Monthly archive : "December, 2021"

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Armenia has suffered the wounds of abiding traumas over its history that still haunt the average citizen, ranging from the 1915 genocide in which nearly 1.5 million people were exterminated to the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh War where the small state lost large swaths of territory to Azerbaijan. Yet Armenian President Armen Sarkissian is upbeat about the country’s future, saying he believes a new generation of Armenians pushing for change can transform Armenia into a truly “global nation.” Sarkissian, a former ambassador to the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Netherlands, and who served a brief stint as prime minister between 1996-97, is also looking to the Armenian diaspora of some 7-10 million...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Tensions between Armenia and Azerbaijan have been a mainstay of world news. Most journalists who talk to the leaders of the two countries start their conversations by directing vexed questions about why conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave has dragged on for so long and what the future holds for relations between two neighbors whose differences seem unbridgeable. But Armenia is not all about its skirmishes with Azerbaijan. The first world country to officially adopt Christianity as a state religion in 301 AD, Armenia is the wellspring of an ancient civilization and has fared notably well in cementing its democratic credentials. It scores better than Singapore and Malaysia in the Freedom House’s...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Negotiations to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), popularly known as the Iran nuclear deal, which had come to a halt in June pending a power transition in Tehran, resumed in Vienna on November 29 for the first time in the administration of President Ebrahim Raisi, but after two rounds of intense haggling, the prospects for a breakthrough seem dim. Talks recommenced this week after a brief respite requested by Iran on Friday, December 24. Interlocutors involved in the delicate horse-trading have bluntly blamed the Islamic Republic for the current gridlock, unimpressed that the new negotiating team appointed by President Raisi has been making demands that breach the scope of the JCPOA...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: As Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi fills out his recently installed ultra-conservative administration, a prominent Tehran university is supplying the lion’s share of top and mid-ranking appointments – marking a notable reversal of the previous Rouhani administration’s preference for Western university graduates. Named after the sixth Shia Imam, Imam Sadiq University (ISU) was established in 1982 with the mission of synthesizing Islamic sciences and conventional humanities and bridging the gap between academic institutions and religious seminaries. In Iran’s official lexicon that means instilling Islamic themes in university syllabi taught by professors who predominantly remain secular-minded....

Kourosh Ziabari - Foreign Policy: Since taking office, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and other top officials in President Ebrahim Raisi’s administration have repeatedly floated their new “balanced foreign policy” approach that prioritizes developing closer ties with neighbors and bolstering alliances with Asian countries. Shortly after his confirmation as the nation’s top diplomat in August, for instance, Amir-Abdollahian wrote on his Instagram page that he would pursue “a balanced, active, dynamic, and smart foreign policy based on mutual respect, prioritization of relations with neighbors and Asia, development of balanced relations with all regions of the world, and the strengthening of the role...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: While Iran finds itself throttled by US economic and banking sanctions that are still a far cry from being repealed, a new layer of complexity has been added to the country’s economic misfortunes – the government has put a wholesale ban on imports of home appliances from South Korea, and is gearing up to apply bans on other foreign products. On September 29, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei instructed President Ebrahim Raisi to ban the importation of home appliances, specifically from “two South Korean firms” which he didn’t name, reportedly to stave off the insolvency of domestic manufacturers. He noted in his brief memo that the domestic firms had only just begun to stand on their...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: There is no shortage of critical commentary, analysis and coverage of the undemocratic practices of the Iranian government and its defiance of its international obligations. In newspapers and on cable television and online platforms, a fusillade of alarming updates is fired every day at Iran’s nuclear program, its imprisonment of journalists, political activists and dual nationals, and its regional escapades. To be sure, governance structures are flawed, social fissures are deepening rapidly, promises of adherence to human rights are mere window-dressing and, because of inveterate mismanagement, the national economy is collapsing, as are the livelihoods of millions of Iranians. Against this...