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BBC – UK Parliament votes on military intervention in Syria
In this September 9, 2013 edition of BBC Arabic Newsnight, I discuss the planned UK House of Commons vote on potential British participation in a US-led strike against Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.
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Javad Zarif & Iran’s foreign policy under Hassan Rouhani
Javad Zarif and Hassan Rouhani – Iran’s Foreign Minister and President respectively – pay great attention to widely publicising the details of their foreign policy. Their unprecedented Twitter presence is a clear example of the new administration’s wish for greater international transparency and public diplomacy. Another such effort came earlier this month in the form of a Foreign Affairs op-ed by Javad Zarif; a piece both highly informative and expertly written. It certainly joins the list of must-read articles for…
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Iran gains ground against Western sanctions designations
As the US is planning to the tighten economic sanctions on Iran, the Voice of Russia asked Matthew Machowski, a research fellow in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of London, about the implications of such sanctions on the Iranian economy and President-to-be Hassan Rowhani’s response. First of all, it is important to remember that the new sanctions package has not yet been agreed and the Senate’s Commission on Foreign Relations have confirmed that they will only…
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Kto wygra wybory w Iranie?
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad skończył właśnie dwie kadencje prezydenckie – osiem lat u władzy w Iranie. Jego prezydentura doprowadziła do jeszcze bardziej zaciętej walki dyplomatycznej pomiędzy Iranem a światem Zachodnim i znacznej deprecjacji irańskiej gospodarki. Jego negowanie prawdziwości holokaustu i niepohamowana retoryka nienawiści doprowadziła wielu w Tel Avivie i Waszyngtonie do coraz bardziej zagożałej kampanii dążącej do ataku na irańskie instalacje nuklearne i ostatecznego zniszczenia reżimu klerykalnego w Teheranie. Dzisiejsze wybory prezydenckie w Iranie to dzień szczególny. Wszyscy kandydaci dopuszczeni przez Radę…
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Democracy & Authoritarianism in Iran
Italian Institute for International Political Studies has recently published a very useful graphic representation of Iran’s dual power structure. The struggle between democracy and authoritarianism (theocracy) has constantly been at the very base of Iran’s political life since the Islamic Revolution.
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Iran’s 2013 Presidential elections
Speculating the outcome of the elections in Iran is a tricky game. Nevertheless, I dared say a few words about it to the Voice of Russia this morning. Here is a recording of that interview.
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Obama and Iran’s 2013 elections: The role of presidents in the nuclear crisis
This briefing paper was published by the UK House of Commons Library and can be found here.
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BBC World Service – Argo & Iran’s history. Fact or fiction?
Here is a recording of my latest interview on BBC World Service ‘World Have Your Say’ programme, in which I discuss the latest Hollywood movie about Iran’s Islamic Revolution and the hostage crisis – Argo by Ben Affleck. Argo is certainly a very well scripted, action-packed fiction thriller worth the Academy Award it received. Andrew O’Hehir, a well-known film critic at the Salon.com, is right to argue that: ‘With America’s tormented relationship with Iran back on the global front burner,…
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Maps of Iran
Inspired by a colleague of mine – David Roberts, I decided to re-post here some of the best and most detailed online maps of Iran. Dr Michael Izady of Columbia University, New York, created them with some incredibly meticulous attention to detail. They definitely represent a cartographic heaven for all the Iran-watchers. All these maps, and more, are available at The Gulf 2000 Project. Please click on the images should you want to see them in larger resolution. You can…
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Nuclear Weapons and Iran- Lecture at Queen Mary University of London
This is a recording of a lecture I delivered on 1st November 2012 at the School of Physics and Astronomy, Queen Mary, University of London. This is a short introduction to issues related to nuclear enrichment, nuclear weapons technology, international legal restrictions on nuclear technology and use, and the latest developments surrounding Iran’s nuclear energy and alleged weapons programme.
