Media Analysis

Arash Aramesh

“Religion is in Danger” are the words of Ayatollah Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah-Yazdi, a hardline cleric who was once a staunch supporter of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Once considered President Ahmadinejad’s mentor, Mesbah-Yazdi is warning the faithful that Islam is “in danger” by none other than President Ahmadinejad’s close colleagues and associates, now referred to as “the deviant faction.” more»

Arash Aramesh

The Friday prayer leader of Kashan, a city in central Iran, told his seminary class May 31 that recent arrests of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s close associates were ordered directly by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. more»

Arash Aramesh

Iran has waited thirty-six years to become the chair of OPEC, but President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s decision May 15 to remove Iran’s oil minister and lead the oil ministry himself may have jeopardized Iran’s chances of leading the world’s largest oil exporting cartel. more»

Arash Aramesh

Iraq’s firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told BBC Arabic Service on May 26 that he believed Velayat Faqih was a ‘public’ and an ‘Islamic’ notion and it was up to the Iraqi people to see whether the system of supreme clerical rule, as implemented in Iran, would work in Iraq. more»

Arash Aramesh

After almost one week of silence towards President Barack Obama’s Middle East speech delivered May 19, the Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attacked his American counterpart and called President Obama a “nobody” and a “puppet.”
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