Okba Mohammad:The Syrian armed conflict is 13 years old, with the various sides backed by regional and international powers such as Iran, Russia, the United States and Israel. Since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel, the dynamic has changed and its intensity has [...]Read the full article
The economic situation has grown worse with the pandemic and the restrictions on women’s rights have been tightened since Ebrahim Raisi became president in 2021. Poorer and with very limited opportunities, Iran’s women are calling for equal rights, and their demands and grievances are resonating [...]Read the full article
Every year, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iranians travel to Armenia for a short break from the social and political suppression in their country, despite an ongoing conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.Read the full article
From the cyberattacks on Israeli hospitals that affected thousands of people, to those that paralysed most of Iran’s petrol pumps for several days, cyber warfare in the Middle East is on the rise and its targets are increasingly [...]Read the full article
Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde:Sanctions have long had a bad reputation for both failing to achieve results and for causing much more suffering to the vulnerable civilian populations they ostensibly aim to protect than to the political and economic leaders they [...]Read the full article
Today Mohammad Mossadegh is the subject of renewed attention thanks to the parallels that can be drawn between the devastating sanctions that the US has imposed on Iran’s oil exports since 2018 and the embargos that paralysed Iran’s economy following the nationalisation of the country’s oil [...]Read the full article
“Turkey doesn’t care about the environmental assessment of the Ilısu Dam because the whole project is constructed from the viewpoint of politics.”Read the full article
The two regional enemies, who for decades have imposed the strictest versions of Islam, are beginning to relax their rigid social codes and give their citizens some room to breathe.Read the full article
To prevent the first continent-wide extinction of a big cat, the Asiatic cheetah, Iranian and international scientists are calling for conservation exemptions to the sanctions.Read the full article
With small gigs in cafés or on the street, Tehran’s music scene has been expanding in recent years. Pop music has benefited most from this opening, whilst rock is still struggling to make it to the stage.Read the full article
“Despite cultural and religious differences, the women of Maraveh Tappeh have similar stories to women in other parts of Iran. But the unfinished childhood of the young girls of the region is a forgotten story that resonates with women far and [...]Read the full article
Jesús A. Núñez Villaverde:It is in nobody’s interest to provoke a direct confrontation in the duel being fought by Riyadh and Tehran. While Riyadh is more protected, Tehran has greater military power, considerable human resources and an iron will.Read the full article
“Iran likes to portray itself as a theocratic democracy, run according to Islamic principles. In reality, it is a kleptocracy, where the people in power use their authority to steal from working people.”Read the full article
“If workers were allowed to form their own organizations and elect their own leaders, how could the government continue to prevent the general public from electing their own representatives to the national legislature?”Read the full article
“Lagoons and rivers have dried up due to Iran’s dam policy. Several wetlands across the country have been turned into wastelands.”Read the full article
Yemen’s 2011 Nobel Peace Prize winner Tawakkol Karman speaks to Equal Times about the prospects for peace in her war-shattered landRead the full article
“We insist on our goals, on the basis of non-violence and civil rights,” says human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has been fighting to overturn her ban on practicing law in IranRead the full article