Ayatollah Khamenei
With Iran, Vladimir Putin Is Both Arsonist And Firefighter
Give Putin credit. Russia’s strongman president knows a thing or two about political timing. In recent weeks, much to the chagrin of traditional allies in Europe, the Trump administration has...
Why Does Iran Hold So Many Elections?
On June 28, 2024, Iranians will again go to the polls, this time to replace Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a May 2024 helicopter crash. As with every previous election,...
VIDEO: Iran in the Wake of President Raisi’s Demise
Who are potential candidates to succeed Raisi, and what could the Guardian Council do to restrict the field? How could Raisi’s succession affect the relationships between other political and economic...
The Death of President Raisi Will Shake Up Iran’s Succession Plans
On Sunday, May 19, a helicopter crash in northeastern Iran Eastern near the Azerbaijani border claimed the lives of President Ebrahim Raisi, his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, the head of...
U.S. Presidential Elections Loom Over the Iranian Rial
On March 25, 2024, as Iranians celebrated Nowruz (Persian New Year), the black market rate of the Iranian rial plunged to a record low. Despite sanctions relief and infusions of...
Reading the Tea Leaves on Iran’s Other “Election”
On March 1, Iran held two sets of elections, or more aptly, selections. While much attention was paid to the country’s 290-person parliamentary races, the less covered but more important...
Is a Wider War About to Break Out in the Middle East?
Amid warfare, assassinations, and bombings in the Middle East, two developments could ultimately reshape the region for the better. The first is the discrediting of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu....
UN Envoy: Iranian Regime Is ‘Collapsing’ in Face of Uprising
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran Javaid Rehman claimed on Tuesday that the country’s government was in the process of collapse following a month-long protest movement against...
Will Iran’s Protests Lead to Regime Change?
In the Islamic Republic of Iran, it is practically inevitable that protests over any given issue will turn into expressions of popular desire for regime change if they continue for...
Why the Protests Will Change Iran Forever
The 2022 Iranian protests with the radical slogan “Women, Life, Freedom” have shocked the regime in Tehran. There are ten distinct reasons why the current protests in Iran are unprecedented...
Is the Second Iranian Revolution Here?
The brutal murder of a twenty-two-year-old Iranian woman, Zhina (Mahsa) Amini, at the hands of the Islamic Republic’s “morality police” for wearing her hijab “improperly” has sparked an unforeseen uprising...
Khamenei’s Succession Plan? Endless Tyranny in Iran
Studies in political science indicate that tyrants want to build a regime without end. In doing so, they need a good succession plan, often called the “keep it in the...