Editor’s note: InsideIRAN conducted an interview with an engineer and factory manager, who is located thirty miles outside Tehran, to get his views on the effects of new sanctions. He requested anonymity for security reasons.
Q: Who do Iranians blame for the dire economic situation in Iran?
A: People complain about the conditions. Bu they don’t analyze what has brought about these conditions. They blame foreign actors such as the United States and the United Kingdom. They blame the so-called more»
Editor’s note: InsideIRAN conducted the following interview with a commentator based in Tehran, who wishes to remain anonymous.
Q: Did you see any evidence in Iran that sanctions were or were not having an effect?
A: Based on my conversations with people over the last couple of weeks, prices have gone up. Prices of basic goods have certainly increased. This is more like a panic. more»
Editor’s Note: A series of discussions were held during the week of July 1 in Brussels, as the European Parliament focused on human rights abuses and civil society in Iran. InsideIRAN conducted the following interview in Brussels with Delbar Tavakoli, a journalist who worked for thirteen years in Iran and recently fled to Paris.
Q: How does the government in Iran manipulate the Internet? Please provide some examples that you have seen of this sort of manipulation and misuse. more»
Sohrab Razzaghi
BRUSSELS—In the presidential election of 2005, following eight years of political liberalization by the government of President Mohammad Khatami, a new political class in Iran came to power that enjoyed the full backing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. In 2009, this new political class managed to consolidate its power through widespread electoral fraud and the reelection of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. more»
Babak
Recent clashes between moderate conservatives in Iran’s parliament and hardliners in the executive branch have moved to an unlikely battleground — the Islamic Azad University, the largest institution of higher learning in Iran. more»