In the run up to Iran’s “elections” next month it is clear that we have entered the season of the crackdown. To raise awareness about how this crackdown is affecting Iran’s journalists and bloggers the Committee to Protect Journalists has put together a powerful video that sheds light on just how ugly this has been.
What would an indictment of Ayatollah Khamenei look like? Thousands, if not millions, victims of the Iranian regime around the world have undoubtedly wondered. Reporters Without Borders has offered an aide to the imagination with a faux “indictment” of the “Supreme Leader” and the system of government he established. It reads in full: You are
Today is World Press Freedom Day 2013. Last year to mark this day we spoke with a series of activists and journalists to get a sense of the risks facing journalists in Iran. The result was this video: Sadly, not much has changed in the past year. In fact, it may be worse. Just as
In six weeks Iranians will be asked to “pick” the successor to the current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Never mind that potential candidates for elected office have to be pre-cleared by the unelected and democratically unaccountable Guardian Council, we still get to call this an “election”! However, given the experience of average Iranians the last time
In Iran, it is against the law to partake in independent labor organizing. The only approved labor organizations are those controlled by the regime, and efforts at bucking these requirements are routinely stifled. The leader of Iran’s most prominent independent labor organization, Mansoor Osanloo, has been repeatedly jailed for his efforts. Recently there has been
As anyone following developments in Iran knows, now is not a good time to be an activist there. Golnaz Esfandiari of Radio Free Europe recently sat down with Kouhyar Goudarzi, a leading Iranian civil society activist who recently fled the country, to find out just what is going on. RFE/RL: Why did you decide to
Yesterday the New York State Assembly announced new legislation to curb Iran’s continuing nuclear pursuits. Below is a press release from the unveiling. You can find the text, and accompanying video here. Speaker Sheldon Silver announced today the introduction of a bill (A.6855) that builds upon the Iran Divestment Act by prohibiting domestic insurers from
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