Flynt and Hillary Mann Leverett claim they aren’t influence peddlers, but their emails suggest otherwise BY LEE SMITH “We don’t know of a single ‘Western scholar’ or ‘policy wonk’ … who thinks that access to the Iranian regime is going to make them powerful, rich, or both,” Flynt Leverett and his wife, Hillary Mann Leverett, recently... »
BY Amir Taheri Is the Obama administration shedding its illusions about the Khomeinist regime in Tehran? Six months ago it would have been naive to pose the question. Today, it is not. For there are signs that at least some key players in the new American administration are beginning to see beyond Obama’s rose-tinted glasses when it... »
Iran finds its Nelson Mandela. BY Abbas Milani Traditional Iranian husbands, the sort found in the highest ranks of the Islamic Republic, sometimes refer to their wives as “the house.” For them, this is not just an expression of their understanding of gender relations. It is viewed as a necessary euphemism, vital protection for a woman’s... »
BY Amir Taheri The Revolutionary Guard now has more power than the Islamic Republic’s Supreme Leader. At first glance, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei might seem a happy man. The pro-democracy movement had promised that last Thursday, the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, would be a turning point for the cause of... »
BY Amir Taheri Thursdays’s events in Iran dealt a serious political blow to a beleaguered re gime unable to either accommodate its opponents or crush them by force. It was billed as the biggest show in the history of the Islamic Republic, and the celebrations marking the 31st anniversary of the seizure of... »
How Flynt Leverett and his wife, Hillary Mann Leverett, became leading advocates for doing business with Tehran BY LEE SMITH First in a two-part series on the dueling Iran lobbies in Washington. Flynt Leverett is fielding questions from an audience at the New American Foundation for a panel titled “What the Iranian People Really Think,”... »
How a former Iranian official and a U.S. foreign-policy guru are shifting Washington’s stance toward regime change in Tehran BY LEE SMITH Mohsen Sazegara is sipping tea at Starbucks to ease his flu. The temperature is below freezing in Georgetown, and the 55-year-old Iranian-rights activist has his sweater buttoned up to his chin. A compact... »
"... to cut costs, the Basij were instructed to make their money from fines. If everyone became a “good Muslim” overnight, who on earth would they fine? The trick was to constantly change the rules ... before abruptly tightening them up." »
BY Amir Taheri Almost two months ago, General Muhammad-Ali Aziz Jaafari, Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), vowed to stop further anti-regime demonstrations and break what he termed “this chain of conspiracies.” Over the past eight weeks, however, the “chain” has appeared to be as strong as ever, with protestors across... »
BY Borzou Daragahi Reporting from Beirut — The leaders of Iran’s opposition movement boldly urged supporters to take to the streets during commemorations marking the 31st anniversary of Iran’s revolution, condemning the recent executions of two alleged government opponents and a fiery Friday prayer sermon by a hardline cleric calling for protesters to be... »
BY Philippe Naughton Two Iranians convicted of being “enemies of God” and trying to topple the Islamic regime were hanged at dawn today. It was the first known execution of opposition activists since June’s disputed presidential election prompted massive street protests – although the lawyer of one of the two men insisted that her... »
BY Abbas Milani The Green Movement is a revolt against theocracy. Most of its adherents are young Iranians with little or no religious motivation. Yet, an iconic figure of the revolt was the nation’s highest-ranking cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hussein Ali Montazeri; and, last month, Ashura, a holy day celebrating martyrdom, occasioned some of the movement’s... »
A response to the most infuriating op-ed of the new year. BY Abbas Milani A couple of days after June’s stolen election in Iran, Flynt Leverett and I were both guests on “The Charlie Rose Show.” Mr. Leverett was waxing eloquent about how Ahmadinejad could have actually won the election. His supposed evidence was a... »
By MICHAEL SLACKMAN NYTimes: January 6, 2010 DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Beatings, arrests, show trials and even killings have failed to discourage Iranians from taking to the streets in protest. But those same tactics may be taking a toll on the government itself, eating away at its legitimacy even among its core of insiders,... »
It has come to this: The Islamic Republic of Iran killing the sons and daughters of the revolution during Ashura, adding martyrdom to martyrdom at one of the holiest moments in the Shiite calendar. Nothing could better symbolize Iran’s 30-year-old regime at the limit of its contradictions. A... »
(CNN) — The Iranian president on Tuesday likened the anti-government protests during Sunday’s observances of Ashura to “a theater play by the Zionists and the Americans,” the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency said. “The Iranian nation has witnessed many plays of this kind: a play ordered by the Zionists and the Americans, who had purchased... »
FOXNews.com President Obama offered rhetorical support Monday to anti-government protesters in Iran facing a bloody crackdown, but some analysts say the United States should do more than just “bear witness” to the unrest. Obama, in his first public remarks since arriving in Hawaii on vacation with his family, said the United States joins the... »
* The Wall Street Journal * REVIEW & OUTLOOK The regime is losing legitimacy, even as Obama engages it. The foundation stones of Iran’s Islamic Republic were shaken again yesterday, showing that the largest antigovernment movement in its 30 years may be one of the biggest stories of next year as well. Now imagine the possibilities... »
By JAY SOLOMON – WSJ 20 Dec. 2009 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration publicly mourned the passing of Iran’s Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, in an unusual move U.S. officials said was designed to align the White House with Iran’s democratic movement. But U.S. officials also stressed Sunday that Mr. Montazeri’s death and the continuing political... »
By ROBERT F. WORTH, NY TIMES, December 10, 2009 BEIRUT, Lebanon — In the video, one of hundreds filmed during Iran’s nationwide demonstrations on Monday, an enraged woman’s voice can be heard as a paramilitary truck runs a motorbike off the road amid a crowd of fleeing protesters. “This is the Islamic Republic!” she shouts, gesturing... »