If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
With tension building on both shores of the Gulf, the stakes are high for regional governments as well as the international community as they could threaten shipping in the Straits of Hormuz as well as create domestic turmoil in both the Gulf states and Iran.
Struggling to maintain its place in Asia's top tier, Iranian soccer is a reflection of a country laboring under the burden of a repressive political regime and not only the economic but increasingly also the psychological effect of international isolation and punishing sanctions.
The other seven nominees are deserving for the same reasons. But I hope Ahari wins because awarding her answers my big question: Who looks out for the watchdog when everyone is fixated on films like Argo?
The question that is rarely asked is what the effect of the sanctions has been on the people of Iran, in particular the pro-democracy forces that so bravely have been fighting for their rights.
Mr. Ahmadinejad's blatant meddling in this month's IFF election constitutes the second time in as many months that a Middle Eastern government has openly flaunted FIFA rules to benefit politically from the beautiful game.
Last Friday, Iran held its first elections since the controversial 2009 presidential contest, which led to the near-elimination of pro-reform political forces in the Islamic Republic. For this reason, the parliamentary vote should be viewed as an unrepresentative sham -- nothing more than a selection process amongst the ruling conservative elite.
While the bomb would not be a real threat neither to Israel who has many more nor to the U.S. who can blow all of us to bits in a jiffy, it is more of a threat to us Iranians and for the struggle for democracy in Iran.
Democracy and women's rights go hand in hand. And no group understands that equation better than Muslim women. That is why they are always amongst the first to go out on the streets to fight for their future.
The protests in Tunisia were like the Iranian movement in many ways, but, unlike Iran, its leadership was not part of an old guard who aimed to reform the system.
The firing of Manouchehr Mottaki is a sure-fire sign that Ahmadinejad is getting nervous about the loyalty of his own government. This power struggle is heating up, and it has massive implications.
Instead of targeting Iranian government officials connected to the nuclear program or who are complicit in human rights abuses, the new sanctions are punishing young Iranians who have been the greatest allies of democracy, human rights, and accountability in Iran.
The incompatibility between the Iranian reformist leaders' demands for a re-run of the election and the rank-and-file's revolutionary demand to replace this regime have resulted in a schizophrenic identity for the Green movement.
One year after his feverishly contested reelection as the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad seems to be standing on firmer political ground than ...
On June 12, 2009, Iran's now infamous elections were held. The idea that the Green Movement would be successful in a few short months is ridiculous -- revolutions are not won in a day.
As the world prepares to mark the first anniversary of Iran's stolen election, the beatings, arrests, and executions, the U.S. should be pushing the Human Rights Council to end its silence on Iran.
