December 2009
17 posts
Inside Story - Iran's opposition crackdown - 29... →
Al-Jazeera English produced a 25-min show on the situation in Iran. I appeared from NY; my friend and colleague Trita Parsi was in Washington; and the host was in Doha (Qatar).
Bloggingheads.tv - Unrest in Iran →
Kelly Niknejad of Tehran Bureau and I had a conversation about Iran on the Bloggingheads.tv site. The NY Times excerpted some of this and put it on their on-line op-ed page.
Regime Wages a Quiet War on 'Star Students' of... →
More outstanding reporting from Farnaz Fassihi in the Wall Street Journal. Getting a star in Iranian grad schools is not what you think — it means you’re out of here!
Inside the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps →
Ali Ansari, of the University of St. Andrews, is one of the most astute observers of Iranian politics. At the link is his incisive discussion of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the latest edition of The National Interest. It describes where the Guard started, how it became what it has become, and the severe fissures that exist within the organization itself.
He concludes that...
Lynch: The rush to war with Iran →
Mainstreaming the Mad Iran Bombers
Posted By Marc Lynch [on his blog…reposted here as a timely alert]
Thursday, December 24, 2009 - 11:36 AM
Today’s New York Times runs what I believe is its first op-ed explicitly advocating a military campaign against Iran. Such agitation for war isn’t new — John Bolton and friends have been obsessively demanding such an attack...
Laura Rozen: More simulations, more grim results →
Laura Rozen, who is one of the most consistently original reporters on US foreign policy and who regularly comes up with scoops on Iranian issues, has an exclusive report about a new foreign policy simulation concerning Iran. This one was done in Israel, and its results seem to have been about the same as the Harvard simulation that I participated in recently. (See blog entry below)
She also has...
Throngs of Mourners Attend Funeral of Iran’s... →
Robert Worth of the New York Times provides timely coverage of the funeral for Grand Ayatollah Montazeri in Qom today.
There was something almost mystical about the timing of his death. He died in the first days of Muharram, the mourning month of the Shia religious calendar (see blog item “Will Iran Ignite” below), and only hours from the winter solstice. The seventh day marking of...
Defector Says He Helped Rig Iran’s Election - The... →
Britain’s Channel 4 News broadcast this interview with an Iranian basij member who has fled to the UK. He confirms allegations of election rigging, repression and torture by Iranian security forces during and after the June election. However, the fact that he refuses to identify himself or even the city where he worked — even if understandable under the circumstances — greatly...
Gary Sick: Will Iran Ignite? →
The next month in Iran is likely to be extremely hot.
The Shiite mourning month of Muharram begins on December 18. It involves massive street marches of citizens mourning the death of Imam Hossein, the quintessential martyr in the Shiite faith. He was killed on the tenth of Muharram (Ashura) in the year 680 on the plain of Karbala, in what is now Iraq. He and a small band of devoted followers...
Haiku epitaph for a failed revolution
pledges discarded
inept in all but torment
ice on spring blossoms
gary sick
Obama's Oslo Declaration and US Middle East Policy
President Obama’s Nobel acceptance in Oslo directly addressed two fundamental issues dealing with US-Iran policy. With regard to sanctions and their effectiveness in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program, this is what he says: “… .in dealing with those nations that break rules and laws, I believe that we must develop alternatives to violence that are tough enough to change...
Thousands Flee Iran as Noose Tightens - WSJ.com →
More excellent reporting from my colleague Farnaz Fassihi of the Wall Street Journal, this time about the exodus of young talented Iranians faced with persecution at home.
It’s all in the game - The National Newspaper →
In its dealings with Iran, America always falls back on the same inept manoeuvres. In a diplomatic simulation last week, Gary Sick saw history repeat itself once again.
Can the United States forge a mutually constructive relationship with Iran? Can a global superpower find a way to persuade a recalcitrant and paranoid regional power to enter the community of nations as a responsible participant?
...
How unilateral Iran sanctions may backfire - Laura... →
Laura Rozen reviews reports about the simulation game at Harvard mentioned by David Ignatius in the Washington Post (see link below). She quotes my own comments at length. Here is the text:
Two accounts of how a recent simulation at Harvard with major foreign policy players revealed how Congressional threats of U.S. unilateral sanctions may backfire by unravelling the international alliance.
...
David Ignatius - An Iran game, with winners you... →
[As you will see from this column, I was a participant in this simulation; more later. gary]
David Ignatius - An Iran game, with winners you don’t want - washingtonpost.com
How will the confrontation over Iran’s nuclear program evolve during the next year? If a simulation game played at Harvard last week is any guide, the situation won’t look pretty: Iran will be closer to...
Iran’s Critical Moment: Three Days to Go |... →
Scott Lucas’ valuable blog Enduring America is providing a countdown to Iranian “Students Day” on December 7. On that day, the Green opposition plans another show of strength in the streets. In preparation, the regime is arresting student leaders and issuing dire threats.
Iran loses clout in Arab world | csmonitor.com →
Scott Peterson, the talented Middle East reporter of the Christian Science Monitor, and his colleagues have written an illuminating account of how Iran’s internal problems and its heavy-handed crackdown on the opposition has undermined its legitimacy not only with its own people but also with the rest of the Middle East. As a revolutionary power that was perceived as the only regional state...