Yassamine Mather assesses the situation in the Middle East following the US assassination of Qassem Soleimani and Iran’s missile revenge gesture This week has been a godsend for leaders of the Islamic Republic. First, the drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, the commander in chief of the Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Then Donald… Continue reading A godsend for the regime
Category: Articles
Nice British bobby
Yassamine Mather compares Radio Farda’s reporting of Iran with its touching depiction of Britain. Recent protests against the withdrawal of state subsidies for fuel have seen 200, maybe 300, people killed – mostly, as far as I can tell, by the security forces. This human slaughter by the Islamic Republic regime should be strongly condemned.… Continue reading Nice British bobby
Threat of war is real
With Iran partially withdrawing from the nuclear deal and the US imposing yet more sanctions, tensions are rising fast. This is an edited version of an opening given by Yassamine Mather on the political situation in the Middle East A common question journalists ask these days – if they are not asking about Brexit –… Continue reading Threat of war is real
Raking in fortunes
It is workers who have been hit the most, writes Yassamine Mather, while those close to the regime have benefited enormously We all remember Hillary Clinton’s promise of “targeted sanctions” against Iran’s Islamic republic. They were deployed to ‘moderate’ the Shia government’s regional policies, as well as its internal human rights record. Of course, anyone… Continue reading Raking in fortunes
Forty years of inequality
The US administration preferred Islamists to leftists, says Yassamine Mather Commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the February 1979 uprising in Iran has been marked by dozens of scholarly seminars in Europe, numerous documentaries produced by the Persian-language media, as well the usual military parade inside the country. Documentaries produced outside Iran concentrate on memoirs… Continue reading Forty years of inequality
Israel and Saudi Arabia in cahoots
Saudi plans for regional domination are not meeting with much success, writes Yassamine Mather More than six weeks after the death of Jamal Khashoggi we know a lot more about his tragic plight after he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. However, it is still unclear who ordered his execution, what will be done about… Continue reading Israel and Saudi Arabia in cahoots
The Iranian opposition: fishing in muddy waters
Repression and exile have clouded the view of Iranian anti-government forces, writes Mohamad Moein in Tehran Throughout history governments have faced opposition to their rule and the current period is no exception. These days in Iran , the opponents of the Islamic Republic are known as the opposition. In English speaking countries, the term opposition… Continue reading The Iranian opposition: fishing in muddy waters
No to unprincipled alliances
Iranian workers should be careful about who they associate with, writes Yassamine Mather In the aftermath of the protests of late December and early January, there is a consensus that the majority of Iranians face a dire economic situation, while the poorer sections of the working class face hunger and complete destitution. Yet exiled royalists… Continue reading No to unprincipled alliances
Drumbeats of war
Beirut is now the focus of the burgeoning Saudi-Iranian rivalry The political saga involving Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Iran continues to make headlines and we are nowhere near a resolution of the situation. In the meantime, the war in Yemen – scene of another proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia – is entering… Continue reading Drumbeats of war
Redrawing the map: why is Trump abandoning the nuclear deal?
War will follow war In a single speech on October 13, lasting just a few minutes, Donald Trump managed to succeed in doing what had seemed impossible for decades – uniting the Iranian government and the almost all the opposition to the regime (ironically including sections of Trump’s own ‘regime change from above’ gang), as… Continue reading Redrawing the map: why is Trump abandoning the nuclear deal?