Geneive Abdo, director, Iran Program, The Century Foundation; editor of insideIRAN.org. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.

What might we expect on the anniversary of the Islamic revolution on Thursday, February 11?

We know now that both sides are planning demonstrations. The state is planning the usual rallies that they organize to mark the anniversary of the revolution, and the opposition is going to take advantage of this, as they’ve done in the past, to come out and demonstrate against the government. more»

These are the men who make up Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s inner circle — and will determine if the Iranian president can strengthen his tenuous grip on power.

Geneive Abdo
(This article was published in Foreign Policy.com)

Over the last seven months, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s base of support appears to have steadily shrunk: Countless conservative politicians and clerics, such as former Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, have even parted ways with the Iranian president and joined the expanding group of his foes. But though his list of detractors is getting longer, a number of men continue to stand behind the president, ensuring his hold on power. 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»