By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – The scattered urban protests that began in Mashhad on Thursday spread to several other provincial cities on Friday, including Qom, Rasht, Kerman and Qazvin. This is like protests in the US starting in Boston and spreading to Denver and Cleveland. Predictably, Trump had to get involved, […]
Goodbye to 2017, the Year Trump Coarsened our World
From ignoring Rohingyas to threatening Trade Wars to deep-sixing Mideast Peace
No, Trump, you don’t want more Climate change for Northeast
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump said Thursday that given the cold snap in the northeast, that region could do with some global warming. As others have pointed out, Trump does not get the difference between climate (long term patterns) and weather (one-off phenomena). The cold snap is weather. The heating […]
Tehran Police say Iranian Women won’t be arrested over Dress Code
Middle East Monitor | – – TEHRAN, IRAN – JUNE 5: Iranian women perform as they train Far East Fighting Arts to be able to defend themselves, at the Jughin castle which is located 40 km’s far from Tehran, Iran on Police in Iran’s capital said Thursday they will no longer detain women who violate […]
Russia: Permanent Bases planned in Syria to fight Terrorism
By Juan Cole | (informed Comment) | – – The US military says that the number of ISIL fighters in eastern Syria has fallen from 3000 a month ago to only 1000 today. Moreover a lot of the latter are fleeing into al-Assad-controlled territory, a severe security concern for the Syrian state. The US is […]
Trump “not welcome” in UK after Neo-Nazi retweets: London Mayor
Middle East Monitor | – – Describing London as the city of “tolerance, acceptance and diversity”, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, however, on Wednesday said President Donald Trump is “not welcomed”, Anadolu reports. Khan’s written statement came after the London Assembly asked him how the city’s government would prepare for an official state visit from Trump. […]
Chess is Universal; Saudi Arabia isn’t: Women’s Boycott, Israeli Lawsuit
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Saudi Arabia under the hyper-active crown prince Muhammad Bin Salman is undertaking rapid changes in society and international diplomacy. But the kingdom’s conviction that it is ready to host international events has been demonstrated to be premature by a debacle over a chess tournament. A chess […]
Trump’s disastrous Year in the Middle East: Syria
By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) | – – Trump on the campaign trail said many self-contradictory things about the Syrian civil war. He wanted to carpet bomb ISIL, which had a strip of territory in the far east of the country. He wanted to send in 30,000 US troops, he said at one point. […]
Riyadh releases more royals in corruption probe, Demands $6 bn from Alwaleed
Middle East Monitor | – – Saudi Arabia’s authorities have released a number of detained royals allegedly involved in corruption in public office. The move came after a settlement was agreed with the suspects, the daily Okaz reported yesterday. The pro-government newspaper added that the detainees, who had been held in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in […]
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