Monthly archive : "February, 2019"

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: The report was both surprising and alarming. Iran’s foreign minister Javad Zarif announced his resignation from his post the same day Syrian President Bashar al-Assad paid an unannounced visit to Tehran to meet Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani. As the country’s top diplomat, Zarif was not invited to any of Assad’s meetings, giving rise to speculation that his exclusion from the planning of the trip by a foreign head of state offended him and persuaded him to step down. The Iranian daily Ghanoon was closed down on Tuesday for publishing a photo of President Assad cordially hugging Iran’s Supreme Leader with a two-word headline: “Uninvited...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Over the past decade, Greece has had a difficult time with a staggering debt crisis and financial stagnation. It began in 2010 just a few years after the global financial crisis and was so severe that Greece could have left the eurozone, the region that uses the euro as a common currency. Some analysts claimed that if Greece had ditched the euro, the financial shocks worldwide would have been more striking than when Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, which was the largest bankruptcy in US history. Greek officials underestimated the depth of the debt crisis and the ensuing recession, and they had to ask for international assistance from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Greece...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: It has been more than 300 years since Iran and France launched official diplomatic ties. The initial contact between the two nations dates back to the late 16th and early 17th centuries, when the kingdom of Persia tried to secure support from European nations against a powerful neighbor: the Ottoman Empire. France was a popular destination for Iranian kings wishing to spend their time abroad, and Iran was a strategically important country at the crossroads of the Silk Road with unlimited access to the Persian Gulf. This made Iran-France relations particularly close. The two countries maintained cordial ties until the Islamic Revolution of 1979, which changed the political landscape of the Middle East...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: In June 2016, a majority of Britons decided in a referendum that the United Kingdom should leave the European Union in what has become known as Brexit. The UK is the first EU member to have triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which initiates a procedure for the withdrawal from the union. The country is scheduled to leave on March 29. Brexit has been an area of debate for the past three years. The biggest impact has perhaps been the polarization of British society and the decline of tolerance in a country where immigrants constitute the backbone of the national economy. Although leaving the European Union will render the UK more independent in establishing trade agreements with other...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: To travel is a universal human right. There are references to this in national constitutions and international covenants, such as Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. People travel for a number of reasons: experiencing new cultures, reuniting with loved ones, attending sports events, studying or receiving medical treatment, just to name a few. Tourism contributes to around 10.4% of global GDP. It creates jobs, boosts foreign exchange and empowers local economies. According to a 2018 report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), travel and tourism created 313 million jobs in 2017. It is expected that the industry will create 413.5 million jobs in 2028. The report predicts...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: There are few reports with encouraging overtones emerging from North Korea. The country is mostly known for its contentious nuclear program and pervasive state violations of human rights. Yet despite suffering from international sanctions for so long, North Korean leaders describe it as a self-reliant socialist state. The cult of personality existing around the ruling Kim family can be found in various manifestations of North Korean popular culture. Kim Jong-un’s speeches often carry epic themes eulogizing the majestic nation and its steadfastness in the face of economic sanctions and external pressure. Human Rights Watch describes North Korea under the leadership of Kim Jong-un as one of the...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Iranian society is divided more than ever. Social fragmentation stems from a range of issues, including foreign policy failures, widespread corruption, a lack of transparency, restrictions on the media and the infringement of civil liberties. The US withdrawal from Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) — aka the nuclear deal — has added to Iran‘s rifts by pitting a large group of people against the government and turning Iranians against each other. The result is that ordinary people are expressing themselves in ways that might sound irrational, such as fiercely clashing with fellow citizens on social media. For the people, there are not many reasons to be happy, and this public...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Instagram, widely used in Iran among small business owners, students, influencers and even senior officials, is the latest social media application to come under scrutiny and a potential ban.  On 3rd January, BBC Persian quoted the Vice-Attorney General of Iran Javad Javidnia saying that a decree has been issued for banning the Facebook-owned application, with the members of the High Council of Cyberspace unanimously determining that the platform should be “filtered.” The minister of information and communication technology, Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi, was seemingly taken by surprise by the announcement.  “Assuming that the statements of the Vice-Attorney General are correct and that he...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Iran on Monday marked the 40th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, when the Pahlavi dynasty collapsed, paving the way for the founding of the Islamic Republic. Around the world, pundits and academics are passionately debating the events of 1979 in think-tanks, universities, and media outlets. The US government will convene a conference this week attacking the Islamic Republic from Warsaw, Poland. And the Iranian government is marking the anniversary in its own way: bombarding citizens with programs on state television about the breakthroughs of the Islamic Republic, inaugurating roads, hospitals and schools across the country and organizing feasts and speeches in villages, towns and large cities...