Iraq's elections, scheduled for March 7, have already led to a spike in violent attacks throughout the country. Now, in Washington, there's concern that Iran is attempting to influence those elections.
Pro-government marchers flooded Iran's streets yesterday, on the anniversary of Iran's revolution. In fact, pro-government rallies far overshadowed opposition protests. And government supporters in Iran are dominating the online world as well. Social media channels like twitter and youtube had little more than a peep from opposition members. Has Iran's revolutionary spirit seen its end?
Siavash Ardalan is the host for BBC Persian TV's "Your Turn." Gary Sick is an Iran expert at Columbia University.
Today is the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution, and to mark that date, Iranians took to the streets in protest this morning. For a look at the challenges - both internal and external - that Iran is facing, we're joined by Stephen Kinzer, author of "All The Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror" and a forthcoming book"Reset: Itan, Turkey and America's future."
Iran's nuclear chief says the country will begin enriching uranium to twenty percent strength — up from 3.5 percent, and build ten new nuclear facilities over the next year. While the construction of that many facilities in one year is probably not achievable, and while it takes ninety percent enrichment to make a nuclear bomb, the reaction from the United States and France was swift and harsh: The two nations called for even more sanctions on Iran. We ask how great the threat of a nuclear Iran really is.
Iran apparently took "no action" towards complying with a U.N. mandate to turn over its nuclear fuel for processing by the end of 2009, and as political protests continue, opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says he's "not afraid to die" for his cause. We check in for the most recent news from Iran with Kasra Naji, special correspondent for BBC Persian Television.
Since the disputed presidential elections in Iran over the summer, there have been a series of protests, the latest, on Sunday, ending in at least 8 fatalities. How does today’s unrest in Iran compare – if it does at all – to the demonstrations which preceded the Iranian Revolution 30 years ago in 1979? We talk with Baqer Moin, the former head of the BBC Persian Service, and Hamid Dabashi, a professor of Iranian studies at Columbia University, about whether the country is headed for another revolution.
Violence erupted in Tehran yesterday, leaving at least 8 people dead. The deaths came after police fired upon protesters; one of those killed was the nephew of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the leading opposition candidate in fall's presidential election. L.A. Times Middle East correspondent Borzou Daragahi believes more protests are on their way in Iran. Iran is also facing President Obama's deadline of December 31st to sign a deal that would make Iran ship out its enriched uranium in exchange for nuclear fuel. The U.S. has said that they will pursue tougher U.N. sanctions on Iran if they do not sign the deal.
We look ahead to this week's agenda with the help of Reihan Salam, fellow at the New America Foundation and the author of, "Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream
There are new clashes in Iran this morning between opposition supporters and government forces in the city of Isfahan. Opposition supporters had gathered for a memorial service for the dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who died over the weekend. The cleric's death has re-ignited the opposition movement in Iran and there are more big demonstrations expected in the coming days. The BBC's Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne has been following the story and joins us from London.
Since the disputed presidential elections in Iran this past summer, the government has cracked down on protesters, the opposition movement and the media. In the last several days (and since the death of noted cleric Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who had frequently spoken out against the government), protestors have again been taking to the streets. For an update on the political environment in Iran, we call Beirut to talk with Borzou Daragahi, the Middle East correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, who has managed to continue reporting from Tehran.
We're watching more turmoil in Iran this morning. Over the weekend, 87-year-old Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, one of the Islamic republic's founding leaders, passed away in his sleep. The revered ayatollah was a fierce critic of the nation's current leadership ... and the country's opposition took to the streets in mourning yesterday.
Joining us is Robert Worth, the New York Times Beirut bureau chief.
As Iran's political turmoil continues, many Iranian opposition supporters have fled to neighboring Turkey. They're escaping what Amnesty International last week described as the worst human rights situation inside Iran in twenty years. BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne has just returned from meeting members of the Iranian opposition in exile in Turkey, some of whom still fear for their safety.
We've uncovered our crystal ball and are peeking into the week ahead with our Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, and Jonathan Marcus, BBC diplomatic correspondent. They'll discuss what's next for health care reform in the Senate as Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) throws a wrench into the works ... again; President Obama's meeting with some of the heads of the largest American banks; the continuing climate talks in Copenhagen; and continuing nuclear troubles with Iran. All that and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi getting socked in the face with a statuette.
President Obama was in part awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his outreach to the Muslim world. The administration has made Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan top priorities, but some analysts say Obama has neglected much of the Middle East. We ask Reza Aslan, author and contributing editor to the Daily Beast, and Abderrahim Foukara, the D.C. Bureau Cheif of al-Jazeera, to evaluate the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to the president's Middle East diplomacy.
Kelly Niknejad joins us this morning to update us on continued protests against the Iranian government. She is editor in chief of the Iranian news website The Tehran Bureau.
We're watching the story unfold in Tehran today, where student protestors have gathered to express their opposition to the government. Our partner, the BBC, is reporting that riot place have fired live ammunition and used tear-gas and batons against the anti-government protestors. We talk with Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian studies and comparative literature at Columbia University.
Iran announced yesterday it wouldn't comply with a demand by the United Nations' nuclear agency to stop work on a once-secret nuclear fuel enrichment plant, and said it would construct 10 more such nuclear plants.
The New York Times chief Washington correspondent, David Sanger, joins us to talk about the latest move by Iran in its nuclear manuevering, and how the international community might respond.
BBC Tehran correspondent Jon Leyne joins us to examine the most recent move in Iran's nuclear chess game. Iran yesterday said it would not comply with a demand by the International Atomic Energy Agency to stop work on a once-secret nuclear fuel enrichment plant, and escalated the confrontation by declaring it would construct 10 more such plants.
Thirty years ago today, Iranian students seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran. Fifty-two hostages were held for 444 days. Barry Rosen was a State Department press attaché in Tehran in 1979 and was one of the hostages held by the students. He joins us with a look at the hostage taking that changed the U.S. political landscape and the implications for modern Iran.
For more about this pivotal point in U.S.-Iranian history, here is part I of Voice of America's documentary:
Marcus Mabry, international business editor for The New York Times, and Adam Mynott, from the BBC, join us to take a look at the consequences of Abdullah Abdullah pulling out of the just-cancelled run-off elections in Afghanistan. Also on the agenda: the upcoming 30th anniversary of the Iran hostage crisis, and October's employment numbers, due out later this week from the Labor Department.
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