Mehdi Karroubi
All topics-
Elections in the Islamic republic
Strong vote for a strong Iran?
In the run-up to Iran’s parliamentary elections on 21 February, state media was at full blast. Urging Iranians to take to the polls, state TV’s Channel 1 ran an election-day countdown, showing images of past elections and enthusiastic voters, regularly interrupted by music appealing to Iranians' sense of patriotism and nationalism. By Ali Fathollah-Nejad
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Interview with Nader Hashemi on the protests in Iran
Violence "reflects the Iranian regime's desperation"
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 Fathi
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The Islamic Republic turns 39
At risk of Syrianisation?
Was the recent unrest in Iran merely a harbinger of a bigger political quake? Prominent sociologists and political scientists are predicting some more extensive social shock waves. And one man who made his name during the revolution has offered his apologies to the Iranian people. By Ali Sadrzadeh
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Five years after Iran's "Green Movement"
Past and present
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 Sarkohi
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Iran's Intellectuals and President Rouhani
When Freedom Becomes A Possibility
Ever since Hassan Rouhani assumed the office of Iranian president, optimism has been growing among Tehran's intellectuals. Nevertheless, no one is taking any chances; past experience has shown that this would be unwise. Marina Forti reports from the Iranian capital
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Domestic Political Reforms in Iran
The Door to Freedom Remains Shut
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 Chimelli
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Interview with LGBT Rights Activist Arsham Parsi
''Rights are never given; we have to fight for them''
Arsham Parsi is an Iranian LGBT human rights activist who lives in exile in Canada. In this interview with Ceyda Nurtsch, he speaks about the situation for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transsexuals (LGBTs) in Iran and his work to support LGBT refugees who flee the country for the West and explains why he is so optimistic about it all
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Iran's Electoral Strategy
All Options off the Table?
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 Khalaji
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Ahmadinejad and Iran's Supreme Leader
The Ayatollah and the Witches
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has now made the mistake that all Iranian presidents make: he has challenged the authority of the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. According to Mehdi Khalaji, he cannot but fail
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Iran's Green Movement Two Years after the Protests
Simmering beneath the Surface
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 Brehmer
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Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel's ''The People Reloaded''
The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran's Future
With their anthology on Iran's Green Movement, Nader Hashemi and Danny Postel provide an intellectual and political road map to the country's largest political protest since the 1979 revolution. Ramin Jahanbegloo introduces "The People Reloaded"