Jasim Husain Ali

Editor’s Note: Dr. Jasim Husain Ali, a member of the parliament in Bahrain, based this article on his high-level meetings with Iranian officials during his recent trip to Iran.

TEHRAN—Iran’s authorities blame anti-revolutionary forces for taking advantage of understandable grievances that erupted after the June 2009 presidential election to advance their own objectives to undermine the Islamic Republic. The goals include applying pressures on Iran to make concessions on its controversial nuclear program and to undermine the regime’s image domestically and internationally. The accused include the United States, Great Britain, and Saudi Arabia, as well as the People’s Mujahedeen Organization and groups that support the Shah’s dynasty. more»

Babak

TEHRAN—After the controversial June 12 presidential election, and the most critical days in the history of the Islamic Republic that followed, elders in various political parties and different factions believe that a unity plan is the only way out of the current crisis. more»

Rasool Nafisi

WASHNGTON—In early January, following the demise of Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, the Society of Teachers and Researchers at Qom Seminaries, a pro-statel clerical body, announced that it did not acknowledge cleric Yusuf Sanei as an ayatollah. The reason for such a decision, like many other seemingly religious decisions of the Islamic regime, was rather political. A great part of politics in today’s Iran is based on clerical rivalry and personal innuendo rooted in the clerical community. more»

Fatemeh Haghighatjoo was a member of Iran’s Parliament from 2000 to 2004, and a prominent advocate of women’s rights and political reform. more»

Termeh Mandegar

TEHRAN—The June 12, 2009, election in Iran allowed students to participate in another social and political event and show their presence. Twelve years earlier, students had been able to persuade the masses to elect the anti-establishment candidate, the reformist Mohammad Khatami. But the students soon became disenfranchised after Khatami failed to meet their demands, and after the bloody events of the summer of 1999, during which student dormitories were attacked by security forces. This alienation and disenfranchisement lead to the election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. During his presidency, pressure on students has increased dramatically. The authorities have limited any student behavior seen as criticism of the government to they point that they even shut down student association elections, which had been held every year. more»