Category: Iran

False Dawn? How (not) to advance Middle East democracy

     

Supporting indigenous democrats would be a more successful approach to promoting democracy in the Middle East than external intervention, especially militarized regime change, says a leading Arab democrat. “Foreign intervention… Read more »

Time to prepare for Iran’s political collapse?

     

In a region littered with failed states, Iran is often mischaracterized as an island of stability, notes Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. The history… Read more »

Principled Realism ‘ideologically handicapped’ in confronting Iran

     

  “Principled Realism” is no more likely than realpolitik to check Tehran’s clerical regime where it matters most, in Syria, according to a leading analyst. Such an approach “appears ideologically… Read more »

Iran – one of the world’s worst countries for workers

     

Iranian women confront an array of restrictions, such as on their ability to travel, prohibitions on entering certain jobs, and an absence of basic legal protections, Human Rights Watch said in… Read more »

After Rouhani’s election, now for Iran’s more important transition

     

Now that Iran has gone to the ballot to elect a president, U.S. policymakers should turn their attention to a more important transition in the offing, argues Mehdi Khalaji, a fellow at the… Read more »

Mideast sectarianism a byproduct of geopolitical rivalry

     

During his speech in Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump spoke of the need to confront and “isolate” Iran.  But the Iran challenge is more intricate and perplexing than the one faced… Read more »

Iran polarized ahead of pseudo-election

     

After an unexpectedly close race between President Hassan Rouhani, the pragmatic incumbent, and hardline challenger Ebrahim Raisi (left), ordinary Iranians on the eve of the vote appeared united only in… Read more »

Iran election exposes Islamic Republic’s façade and true face

     

The presidential election in Iran this Friday is being billed as yet another contest in which a spirited but ineffectual reformer is fighting it out with a hard-boiled theocrat. Meanwhile,… Read more »