Iranian Police Arrest Activist Fatemeh Sepehri, Devout Woman with Secular Views
By Ahmad Rafat
Fatemeh Sepehri -- the civil rights activist who was detained in Mashhad on Sunday, Aug. 1, during a peaceful demonstration in support of the people of Khuzestan and against the security situation...
Remembering Iranian Novelist Parviz Ghazi Saeed, Creator of “Detective Lawson”
By Ahmad Rafat
Parviz Ghazi Saeed, a celebrated pre-Revolution fiction writer, died on April 21 in San Jose, California, aged 83. His family said Mr. Saeed, who was a political commentator for Persian-language media in...
ANALYSIS: Many Iranians Plan to Boycott March 1 Parliamentary Elections
By Ahmad Rafat
Elections for the Iranian Parliament and for the sixth Assembly of Experts (which has the power to appoint Iran’s Supreme Leader) are due to be held on March 1. The candidates in...
ANALYSIS: How Is Invasion of Ukraine Impacting Iran Nuclear Deal?
By Ahmad Rafat
In comments reported by domestic and international news organizations, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Saeed Khatibzadeh said that 98 percent of issues had been resolved during the recent round of talks in Vienna...
ANALYSIS: Hamid Nouri’s Life Sentence Is A Condemnation of Iran
By Ahmad Rafat
On July 14, a court in Stockholm found Hamid Nouri, an Iranian official, guilty of “crimes against humanity,” “war crimes,” and “premeditated murder,” sentencing him to life in prison.
The court found that...
ANALYSIS: Trump’s Return Is Major Worry For Khamenei
By Ahmad Rafat
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has called on government officials to firmly reject any “demands from the United States and Israel under any circumstances.”
In a speech on Jan. 8 attended by senior...
Twelve-Day War With Israel Deepens Crisis in Islamic Republic
By Ahmad Rafat
The twelve-day war with Israel, which took place between June 13 and 24, has intensified the political crisis engulfing the Islamic Republic -- a regime established following the 1979 anti-monarchy revolution led...
ANALYSIS: Iran Has Executed 225 People Since Late March
By Ahmad Rafat
The Islamic Republic of Iran has conducted 70 executions in the space of two weeks. It is hanging people at the rate of three a day. Iranian authorities have executed 225 people...
ANALYSIS: Was ISIS the True Perpetrator of the Deadly Kerman Attacks?
By Ahmad Rafat
Iranian intelligence agencies have blamed Daesh (ISIS) and even Israel for the two bomb attacks on Jan. 3, which killed 90 people and injured 200 in the southeastern province of Kerman. Yet...
Iran’s Clerics Will Be ‘Finished’ After Khamenei, Says Author Arash Azizi
By Ahmad Rafat
"What Iranians Want" – by the Iranian-born author and academic Arash Azizi -- is one of the first books to be published on the protest movement sparked by the September 2022 killing...
