Iran

Trabzon, Turkey (Special to Informed Comment, Feature) – The recent visit of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to Lebanon on 23 January marks a critical moment for Saudi Arabia-Lebanon bilateral relations. This visit comes after years of strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, driven by the ongoing rivalry between Saudi Arabia […]

Iran

Can Israel Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program?

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Kian Sharifi ( RFE/ RL ) – U.S. intelligence has concluded that the odds of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program in the next few months are high, according to major American media, but the jury is out on whether Israel can destroy its archfoe’s nuclear facilities on its own. Iran is widely […]

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Netanyahu’s Quest to Attack Iran with the Mother of all Bombs

Dan Steinbock

The emboldened Netanyahu cabinet is in a war path, again. It is mobilizing to attack Iran and lobbying President Trump into a plan that presumably would use the “Mother of All Bombs” Ever since his rise to power in the late 1990s, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has worked toward a war with Iran, presumably […]

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On the 46th Anniversary of Iranian Revolution: An Interview with Amb. John Limbert

Fariba Amini

“No one should be surprised that the Iranian Revolution took a religious form. The fact that God appears on almost every page does not reflect religious convictions of my own, nor for that matter any conscious design at all, but simply arises from the circumstance that in any description of the fabric of Iranian life […]

censorship

Iran: Unchecked Repression of Dissent

The Conversation

Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have continued their brutal, targeted repression even though the new Iranian president has promised change, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. The authorities have targeted human rights defenders, women, ethnic and religious minorities, and families of those arrested or killed in the 2022 protests. For […]

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The Fatal Despair of Exile: An Iran they could neither Live in nor Leave Behind

Fariba Amini

Nothing takes me from the butterflies of my dreams to my reality: not dust and not fire. What will I do without roses from Samarkand? What will I do in a theater that burnishes the singers with its lunar stones? Our weight has become light like our houses in the faraway winds. We have become […]

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How Solar Power could save Fossil Gas Giant Iran from its Energy Crisis

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran has for weeks been in the midst of an energy crisis. It may seem paradoxical given that it has some of the biggest oil and gas fields in the world. Some 70% of Iran’s electricity is generated by fossil gas. Power blackouts have inflicted billions of dollars of losses […]

Iran

Syria’s De Facto Leader Wants To Maintain ‘Respectful’ Ties With Iran, Russia

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

( RFE/RL ) – New Syrian de facto leader Ahmad al-Sharaa told the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya television channel that he wants relations with Iran and Russia, but he insisted any ties must be based on mutual “respect.” Russia and Iran were major allies of Syria under the regime of President Bashar al-Assad until the totalitarian […]

Iran

Turkey Replacing Iran As The Dominant Foreign Player In Syria

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Kian Sharifi ( RFE / RL ) – The fall of Bashar al-Assad’s government at the hands of rebels, including Ankara-backed factions, has effectively made Turkey the dominant foreign actor in Syria at the expense of Iran and its ally Russia. Turkey and Iran have competed for years for influence in the South Caucasus, […]