Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

October 15, 2024 | Janatan Sayeh |

‘Axis of Resistance’ or ‘Axis of Espionage?’ Iran’s struggles to staff leadership

The Kuwaiti Al-Jarida newspaper reported on October 13 that Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed the Quds Force deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard...

October 9, 2024 | Seth J. Frantzman |

Iran’s FM Abbas Araghchi taps Vahid Jalalzadeh for new role

The appointment does not seem to fit well with Jalalzadeh’s previous record as the head of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee and some of his other roles.

September 4, 2024 | |

Iran Summons Australian Ambassador for Instagram Post Celebrating LGBTQ+ Awareness Day

Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Australia’s ambassador to Tehran over an Instagram post by his embassy celebrating an LGBTQ+ awareness day, Iranian state media reported on September...

July 3, 2024 | Behnam Ben Taleblu, Janatan Sayeh

Iran’s ‘election’ seeks to consolidate regime control

Iran’s Guardian Council, a 12-person body appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that approves candidates for office, permitted six out of 80 potential candidates to run in the special presidential...

July 1, 2024 | |

Iranian Election Registers Lowest Voter Turnout Since 1979

The Iranian presidential election on June 28, which now moves to a runoff vote between two candidates, recorded the lowest voter turnout in the Islamic Republic of Iran’s history....

June 27, 2024 | |

Iran’s Supreme Leader Pushes for ‘Maximum’ Turnout in Presidential Election Amid Voter Disillusionment

On the eve of Iran’s June 28 presidential election, the Islamic Republic’s leaders have bolstered efforts to drive voters to the polls. Yet the clerical regime faces widespread...

June 25, 2024 | |

Biden Administration Allows Iran to Run Absentee Voter Stations on U.S. Soil

The Biden administration is permitting Iran to set up absentee voter sites for its upcoming presidential election on U.S. soil, Voice of America (VOA) reported on June 22. Iranian...

June 24, 2024 | Saeed Ghasseminejad |

Why Does Iran Hold So Many Elections?

Constant—and highly stage-managed—elections are a useful tool for Iran's theocratic leadership to remain in power.

June 22, 2024 | Behnam Ben Taleblu, Janatan Sayeh

Iran’s Presidential ‘Election’ Seeks to Consolidate Regime’s Control

Iran’s Guardian Council, a 12-person body appointed by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei that approves candidates for office, has permitted six out of 80 potential candidates to run in the special presidential...

June 3, 2024 | |

Former Iranian President Ahmadinejad Vying to Succeed Raisi

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered as a presidential candidate on June 2. Elections to select a successor to the late Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter...

May 20, 2024 | Reuel Marc Gerecht, Ray Takeyh

The Death of Iran’s President Does Not Bode Well

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has not always seen eye to eye with his country’s presidents. Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani nudged the Islamic Republic too close to the West for the supreme leader’s...

May 10, 2024 | Ben Cohen |

What Biden didn’t say about antisemitism

What aspects of the surge in hatred would have convinced a besieged Jewish community that the leader of the free world is not just an ally, but someone who fundamentally grasps the nature of contemporary threats?

April 24, 2024 | Seth J. Frantzman |

Iran’s president in Sri Lanka, as Argentina seeks arrest of Iran’s interior minister

The AMIA suicide bombing occurred on 18 July 1994 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and targeted the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina, a Jewish Community Center.

April 18, 2024 | Saeed Ghasseminejad, Janatan Sayeh

U.S. Presidential Elections Loom Over the Iranian Rial

Tehran’s inflation troubles present a critical vulnerability for the clerical regime.

June 16, 2023 | Emanuele Ottolenghi |

Tehran Takes Caracas

On Monday, Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi began a five-day tour of Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua, three Latin American countries governed by authoritarian, anti-Western regimes. Raisi’s three predecessors...

January 10, 2023 | Behnam Ben Taleblu, Saeed Ghasseminejad

U.S. Should Sanction Tehran’s New Central Banker

Iran’s government appointed Mohammad Reza Farzin as the new governor of the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) in late December as the country’s national currency, the rial, plummeted against the U.S. dollar....

January 9, 2023 | Mark Dubowitz |

Obama’s Anti-Imperialist Fantasy Bears Bitter Fruit

The longer we refuse to acknowledge the mistakes of the Iran deal, the greater a price we pay

January 2, 2023 | Eric S. Edelman, Ray Takeyh

Iran’s Protesters Want Regime Change

America Should Lend Them a Hand

September 3, 2022 | Reuel Marc Gerecht, Ray Takeyh

Waiting for Thermidor: America’s Foreign Policy Towards Iran

The Islamic Republic of Iran may be on an accelerated schedule for revolutionary decay, at least if compared to the USSR.

May 12, 2022 | Reuel Marc Gerecht, Ray Takeyh

Iran’s Hard-Liners Believe They’re Winning on Nuclear Weapons

In the Tehran echo chamber, Putin’s war is another indication of the cost of trusting America.