Iran Liberalism

Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to one year in prison after being convicted of "spreading propaganda" against the Islamic republic, a charge that is often brought against intellectuals and critics of the Iranian establishm…

Irans Foreign Minister Javad Zarif is in New York this week for high level talks at the UN. He has been confined to a six-block radius. Its not uncommon for Iranian diplomats along with envoys from North Korea, Syria and Cuba to be confined to a broader radiu…

Theres something foul infiltrating Iran. To weed it out, elite operatives hunt in the shadows, deploying drones, social-media and old-fashioned gumshoe tactics in a quest to thwart spies and traitors. These warriors are neither James Bond nor Jason Bourne, b…

Now that Iran has officially begun violating the 2015 nuclear deal, it is more important than ever to remember who bears the bulk of the responsibility for the escalating tensions. Many apologists for the regime and advocates for a return to the status quo wo…

Since the Iranian revolution took power in 1979, the world stood against Iran because it is an Islamic Republic, unwilling to acknowledge and bow to US dominance of the Middle East and the entire world. I say the world because the revolution was followed by t…

Interviewed by David Barsamian KGNU, Boulder, CO 28 May 2019 Nader Hashemi is Director of the Center for Middle East Studies and teaches Middle East and Islamic politics at the Korbel School of International Studies at the University of Denver. He is the au…

If Iran were to hold a referendum on the Islamic Republic today, over 70% would clearly oppose itamong them the wealthy, academics, clerics, village, and city-dwellers. This remarkable hypothetical was not declared by an exiled Iranian dissident, but by the w…

As tension builds between Washington and Tehran, the Islamic Republic of Iran is under a lot of pressure. And, in the wake of considerable domestic unrest in 2018 and sporadic unrest this year, we should not be surprised to see leadership changes across Irans…

The bottom line: It’d be hell on earth. A deadly opening attack. Nearly untraceable, ruthless proxies spreading chaos on multiple continents. Costly miscalculations. And thousands — perhaps hundreds of thousands — killed in a conflict that would dwarf the war…

US sanctions hurt the average Iranian, not those in charge - that was the sentiment at Tehran's Grand Bazaar on Tuesday. Most Iranians have suffered economic hardship sparked by reimposed and newly created American sanctions after US President Donald Trump p…