The BBC has a nice primer this morning on the upcoming Iranian “elections”. We are happy to report that the the article is prefaced by a strong reminder regarding the legacy of the 2009 “election”. Four years later, two of the candidates are still under house arrest, hundreds of political activists are in prison and
Claudia Rosett has an important piece in Forbes today about the manner in which pariah states, in part because of international isolation, seek each other out, learn from each others policy “successes”, and are able to minimize the costs of isolation through partnerships of convenience. The most disturbing contemporary example of this is of course
The Washington Post reports on some disturbing results from ongoing negotiations between the P5+1 and the Iranian regime in Kazakhstan. From the WaPo: Negotiations opened in the Kazakh city of Almaty with Iranian diplomats unveiling what they described as a “comprehensive proposal” for ending international tensions over Iran’s advances in nuclear technology. The deputy leader
This piece appeared originally on March 28, 2013 in the Huffington Post. In a few short months, the world won’t have Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to kick around anymore. Not that many on the world stage, save his fellow anti-American aspiring autocrats, will miss him. This is because, in June, the Islamic Republic of Iran will be
The below op-ed by Ahmed Shaheed, the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, originally appeared in BBC Persian. This month marks the 37th anniversary of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). This treaty was adopted in March 1976 and has been ratified by 167 countries, including the Islamic
Reuters offered an important look last week into the United Nations ongoing look into the Iranian regime’s human rights record. Needless to say, that record is disturbing. Also disturbing is the fact that the vote to continue the work of the special rapporteur wasn’t unanimous. From the piece: The United Nations agreed on Friday to
As you are likely aware, Iran’s women live their lives as second class citizens. They have lesser legal rights, are denied equal opportunity to rise in public and civic life, and like all Iranians face the arbitrary strictures of the Islamic Republic’s “justice” system. Last year on International Women’s Day we hosted an important conversation
The Iran regime has taken time out of their standard schedule of inflammatory rhetoric, steps towards nuclearization, abuse of their own people, and support for international terrorism to mourn a proverbial brother in arms. Al-Monitor quotes Iranian president Ahmadinejad: In his letter of condolences to Vice President Maduro, President Ahmadinejad wrote that “the world has
Fantastic satire from The Onion today, which is funny because it seems scarily close to truth. Iran Promises To End Nuclear Program In Exchange For Detailed Diagram Of Atomic Bomb TEHRAN—In an unprecedented display of international cooperation from the Middle Eastern nation, Iran reportedly pledged to end the country’s burgeoning nuclear weapons program in exchange
Reports from Almaty, Kazakhstan indicate that the P5+1 and the Iranian regime regarding its nuclear program are going to move into a second day. The demands of the P5+1 mirror the “stop, shut, and ship” formula that has long been advocated by the IAEA and members of the international community. According to the New York
