Ever since 1979, Iran has pursued its interests in the Horn of Africa. To Tehran, this volatile and impoverished part of Africa has represented a region where it could gain strategic depth and undermine agendas of countries seeking to weaken and isolate the Islamic Republic.
The Trump administration remains seemingly undecided on what its goals on Iran really are. Hostility between the United States and Iran has evolved ever since Washington withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — the nuclear deal agreed between the Iranians and the P5+1 group...
Iran’s economy is set to plunge and the much strained JCPOA with it. But the Islamic Republic will likely remain defiant. Iran’s announcement on May 8 that it will “partially” withdraw from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — aka the Iran nuclear deal concluded in 2015...
Reformers have tried to modernize Iran for decades, but have failed mainly due to the country's powerful theocracy. Iran’s ruling clergy are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the 1979 revolution, during which Shia Islamists, led by religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, toppled...
Iranian youths want to speak their mind and express their frustration, but are doing so in counterproductive ways. Iranian society is divided more than ever. Social fragmentation stems from a range of issues, including foreign policy failures, widespread corruption, a lack of transparency,...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Ali Vaez, the Iran project director of the International Crisis Group. The US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), popularly known as the Iran nuclear deal, was one of the most controversial decisions of...
Tehran is an impressive city, says John Weru in this travel blog. It’s 2015 and I write this from a balcony in Velenjak, a northern neighborhood in Tehran. Earlier today, we watched with our host as US Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif met in Vienna,...
The Persian New Year, celebrated by diverse ethnic groups around the world, is a time to reflect and reconcile. The Middle East sits on a keg of gunpowder. Sectarian tensions, armed conflicts, violent extremism and foreign intervention continue to undermine the security of a region long coveted...
Without a cooperative parliament, Rouhani will find it difficult to follow through on promises to restore the economy and enact human rights reform. The election of President Hassan Rouhani in 2013 brought hope to many Iranians. The historic agreement on Iran’s nuclear program, its...
The “diplomatic coup” triggered by Iran and the US has given rise to a new era in Tehran’s relations with the international community. The whole episode began in 2013 when a moderate, pragmatic cleric, popularly known as the “Diplomat Sheikh,” replaced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the...
