Author Archives: persiangulf

Iran’s Intellectuals, Going Underground

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BY ALI GHARIB

Laura Secor’s new book traces the embattled history of the Islamic Left in Iran.
In February, Iranians went to the polls for yet another election. These affairs are never dull, and neither was this parliamentary race. More than 10,000 candidates filed paperwork to compete for 290 seats, but, of these, some 5,000 were rejected before Iranian voters even had the chance to do so. Read More »

Meet Ghasem Fathalipour, Who Is Fighting to Save Iran’s Dogs

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TEHRAN — Man’s best friend might not have too many pals in Iran, but they can count on Ghasem Fathalipour.

The soft-spoken Tehran native works as a taxi driver and runs a hostel in order to support his passion: helping the city’s beleaguered canine community. Fathalipour says he usually spends between $300 and $400 a month of his own money on feeding and protecting dogs — a huge proportion of his income. Read More »

Looking for Ethnicity in Iran

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The question of ethnic and national identity constitutes a highly complex and controversial topic in Iran, and only recently have scholars questioned Persian-centrist, majoritarian or nationalist bias in Iranian historiography and research. One example of this critique is in Rasmus Christian Elling’s recent book “Minorities in Iran: Nationalism and Ethnicity afterKhomeini” (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013).

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Iran: The Challenges of a Split Personality

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By: Amir Taheri

When he died in exile in Paris in 2010, Shojaeddin Shafa sounded like a lone voice in a desert. For at least two decades before the Islamic Revolution, the writer and translator of Western classics had often been on best-seller lists. As an exile cut from his home market, however, he had the choice of either breaking his pen or being content with a select readership consisting almost entirely of nostaglics for the “good old days” of the fallen Shah. Read More »

What Zarrabs arrest means for Rouhani

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By: Enis Erdem Aydin

Reza Zarrab, the dual Iranian and Turkish citizen arrested in the United States on charges of money laundering and banking fraud to evade sanctions on Iran, is not just any businessman. When he was caught up in graft allegations in Turkey in 2013, he surfaced as an alleged associate of Babak Zanjani, the Iranian tycoon recently sentenced to death in Tehran. Read More »

US Aviation Exports to Iran Still at Risk from Sanctions

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As the U.S. encourages aircraft companies to seek licenses for exports to Iran, those companies face potential diversions of their product to the military and engagement with companies still under sanctions, exposing themselves to significant compliance risks, experts say. Read More »

US blacklists firms, individuals over Iran missile program

REUTERS

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WASHINGTON BY YEGANEH TORBATI

The U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted two Iranian companies on Thursday for supporting Iran’s ballistic missile program and also sanctioned two British businessmen it said were helping an airline used by the country’s Revolutionary Guards. Read More »

U.S. charges consultant to Iran’s U.N. mission

REUTERS

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Ahmad Sheikhzadeh (C), a consultant to the Iranian mission to the United Nation, leaves Brooklyn Federal Court in New York, March 23, 2016.

BY NATE RAYMOND

A consultant to Iran’s mission to the United Nations has been criminally charged with violating a U.S. law against dealing with that country, according to an indictment made public on Wednesday. Read More »

Donald Trump and Ted Cruz Shed Light on the Hidden Racism of America

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by:Akbar Ganji

Many have been surprised by the racist statements by Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, the two leading contenders for the GOP presidential nomination. The Republican establishment is supposedly horrified and shocked by their leading candidates. Racism and discrimination are illegal in the United States. And yet, we see and experience prejudice and racism every day. Why? Read More »

A Spymaster Who Saw Cyberattacks as Israel’s Best Weapon Against Iran

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By: David Sanger

A bit more than three years after Meir Dagan was forced to end his long tenure as director of Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, he showed up at a discussion of the Middle East filled with contempt for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who he feared was on the cusp of bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities. Read More »