Here are some most posts, taken from the Archives, that are worth reading for the first time or revisiting for all the good times you had the first time. Enjoy.
SCOTUS pick reflects Obama’s politics
Afghanistan’s no. 1 domestic enemy
500 words on: Iran and Mexico, and Democracy’s growing pains
Has gay marriage hit a tipping point?
Entries Tagged as 'iran'
Old Posts, Renewed
January 21st, 2010 No Comments
Tags: afghanistan · gay marriage · iran · mexico · sonia sotomayor · supreme court
Afghanistan and Iran Rule the Calendar
September 30th, 2009 No Comments
photocredit: The US Army (flickr)
Blink and you will miss it. Two of the most important foreign policy events this year are about to happen. Afghanistan and Iran are at the forefront of all the wonky talk, and for good reason. Last week, the drama at the G-20 summit left Iran looking more like the screw-up, [...]
Tags: afghanistan · ahmedinejad · iran
The Neda Protests: the 40th Day of Mourning
July 30th, 2009 No Comments
As mentioned in earlier posts, in Shia Islam, 40 days after someone’s death is an especially important day of mourning. After a woman protester who would later be named “Neda” (Farsi for “voice” or “the call”) was allegedly slain by Iranian police, she became a martyr and a symbol of the Iranian resistance. Now, 40 [...]
poliPicks
July 3rd, 2009 No Comments
Interesting thing happened last weekend during Pride. Partaking in the annual festivities celebrating the gay community and allies, like me and my crew, is quite an experience. Moods were tempered compared to years before, mainly because of the recent court decision upholding Prop. 8.
Nonetheless, the crowd was partying like it was 2009. At one of [...]
Tags: iran · michele bachmann · poli · poliPicks · Psychology · religion · sears tower · washington post
Blogging, Iranian style
June 25th, 2009 No Comments
Not a laughing matter, but sometimes it helps.
photocredit: Moderatorated
Tags: iran
Ahmedinejad Aims for Obama
June 25th, 2009 1 Comment
Blame the new guy.
Ahmedinejad, after spending days in an undisclosed location, is taking another page out of the “Be Like Cheney” playbook: attack Obama.
The Iranian “president” is claiming Obama had no business criticizing his use of force in the name of democracy. He also claimed that Obama, like Bush, was meddling with Iran and should [...]
Tags: ahmedinejad · iran · neda · obama
Ayatollah Khomenei Offers Veiled Threat
June 19th, 2009 No Comments
One full week after the election that has capitvated the world and Twitter, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomenei spoke. Addressing more than one million assembled at Tehran University, the Ayatollah minced few words when referring to Mir Hossein Mousavi and his legion of followers:
His answer was ominously clear: “Riots after an election put democracy at [...]
Tags: ahmedinejad · foreign affairs · iran · khamenei · mousavi
This is what a revolution looks like
June 18th, 2009 1 Comment
1979, meet 2009.
Huffpo
Huffpo
Huffpo
Obama’s Cairo Speech and its effect on the Middle East
June 18th, 2009 No Comments
Obama himself admitted that no single speech would change the course of history. He might have been selling himself short.
In an interesting piece in The American Prospect, Gershom Gorenberg argues that to say Obama’s speech to the Muslim world two weeks had no effect on what is currently going on in Lebanon, Iran, Palestine, and [...]
Tags: iran · israel · middle east · obama · palestine
Why are people saying Iran’s election was rigged?
June 18th, 2009 No Comments
Instead of ballot stuffing and voter intimidation, Ahmedinejad might have “secured” his re-election by just making up numbers. At least that is what some, including an academic studying the data from Iran’s election, are saying. From The Christian Science Monitor:
Defeated challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi claims that the official result of 62.6 percent for Mr. Ahmadinejad [...]
Tags: ahmedinejad · election · iran · mousavi
Is Mousavi the same as Ahmedinejad?
June 17th, 2009 No Comments
Yes and no.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Mousavi has a conservative record that dates back to the 80’s, when he was one of the first prime ministers after the 1979 Iran Revolution.
He was one of the early supporters of Iran’s nuclear program, and as prime minister he specifically approved Tehran’s purchases of centrifuge equipment [...]
Tags: ahmedinejad · foreign affairs · iran · mousavi · nuclear
500 Words on: Iran and Mexico, Democracy’s Growing Pains
June 16th, 2009 No Comments
Mexican protests in 2006. photocredit: bradblog
When the news declared the conservative from the less than popular incumbent party had won the presidential election, many felt cheated.
Rather than accepting the results and avoiding further confrontation, the opposition candidate decided to flame the fires of protest. Rallies erupted across the country.
In the nation’s capital, the opposition candidate [...]
Tags: ahmedinejad · calderon · democracy · iran · lopez obrador · mexico · mousavi
Iran WashPo poll conclusive–maybe not
June 15th, 2009 1 Comment
Nate Silver to the rescue. The poll I mentioned in an earlier post, conducted by Terror Free Tomorrow and in today’s Washington Post, may carry less weight than I thought (props to SelectiveEcho).
From FiveThirtyEight:
While it is dangerous to make inferences about the preferences of undecided voters [nearly 30% in the poll, along with 15% who [...]
Tags: ahmedinejad · foreign affairs · iran · mousavi
Iran’s Election Aftermath
June 15th, 2009 No Comments
photocredit: Hamed Saber
Maybe this is the international crisis Joe Biden was talking about during the campaign. Maybe this will be the first international test of the Obama administration.
The rattled state of affairs in Iran is dominating the global news cycle. Fraud. Riots. Corruption. Imprisonment. Threats. Iran’s democracy is being called a “charade.” Some consider the [...]
Tags: ahmedinejad · foreign affairs · iran · khameini · mousaiv
poliPicks
June 12th, 2009 No Comments
There’s drama everywhere:
Palin v. Letterman. Ahmedinejad v. Mousavi. Mexican police v. Mexican police. Beckham v. Ronaldo. Makes you want to start a soap opera based solely on the news.
This, along with other much sunnier topics, are inside this weekend’s poliPicks. Enjoy!
Who you gonna call? The police? Sorry, they are out fighting the police: In Monterrey, [...]
Tags: ahmedinejad · foreign affairs · gay marriage · george bush · iran · mexico · obama · poliPicks · ronaldo · stephen colbert · twitter
Iran’s Election, Iran’s Drama
June 11th, 2009 No Comments
photocredit: ali reza_parsi
There’s a very good chance Obama might not be dealing with Ahmedinejad anymore after the weekend.
The presidential election in Iran on Friday is not just of regional interest, but of American and global implications.
There are currently four major candidates in the running: current President and thorn-on-everyone’s side, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad; former prime minister and [...]
Tags: ahmedinejad · foreign affairs · iran
