Monthly archive : "August, 2021"

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: When a radical vigilante rammed his vehicle into two women in the Iranian city of Urmia on August 8 after criticizing their flouting of hijab rules, local authorities promised decisive action for the assault after the assailant’s arrest. But like those before him who have assaulted and attacked Iranian women over their state of dress, he’s widely expected to walk free. The attack, which went viral on social media, has reignited debate on compulsory hijab laws, with many questioning the sustainability and practicality of the strict Islamic dress code in place since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s hardline approach to the hijab is distinct from almost every other major Muslim country....

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: With new Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi’s official inauguration, all eyes have turned to his likely pick as foreign minister and the candidate’s view of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal that now hangs in the diplomatic balance. The parliament, or Majlis, says the new cabinet line-up will be revealed early this week. It is widely anticipated that religious traditionalists and hardliners will sweep the board in filling the vacancies. The early conjecture was that Ali Bagheri, a Raisi colleague at the judiciary as the Vice-Chief Justice for International Affairs and a former nuclear negotiator under hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, would get the nod. However,...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Iran and Saudi Arabia are inching towards a rapprochement that, if achieved, would profoundly shift the region’s dynamics, diplomacy and stability. Officials from both sides have recently hailed backchannel talks held first in Iraq and now in Oman as “constructive.” In May, Iraqi President Barham Salih confirmed his country had been hosting quiet talks between the two often bitter rivals. The talks, which started in April, have recently been attended by high-profile delegates, including Saudi chief of General Intelligence Directorate Khalid al-Humaidan and Iranian Deputy Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council Saeed Iravani. The first symbolic breakthrough could be seen as early as...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Unprecedented water shortages in Iran have sparked protests across southwestern Khuzestan that have quickly spread to other regions, a popular uprising that threatens wider stability as authorities violently crack down. Residents of Khuzestan provincial cities have taken to the streets for the past 12 days to demand a swift solution to the water crisis and resignation of local authorities who they believe are corrupt and incompetent. In a show of solidarity, people across Iran in Aligudarz, Karaj, Isfahan, Mashhad, Tabriz, Tehran, Saqqez, Zanjan and various other cities have also taken to the streets, chanting slogans decrying authorities for their perceived endemic mismanagement of Khuzestan. On...