Earthquakes, like the recent Haitian and Chilean monsters, are not subtle events: They flatten buildings, crush houses, and turn infrastructures into concrete and steel confetti. But earthquakes can also generate a power that remains largely unseen, until a huge tsunami rises out of the sea and obliterates a coastline.
This past June, Iran was a major part of mainstream political debate in the international press. Much of the world rallied in support of Iran’s green movement, and condemned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ali Khamenei for stealing the presidential election.
With a proud recorded history stretching back six millennia, Iranians have evolved into staunch nationalists in modern times.
The real test of President Barack Obama’s dealing with China and Russia will be whether he can persuade them to support U.S. pressure on Iran to give up its nuclear weapons aspirations. Obama is reported to have lobbied China on that issue during his recent visit. He also broached the topic with Russia in the recent past for the same purpose, but with little success. Iran denies wanting to join the nuclear club, but Washington has no faith in those denials.
This is part of a strategic dialogue on Iran. You can read Duran Parsi’s piece here.
When U.S. Undersecretary of State William Nicholas Burns, met Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili at the United Nations in Geneva on October 1, it marked the first-ever high-level bilateral meeting between Washington and Tehran in 30 years.
This is part of a strategic dialogue on Iran. You can read Bernd Kaussler’s piece here.
Guardians of the Revolution, by Council on Foreign Relations scholar Ray Takeyh, offers candid insights into Iranian politics, delving into the origins of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 and tracking its evolution over the past 30 years. The current debate in Iran and among outside observers centers around whether or not the spirit of that revolution is still alive today. Many of the figures instrumental in building and sustaining the Islamic Revolution and which Takeyh brings to life in his book — Mir Hossein Mussavi, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Ali Larijani, Mohammad Khatami, and Hosein-Ali Montazeri are now virulently opposed to the regime. On the other side of the debate, Takeyh explains the rise of the New Right, a group of conservatives headed by Ayatollah Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who have slowly gained and entrenched themselves in the heart of the Iranian government.
Iranian political dissidents have taken their protests online through synthetic worlds such as Second Life. These efforts may ultimately prove to be an effective voice for their cause as the virtual movement garners sustained interest and continues to be difficult for government forces to contain.
On July 22, a week into Iran’s foreign media reporting ban, a group of Iranian protesters gathered on a grassy hill to speak out against Supreme Leader Khamenei’s continued support for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Some wore black T-shirts with a blood-spattered slogan: “Where Is My VOTE?” By midday, the protest had attracted several hundred attendees. One woman arrived wearing little more than a thong swimsuit and a pair of purple angel wings.
Editor’s Note: These poems originally appeared on the website of the Association of Iranian American Writers.