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Category Archives: Iran
Wikileaks: Israel ruled out military option on Iran years ago
What a bombshell! This should deflate Israeli threats to bomb Iran – Ha’aretz: Senior defense officials ruled out an Israeli military attack on Iran’s nuclear sites as early as five and a half years ago, telegrams sent from the U.S. … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, Iran's Nuclear Program
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Iranian exiles ‘must leave Iraq’ by years end
BBC: Iraq’s government has said members of an Iranian exile group must leave the country by the end of the year, after deadly clashes with security forces. The People’s Mujahideen Organisation of Iran (PMOI) would be forced out of its … Continue reading
Army says no to ‘Khomeini rule’ in Egypt
AFP: Egypt will not be ruled by “another (Ayatollah) Khomeini,” the country’s military said on Monday, in reference to the cleric who led Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, the official MENA news agency reported. “Egypt will not be governed by another … Continue reading
Iranian foreign minister invites Egyptian counterpart to Tehran
In case you’re wondering, this is a disaster for US-Israeli policy of isolating Iran and a major triumph for Iran. AlMasry AlYoum: Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has invited his Egyptian counterpart, Nabil al-Arabi, to visit Tehran to improve … Continue reading
Iran Dominates US Response to Arab Spring
New York Times: The mullahs in Tehran, noted Thomas E. Donilon, the national security adviser, were watching Mr. Obama’s every move in the Arab world. They would interpret a failure to back up his declaration that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi had … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, Libya
Tagged Iran, Libyan Revolt, US Foreign Policy
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Breaking with the Past: Egypt’s Emerging Foreign Policy
This is for pro-Israelis who are in denial about the tectonic shifts taking place in the Middle East – Jerusalem Post: Egyptian Foreign Minister Nabil El-Araby said Tuesday that Iran has historically rooted relations with Egypt as a neighboring country, … Continue reading
Netanyahu is freaking out
In 1979, Egypt, the most powerful Arab country and the leader of the movement against Israel, signed peace with Israel, and left the struggle (and was banished from the Arab League). In the same year, Iran, a one-time staunch ally … Continue reading
Posted in Iran
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Rafsanjani ousted as head of state body
Reuters: Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani lost his position as head of an important state clerical body on Tuesday after hardliners criticized him for being too close to the reformist opposition. The defeat for one of the great survivors … Continue reading
Posted in Iran
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The US: Applying lessons learned from Iran of ’79 to Egypt of ’11
I hate being quoted because journalists often do such a terrible job of correctly conveying the sentiment, sometimes even taking things out of context, but I’m happy with The Michigan Review for quoting me properly: “While the events unfolded, the … Continue reading
What Egypt & Tunisia Tell us About Iran
My article on Juan Cole’s Informed Comment: There has been much debate about whether the recent revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, especially in the latter, will produce a system resembling that of the Islamic Republic in Iran, which was born … Continue reading
Posted in Egypt, Iran, Tunisia
13 Comments
Karroubi’s boldness
I have a lot of respect for Mehdi Karroubi. Don’t hold it against me, I don’t know his entire life story so this isn’t me endorsing everything he may have done, good or bad, but the way in which he … Continue reading
Reza Pahlavi on Revolution
Reza Pahlavi, the one-time heir apparent to the Peacock Throne who pledged to work with then-Defense Minister Ariel Sharon to build a counter-revolutionary army in 1982 (a plan that was aborted after the Sabra and Shatila massacres in Lebanon forced … Continue reading
Posted in Iran, Pahlavis
17 Comments
Protests Spread… Iran, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen…
See the video of protests in Bahrain here. See the video of protests in Libya here. Read the news about Iran here. Read the news about Yemen here.
How Tunisia Gave Life to the Arab Regimes’ Worst Nightmare
You can just picture it now, the Saudi king Abdullah smacking ousted Tunisian president Ben Ali beside the head for succumbing to the Tunisian revolt. He would have preferred him to stay put no matter what. The Arab regimes’ have … Continue reading
Posted in Egypt, Iran, Middle East, Tunisia
Tagged Egyptian Revolution, Green Movement, Tunisian Revolution
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Why Cairo 2011 is not Tehran 1979
Much of the political right and the pro-Israeli camp are fearmongering that the Obama administration should not demand Mubarak’s resignation, which Obama has not done because the “democracy” that the US championed in Iran in ’09 does not apply in … Continue reading