After Meeting Pompeo, Iranian Activist Masih Alinejad Speaks to Kayhan Life
By Ahmad Rafat
The Iranian journalist and women’s rights activist Masih Alinejad had a half-hour meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo earlier this month. Alinejad’s visit to the State Department reportedly took place...
Iran Takes Dual Nationals Hostage to Get Money from West, Says Nobel Winner Ebadi
By Ahmad Rafat
In early January, Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a 40-year-old Iranian-British woman, and Narges Mohammadi, another detainee at Tehran’s Evin prison, went on a three-day hunger strike after the prison authorities refused to provide them...
ANALYSIS: How Iran-EU Relations Are Strained by Terrorism and Sanctions
By Ahmad Rafat
The European Union announced a new set of sanctions on January 8 against a particular unit of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and against two individuals -- Asadollah Assadi and Saeed Hashemi Moghadam...
ANALYSIS: 2018, A Crisis Year for the Islamic Republic of Iran
By Ahmad Rafat
The year 2018 was arguably the most tumultuous year for the Islamic Republic since its inception nearly four decades ago. It started with nationwide unrest and street protests which persisted throughout 2018.
The...
ANALYSIS: Europe Concerned About Iran’s Regional Ambitions, Missile Program
By Ahmad Rafat
In a meeting on December 12 with the families of Iranian servicemen killed in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88) and the Syria conflict, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that the country had...
ANALYSIS: Iran’s Money Laundering Problem
By Ahmad Rafat
In a recent interview with the Khabar Online news agency, Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has indicated that some influential people in Iran have benefited from money-laundering schemes. His comments have...
ANALYSIS: World Leaders Discuss Iran at Centenary of End of WWI
By Ahmad Rafat
November 12: More than 70 world leaders and senior government officials were in France last week for the Armistice ceremonies held at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de...
ANALYSIS: U.S. Sanctions Trigger Exodus of European Companies from Iran
By Ahmad Rafat
In the past three months, dozens of mid-size and large European companies have announced plans to end their business and trade ties with Iran. The reimposition of U.S. sanctions, the last set...
ANALYSIS: Iran May Have to Negotiate With U.S. If It Loses Europe’s Support
By Ahmad Rafat
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly said that the purpose of the new and stricter sanctions against Iran, which went into effect on November 5, was to “get the government...
Iranian Opposition Groups, Old and New, Mobilize Against the Regime
By Ahmad Rafat
The nationwide unrest which started in Mashhad, capital of the northeastern province of Khorasan, on December 28, and quickly spread to other parts of the country, breathed new life into various opposition...
