Isfahan is known as the city of bicycles, a reputation forged by its many cycling lanes, a bike-sharing system, and a government that actively promotes biking — that is, unless you are a woman. The prosecutor in Iran’s third largest […]
Category: News & Analysis
Isfahan Prosecutor Bans “Sinful Act” of Women Riding Bicycles
Citing domestic Islamic religious decrees and common law, Isfahan city prosecutor Ali Isfahani announced on May 14, 2019, a ban on female bicyclists. “Based on fatwas by religious scholars as well as the law, bicycling by women in public spaces is a sinful […]
Old grudges, new weapons… is the US on the brink of war with Iran?
While American hawks talk up an ‘imminent’ threat from Tehran with no hard evidence, echoing the start of the Iraq conflict, hardliners are in the ascendant in Iranby Simon Tisdall Sat 18 May 2019 15.07 BSTFirst published on Sat 18 May 2019 15.00 BST For […]
Trump, frustrated by advisers, is not convinced the time is right to attack Iran
National security adviser John Bolton listens as President Trump meets with Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán in the Oval Office of the White House on Monday. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post) By John Hudson , Shane Harris , Josh Dawsey and Anne Gearan May […]
At least 62 people killed in Iran floods as US accused of blocking aid
Iranian government criticised over response to crisis that has left thousands displaced The death toll from two weeks of flooding in Iran has risen to 62 as frustration mounts inside the country at the government’s handling of the crisis and an international […]
The last total revolution turns 40
The Iranian revolution was the last grand illusion of the 20th century. by Hamid Dabashi I can close my eyes and hear the chants: “Marg bar fascism! Marg bar fascism!” It was a fine summer day in July 1979. I […]
Remembering the ‘Iranian Spring’ of 1979 — Before the Ayatollahs Took Over
By Mahmood Delkhasteh LONDON — The most dramatic moment of the 1979 Iranian revolution was Black Friday. Within a few days, the Shah was shaken by two subsequent mass demonstrations against his regime and, in order to prevent a third one, declared […]
Pompeo’s Anti-Iran Tour Faces Obstacles of a Fractious Middle East
By Edward Wong and Ben Hubbard RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — In a barnstorming tour that took him to eight countries in one week, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo burned with one central message: “The need to counter the greatest threat of all in […]
Iran’s Official Figures Indicate Alarming Unemployment Rate Later This Year
The official unemployment rate has reached 27 percent among young Iranians and over 40 percent among university graduates, says Omid Ali Parsai, chairman of the Iranian Statistical Center. Parsai added that some 550 thousand jobs have been created in Iran […]