Riccardo Redaelli
LAKE COMO, Italy—After the disastrous adventure in Iraq and the growing difficulties in Afghanistan – which are forcing NATO to accept negotiations with the Taliban from a position of weakness as the only possible exit strategy from an untenable situation on the ground –, regional perceptions are that the Obama administration has only limited room for maneuver in the Middle East . This is particularly true in dealing with the Iranian nuclear crisis. more»
Saad Mehio
BEIRUT—What was the purpose of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s visit to Lebanon? Was it to support the Lebanese Hezbollah, and what he referred to as the “people’s resistance front,” which also comprises Syria, Palestine, and Turkey, in addition to Iran? Or, was this visit aimed at strengthening the position of Ahmadinejad and his mentor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, inside Iran? more»
Geneive Abdo and Arash Aramesh
This article was published in the Huffington Post.
While the Iranian regime appears to be finding support these days in Shiite quarters from Beirut to Baghdad, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is searching for theological backing this week in his own backyard.
Khamenei began on Tuesday an unprecedented, nine-day trip to Qom, the holy city that is the center for Shiite learning. The objective of his journey is to seek assurances of loyalty, after more than a year of harsh criticism, not only coming from dissident clerics and seminarians but religious scholars who were once staunch supporters of the Islamic republic. more»
Babak
TEHRAN—Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei is using his visit this week to Qom, Iran’s religious capital, as a propaganda operation to try to restore his standing among the clerics, some of whom now question his religious authority and legitimacy as a political leader. more»
Ali
TEHRAN—Iran’s leadership has had sporadic conflicts with students in the country’s universities for over a decade now, but recent trends indicate that the government’s interference in Iranian institutions of higher learning is reaching an all-time high. Always a bastion of anti-government sentiments, the universities now find themselves the scene of a culture war launched from Iran’s highest echelons, including the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei himself. more»
