The readers responded strongly to a piece on Monday about the urgency for the global community to get involved on Iran, because the current lack of strong central leadership can lead to a major power vacuum that can further push the country and region into chaos after the...

On Sunday, protesters marked the annual Shiite holiday of Ashoura and mourning of Imam Hossein's death in his battle against a dictator by engaging in widespread protests against Iran's own modern dictator. As I was on Skype talking to Iran, I could hear people chanting "Allah o Akbar" and "death...

On Tuesday, Time Magazine announced the magazine's coveted person of the year: Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the United States Federal Reserve. As is often the case, many people seem unconvinced that the winner deserved the victory. But even after looking beyond Ben Bernanke's merits as an effective chairman, there are...

After visiting one of my friends in Toronto a few years ago, I was on the train coming back to the United States. As the train arrived at the border, it stopped for the customs and border protection agents to check the passports. One of the agents approached me and...

In March of 2007, three American soldiers detained four suspects in Iraq. They were supposed to take them to a detainee housing area. But instead, the first sergeant in the group approached another soldier in the group, Pfc Josh Hartson, and asked him whether he would have a problem "if...

A high number of pro-life Democrats in the House were holding healthcare hostage until the eleventh hour of the healthcare bill's passage last weekend before the Speaker added the Stupak Amendment to the bill. Although the Hyde Amendment of 1976 already banned the use of federal funds for abortion, the...

Shortly after the attacks on the World Trade Center, President Bush began strikes on Taliban targets in Afghanistan and began a military operation to root out the radical group. But before nearly finishing the task at hand, neo-conservatives (some of whom had established the Project for the New American Century...

During his recent speech before the joint session of Congress, President Obama set out to make the details of his health care blueprint more clear and correct the false points that Republicans and special interests have raised in their opposition to reform. One of those fallacies was the notion that...

Throughout the last campaign, President Obama spoke about his willingness to speak with the "leaders" of Iran. He did so based on the premise that we have a better chance of influencing Iranian policies through talks and incentives than by maintaining a unilateral isolation policy.

While such...

The Iranian election was a critical point in the post-revolution history of the country. After Ayatollah Khamenei and Ahmadinejad's organized coup d'etat and hijacking of the election, the world watched in positive amazement as brave Iranians took to the streets by the millions to stand up for democracy in the...

Many people in the United States are debating whether President Obama needs to take a more active role and speak up more strongly on the humanitarian crisis in Iran or stay out of it. Although members of Congress from both parties appear to be more united in taking a strong...

I was sitting in the control room of the Farsi Voice of America TV Channel in Washington (broadcast in Iran) on Saturday before a scheduled appearance to help cover the developing incidents in Iran when one of the people there let me know that the regime had arrested the daughter...

Ever since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad prematurely declared himself the winner of the election, people have been in engaging in sustained protests throughout Iran. The protests have passed a tipping point, in part because the number of protesters has gone well above that critical mass necessary to make the most risk averse...

Ever since Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared himself the winner of the election by a wide margin, various groups have had different reactions. On one side are Ahmadinejad supporters who have been expressing themselves in the form of showing up at a victory rally on Sunday and beating up and even killing...

My first engagement with Iranian politics happened in 1997 in Tehran when the former Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami, was running for president. Khatami ran on the platform of change, reform and support for "dialogue among civilizations"-- a notion deeply unfamiliar to a post-revolution born teenager who had thought the only...

Congressional Democrats and President Obama ran on the platform of significantly changing the direction of this country, from domestic policy to national security. But lately, Democrats have been taking a number of actions on national security that are alarming at best and hypocritical at worst. This post is part of...

As the hearings for the confirmation of Sonia Sotomayor gets underway, conservatives are ready to take many of her comments out of context to make the point that she was selected not for her qualifications, but because of her sex and color of skin. Yet, some of the conservatives who...

Congressional Democrats and President Obama ran on the platform of significantly changing the direction of this country, from domestic policy to national security. But lately, Democrats have been taking a number of actions on national security that are alarming at best and hypocritical at worst. This post is part of...

Congressional Democrats and President Obama ran on the platform of significantly changing the direction of this country, from domestic policy to national security. But lately, Democrats have been taking a number of actions on national security that are alarming at best and hypocritical at worst. This post is the first...

Roxana Saberi, the Iranian American journalist was freed in Iran after a higher court overturned the 8-year sentence given to her for alleged (and absurd) espionage accusations. There are a number of lessons that President Obama should take form Roxana's release:

1) Talking with Iran works. Time...