Ashkan Parsa
TEHRAN—President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s opponents say that his UN visits embarrass Iranians and project a violent image of the Iranian people. For many years, the Iranian president denied the existence of the Holocaust. Many in the United States began to compare him to Hitler, and his country to Nazi Germany. But his controversial comments about Jews and the Holocaust seem to have lost their attraction for the Western media. On this past trip, American journalists, instead, asked about human rights violations in Iran. more»
Mohammad Reza Heidari, a former high-ranking Iranian diplomat in Norway, announced in December that he was quitting the foreign ministry and not returning to Tehran. He now lives in Oslo, where he spoke with insideIRAN.org more»
Leila Chamankhah
TEHRAN—As Western countries increase their demands on Iran to become more transparent about its nuclear program, the views of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and Iranian society at large remain unknown. more»
Editor’s Note: Professor Saba Vasefi recently fled Iran and lives in exile in Australia. She was an activist in Iran who fought for women’s rights and against the inhumane treatment of children. She suffered an attack by basij forces this summer and was critically injured. InsideIran.org interviewed her from Sidney.
Q: There were reports that controversial parts of the Protection of Family bill were being sent back to committee in an attempt to shelve it. Has this move been successful? more»
Kaveh Ghoreishi
SOLEYMANIEH.Iraq—“Maybe it is our taste in food, or maybe it is our cultural proximity to Iran. But whatever it is, Iranian goods and products, especially foods, are much more popular here than items we receive from Turkey.” more»