The recent protests in Iran were not as peaceful as the Green Movement of 2009, something that political scientist Nader Hashemi attributes to the actions of the security forces. Interview by Azadeh FathiMore

On 12 June 2009, millions of Iranians began protesting against President Ahmadinejad's re-election. Five years after these protests were violently crushed and the "Green Movement" failed, this chapter of modern Iranian history is still not closed. By Faraj SarkohiMore

Iran's conservatives – whose representatives were defeated by Hassan Rouhani in the presidential election earlier this year – have maintained their grip on power in important areas of state such as the judiciary, the armed forces, the Revolutionary Guard and the security forces. Because the liberal Rouhani does not want to wage war on two fronts, it is inevitable that he will disappoint his supporters. A commentary by Rudolph ChimelliMore

Negotiations over Iran's nuclear program have again hit a wall, but the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appears unconcerned. Indeed, Khamenei seems convinced that neither the United States nor Israel will attack its nuclear facilities – at least not before the US presidential election in November. By Mehdi KhalajiMore

While Iran's revolutionary leader Ali Khamenei reinterpreted the toppling of the Mubarak regime as an Islamic rebellion, the protagonists in the Green Movement of 2009 looked to Cairo in frustration. Some of them may well have asked themselves the question: Why was there no Tahrir Square phenomenon in Tehran? By Marian BrehmerMore