversation ) – In March 2021 Pope Francis became the first leader of the Roman Catholic Church to visit Iraq. The number of Christians in Iraq has fallen sharply in the past two decades amid mass violence at the hands of the Islamic State group. Iraq stands […]

Featured

Iran’s Raisi: Supports renewed Nuclear Deal, Seeks Lifting of US Sanctions, and Restored Saudi Diplomatic Relations

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In his first press conference on Monday, newly elected President Ebrahim Raisi expressed support for the negotiations in Vienna toward restoring the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the United Nations, as long as, he said, they achieve benefits for the Iranian nation and do not drag on forever. He […]

Iran

Iran election: what Ebrahim Raisi’s victory will mean for his country – and the rest of the world

The Conversation

By Arshin Adib-Moghaddam | – When Iranians elect a new leader, the world watches. So the election of Ebrahim Raisi, a hardline right-winger, to replace the more centrist Hassan Rouhani, is global news of some significance. Raisi is the choice of Iran’s socially arch-conservative and politically anti-reformist “deep state”. This ideological core of the state […]

Featured

Far Right Israeli PM Bennett slams Iran Nuclear Talks for Tehran’s Poor Rights Record (Israel has 200 Nukes and has Killed Thousands of Occupied Palestinians)

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – New extreme-right Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett came out on Sunday to argue that the election of an extreme-right Iranian cleric (Ebrahim Raisi) as president of that country should cause the Biden administration to back off reviving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Bennett called Raisi the “hangman of Tehran” and […]

Israel/ Palestine

Gaza’s Summer: Destruction, Pandemic, and Climate Change

Al-Shabaka

By Asmaa Abu Mezied | – ( Al-Shabaka ) – In 2013, the UNDP warned of the increasing occurrence of dangerous heatwaves in Palestine over the coming years as a result of climate change. Indeed, at the end of August 2020, the Palestine Meteorological Office issued a warning about an impending heatwave, where the temperature […]

Featured

What does the election of hard liner Raisi in Iran mean for Mideast Flashpoints?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Former chief justice of the Iranian judiciary, Ebrahim Raisi, won the presidential election, as expected, with over 60 percent of the votes. The problem was that less than half of eligible voters bothered to come out to the ballot box. The clerical establishment had so heavily vetted presidential contenders, barring […]

Israel/ Palestine

Imagine Thousands of Bigots Marching through Jewish Neighborhood chanting “Death to Jews” with Police, Political Support; Now substitute “Palestinians” for Jews

Asa Winstanley

( Middle East Monitor ) – Go along with me on a thought experiment for a few minutes. Imagine that British police forces permitted a crowd of thousands to march through an area of London with a high Jewish population chanting “Death to the Jews” and other similar violently bigoted obscenities. Imagine such a group […]

Featured

Iran’s Leading Candidate for President is a far right Notorious Hanging Judge

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Polling suggests that Ebrahim Raisi will likely win Iran’s presidential election. So who is he? An official Iranian point of view on Raisi goes this way: He was born in 1960 into a family of clerics claiming descent from the Prophet Muhammad in the Nowghan district of Mashhad, the largest […]