Posts tagged : "Iran"

Kourosh Ziabari - Responsible Statecraft: Like much of the world, Iran is also engulfed by the deadly outbreak of the novel coronavirus. Thus far, 4,232 people have died and more than 60,000 Iranians have contracted the virus. The country is the epicenter of the disease in the Middle East. Aside from its health impacts, the noxious pandemic has had a clear message for the Iranian leadership: Iran needs viable international partnerships, and to alleviate adversities of this magnitude, it has to disentangle itself from isolation and be part of the international community. Evidently, there are ultra-conservatives and hardliners in Iran, whose vision for the future of Iran is the establishment of an “Islamic North Korea,” bereft...

Kourosh Ziabari - Responsible Statecraft: Iranians across the world, joined by communities in countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, India, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, are celebrating the beginning of Persian New Year and the arrival of spring. Nowruz is a set of festivities that mark the Vernal Equinox and the commencement of the solar calendar year. The ancestral feast is believed to be 3,000 years old, and is inarguably the most revered holiday of Iranians reinforcing their national identity and giving them a rare chance to feel proud of their history and culture at a time their country is effectively a pariah state shunned by friends and foes alike....

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Iran, like the rest of the world, has seen the novel coronavirus wreak havoc on public health, the economy, education, and transportation. But in the Islamic republic, the pandemic is also exposing social and religious rifts that have been simmering under the surface for decades, and which come to light at times of crisis. The Iranian authorities on March 16 announced that the shrine of the eighth Shiite Imam Reza in the holy city of Mashhad and the shrine of his sister, the revered Fatimah bint Musa, in the pilgrimage city of Qom, would be closed down to preclude the spread of Covid-19, as both of these sites are used for congregational prayers. Qom was the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: When the Iranian government announced that schools and public offices would be closed from February 23 to curb the spread of coronavirus in Iran, many Tehran residents took precautions and stayed home. But thousands of others flocked to the northern province of Guilan on the shores of the Caspian Sea, seeking a respite from the virus-hit capital, camping and fresh air. That region has since been identified as a flashpoint in the health crisis, following only Tehran and the holy city of Qom for the highest number of cases and fatalities, with 218 confirmed cases and four deaths. In late February, a 25-year-old nurse working on the coronavirus response team at Guilan province’s Milad Hospital,...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Iran’s fatal downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet earlier this month has reverberated to the world of soccer, chipping away at the Islamic Republic’s right to host matches against its Asian neighbors. On January 18, the Asian Football Confederation sent a letter to four Iranian clubs competing in the 2020 edition of AFC Champions League, notifying them that they would be banned from hosting their home games inside Iran, and that these matches had to be moved to neutral venues. The governing body of soccer in Asia cited “security concerns” in explaining why the Iranian sides were denied their hosting rights. There was little doubt that the fatal downing of a civilian aircraft belonging to...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: The fatal downing by Iran of a Ukrainian passenger jet earlier this month touched a nerve across Iran, but few places have felt the collective loss more sharply than Sharif University of Technology – the alma mater of 14 of the victims. Known as Iran’s MIT, Sharif University of Technology is arguably the top higher education institute in Iran, with an extremely low admission rate. Only some of the best and brightest students manage to be accepted to its programs. “These young academics were the treasures of their community and country,” said Fatemeh, an undergraduate student at Sharif University who lost an acquaintance and a distant relative on the flight. “They were not appreciated in...

Kourosh Ziabari - ODVV: In July 2015, Iran and the major world powers came to a detailed and comprehensive agreement that put an end to years of controversy over Iran’s nuclear activities and was lauded as a landmark non-proliferation accord. The 159-page document came to be known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, stipulated certain restrictions on different aspects of Iran’s nuclear program and in return emancipated Iran from the shackles of international sanctions that had gripped its economy for decades. The normalization of Iran’s relations with the international community was one of the by-products of the JCPOA, and the United Nation’s nuclear watchdog confirmed in consecutive reports that Iran was holding to...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: As Iranians took to the streets in cities and towns across the country last month in response to a massive fuel hike tax, the northern province of Guilan stood out as an exception. Home to more than 2.5 million people, and bordering Russia from its perch on the Caspian Sea, Guilian’s muted reaction to the protest movement offers a window into the economic inequalities in the Islamic Republic today, as well as the resignation felt by many Iranians under sanctions. Figures by the Statistical Center of Iran indicate Guilan is the fifth richest province of Iran, outpacing 26 provinces in terms of household net worth thanks to its agricultural resources. According to the Rice Research Institute of...

Kourosh Ziabari - Asia Times: Iran this week was gradually reinstating internet and cell phone data services to its 80 million people, after 10 days of an unprecedented state-imposed blackout. But the ramifications of the nationwide cuts, put in place November 16 in response to an outburst of domestic dissent over petrol taxes, and still in the process of being fully restored, are still being felt. Academics and businessmen, web developers and travel agencies, journalists and startups were among those professions and sectors most impacted by the shutdown, during which time Amnesty International reported more than 100 protesters were killed. Hojjat Mehrabi, a member of a product managing team at Aparat, an Iranian video sharing...

Kourosh Ziabari - Lobelog: “Throughout history the secret to success has been love, freedom, and justice. … Building a better tomorrow filled with freedom, justice, and love is the goal of every nation. We should all strive to achieve this goal. … The search for freedom, justice, peace, and security is only possible if there is freedom of choice. … Liberty cannot be limited, confined, or negotiated. It is a common human principle.” These words are not parts of the UN Charter or the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are excerpts from tweets posted by Iran’s former firebrand President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the course of past months. Ahmadinejad’s comments inarguably earned him renewed public attention at a time...

Kourosh Ziabari - Fair Observer: Iran is a country with a rich culture. Those who know about its ancient history probably agree that it shouldn’t be judged based on the events after the 1979 revolution. Indeed, there are many people across the globe who simply know Iran through the mainstream media’s portrayal of the oil-rich nation and the stereotypes associated with it: a theocratic, anti-Western country with a controversial nuclear program. This negative view has discouraged many people — mostly in the West — from visiting the country. Yet there are travel connoisseurs who have explored Iran, a nation associated with names such as Persepolis and Avicenna. Reinier van Oorsouw is a filmmaker and photographer from the...

Kourosh Ziabari - Al-Monitor: Harsh verdicts issued against journalists and political activists show that the cost of advocacy for reform and civil liberties is still high in Iran despite pledges by moderate President Hassan Rouhani to change the status quo. Marzieh Amiri, a journalist with the Reformist Shargh, was sentenced to 10 years and six months in prison and 147 lashes last month. She was arrested while covering an International Workers Day rally in Tehran. According to Reporters Without Borders, she is now one of 10 female journalists behind bars in Iran. Another Iranian journalist recently handed a heavy sentence is Kioomars Marzban, a filmmaker and satirist who was convicted of security charges including...