Persian Spring

A last-minute cancellation of a pro-government event in the Iranian city of Mashhad has sparked a bitter conflict between hardliners and reformists and is likely to further undermine the Rouhani government. Mashhad is Iran’s second …

In the past days, the alarming levels of air pollution in Tehran and other major cities have forced schools to shut down for several days, caused health hazards for the local population, and triggered a …

On November 17, Amnesty International published a report that condemned the “macabre propaganda videos” aired on Iranian state-run media outlets that featured “forced confessions” 25 Sunni men Iran executed on August 2, 2016. The report, …

As President Hassan Rouhani is readying for reelection next May, he has come under growing pressure from his reformist supporters to improve the human rights situation in the country. One significant issue of concern for …

Iranian legislators on 1 November approved Hassan Rouhani’s three cabinet picks. This was a move that the Iranian president hopes will help both placate his conservative critics and energize his reformist constituency as he is …

This year’s birthday celebrations of the ancient Persian king Cyrus the Great has created something of a backlash in Iran. On the day of his birthday, a large gathering of Iranians came out to the …

The most senior Shia clerics in Iran met on 27 October with the leadership of the Supreme National Security Council (SNSC). This included Ali Shamkhani, who is the Secretary General at the SNSC. According to …

Just a few days after President Hassan Rouhani removed three of his minister under pressure from his domestic critics, Oil Minister Bijan Zangeneh has come out on the offensive against his critics. Zangeneh is a …

Iran’s dismal human rights record is once again under international scrutiny. On the 7th anniversary of the regime crackdown on the opposition after 2009, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran ran an extensive overview of major …