ANALYSIS: Collapsing Currency, Energy Shortages Hurt Iran’s Economy
By Roshanak Astaraki
Six months into Massoud Pezeshkian’s presidency of the Islamic Republic of Iran, his key economic promises are far from fulfilled. There is a significant disconnect between these promises and the actual performance...
ANALYSIS: Enforcing the Mandatory Hejab Is A Massive Economic Cost
By Roshanak Astaraki
The suppression of women in Iran, most recently through the nationwide ‘Noor Project’ aimed at enforcing the mandatory hejab, has garnered significant attention both domestically and internationally. The Noor Project was launched...
ANALYSIS: After Currency Devaluation, Iran’s Economic Outlook Is Bleak
By Roshanak Astaraki
The Iranian foreign exchange (forex or FX) market experienced one of its most volatile periods in the last week of January, with a dramatic devaluation of the Iranian rial.
On Jan. 23, the...
OPINION: Iranian Women and the Removal of the Veil
By Roshanak Astaraki
It has been 88 years since a law was passed in Iran authorizing the removal of the hijab (known as the kashf-e hijab). Nearly nine decades later, Iranian women are mounting a...
Islamic Republic Ministries, Central Bank Implicated In $3.37 Billion Corruption Scandal
By Roshanak Astaraki
The Islamic Republic of Iran’s ministries, customs office and central bank are implicated in a $3.37 billion corruption scandal centered on tea imports and orchestrated between 2019 and 2022 by the Debsh...
Iran Overhauls Educational System, Purges Academia in ‘Cultural Revolution’
By Roshanak Astaraki
As part of its broader efforts to tighten control over the Iranian public, the Islamic Republic has recently announced an overhaul of the educational system, which includes a wholesale purge of academia,...
ANALYSIS: Islamic Republic’s Suppression of a National Movement
By Roshanak Astaraki
The Islamic Republic has marked the start of the new school year by intensifying its efforts to stifle student movement and the activities of teachers’ unions. The state is tightening its grip...
ANALYSIS: The New Wave of ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ Protests in Iran
By Roshanak Astaraki
The ongoing protests sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa (Zhina) Amini while in the custody of the morality police (guidance patrol) in Tehran on Sept. 16 have spread to 120 cities...
EXCLUSIVE: Iranian Protesters Speak Out in Interviews With Kayhan Life
By Roshanak Astaraki
A nationwide protest sparked a day after the death of Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, a 22-year-old ethnic Kurd, while in the custody of the morality police (guidance patrol) in Tehran on Sept. 16...
Iran Experiences Surge in Suicides Among Soldiers and Nurses
By Roshanak Astaraki
Despite the publicly voiced concerns of healthcare professionals, physicians, and social workers, there has ben an alarming increase in the number of suicides in Iran in recent years, successive governments have failed...
