Social and Political

Al-monitor – Iranian social media has been buzzing about the news of the alleged arrest of Abdol Rasul Dori Esfahani, a member of the Iranian nuclear negotiation team. Conservative media outlets were the first to reveal the name after Tehran prosecutor said last week that a dual-national was arrested for spying for British Intelligence. However, no government official as of …

al-monitor  — The politics of the Middle East are undergoing rapid changes, as demonstrated by recent developments in Turkey’s domestic and foreign policies. These shifts will undoubtedly impact the regional and foreign policies of Turkey’s neighbors, in particular those of Iran. For Tehran, the two primary factors are Turkey’s decision to redefine its ties with Israel and Russia and the …

RFL/RE – The death of a 12-year-old Afghan girl in Iran has prompted that country’s health minister to publicly defend a national ban on organ transplants for foreigners that some were initially blaming for the tragedy. Latifeh Rahmani died last week at a hospital in Shiraz, where she had reportedly been hospitalized for liver problems resulting from a genetic disorder, …

lobelog – In the Wall Street Journal last weekend, the paper’s chief foreign affairs reporter, Jay Solomon, unloaded a 2,500-word essay looking back at the Iran nuclear deal a little more than year after the accord was signed. Solomon, a measured and well-sourced reporter, examined how the deal had, after this short period of time, affected Iranian politics. The piece …

PayvandNews – Just one week after Russian bombers began flying missions over Syria out of an Iranian air base in Hamadan, Tehran has revoked its permission for Moscow to use the base. These missions never would have begun if Tehran had not agreed that they could take place. But Russia’s public declaration that they were occurring had a negative impact …

RFL/RE – Critics say proposed new legislation in Iran would mean an end to any form of independent journalism in the Islamic republic while playing into the hands of the country’s security organs and hard-line conservative judiciary, who would like to see even tighter state control of the media. cartoon by Ali Miraei, Iranian daily Ghanoon Journalists in Iran are sounding …

Al-monitor – Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif’s surprise Aug. 12 visit to Turkey may always be remembered in Ankara, as well as in Tehran, for having opened a new chapter in regional cooperation between the two neighbors. The visit was the first by an Iranian official since the failed July 15 coup to overthrow Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. …

PayvandNews – Critics have often blamed President Rouhani of Iran for blindly following the neoclassical-neoliberal model of capitalism. The critical problem with Mr. Rouhani’s economic policies, however, is more than just following the dominant economic model of neoliberalism; more gravely, it is following the worst aspects of that model. One such disturbing aspect is the unregulated and out-of-control financialization of …

RFL/RE – Iran’s parliament speaker Ali Larijani says Russian warplanes are still using an Iranian military base to strike targets in Syria. Larijani made the comment a day after an Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Russia’s use of an air base in Hamadan had ended “for now.” Speaking at a session of the parliament on August 23, Larijani suggested Russian …

RFL/RE – Iran’s Foreign Ministry says Russia’s use of a military base in Hamadan for striking targets in Syria has ended for now. Foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi made the announcement in an August 22 news briefing. “Russia has no base in Iran and is not stationed here. They conducted this [operation] and it is finished for now,” Ghasemi was …