Tensions have increased between Iran and Azerbaijan in the past few weeks. However, relations between the two neighbours were unstable even earlier, especially following the war between Azerbaijan and Armenia last autumn.
Ebrahim Raisi, the eighth president of Iran, has taken over at a time when the Islamic Republic is facing a series of major potential crises. Over the next several decades, these crises could have consequences that will not only affect Iran itself, but may reverberate across the region as well. This article will address the 13 crises facing Raisi’s government and Iranian society more broadly.
Iranian authorities have failed to provide accountability for at least 72 deaths in custody since January 2010, despite credible reports that they resulted from torture or other ill-treatment or the lethal use of firearms and tear gas by officials, said Amnesty International following yesterday’s reports of yet another suspicious death in custody.
Leaked surveillance footage from Evin prison showing appalling abuse of prisoners serves as a chilling reminder of the impunity granted to prison officials in Iran who subject those in their custody to torture and other cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment, Amnesty International said today.
Iranian security forces resorted to unlawful use of force, including birdhsot, and mass arrests to ruthlessly crack down on predominately peaceful protests that have erupted in various locations across Iran in recent weeks, said Amnesty International. Activists, protesters and bystanders swept up in the wave of arrests, including, children have been subjected to enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment.
Iran’s security forces have deployed unlawful force, including by firing live ammunition and birdshot, to crush mostly peaceful protests taking place across the southern province of Khuzestan, Amnesty International said today. Video footage from the past week, coupled with consistent accounts from the ground, indicate security forces used deadly automatic weapons, shotguns with inherently indiscriminate ammunition, and tear gas to disperse protesters.
WASHINGTON, July 14 (Reuters) - The image on the alleged Iranian intelligence operative's device was chilling: A graphic showing photos of two Iranian dissidents captured overseas. Next to them was a picture of a journalist U.S. prosecutors say he intended to kidnap and the caption "are you coming or should we come for you?"
The last decade has seen historic political upheavals across the Middle East and North Africa: a tsunami of popular uprisings that have brought down several dictators and led to momentous transformations in political consciousness, if not always to democratic outcomes. But the last decade has also seen a concomitant counter-revolutionary roll-back across the region: authoritarian regimes, entrenched elites, ruling classes, deep states, and reactionary forces have marshalled considerable resources to torpedo these movements from below.[1]
Fervent cries of “Death to America,” endless castigations of the “Great Satan” and frequent comparisons to dogs and pigs — Iran’s leaders rarely have a good word for the U.S. But there's one American who to this day is revered in the Islamic Republic, and who even has his own statue in this northwestern Iranian city: Howard C. Baskerville.
As expected, Judiciary Chief Ebrahim Raisi won Iran’s presidential election in a heavily engineered contest that saw the lowest voter participation rate in presidential elections since the formation of the Islamic Republic. Considering Raisi’s lack of experience in foreign policy and economic affairs, both areas in which Iran faces formidable challenges, the success of his administration will depend to some extent on who he will pick for his cabinet.
