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Political Theory
Why the Iranian Elections Are a Turning Point
Ramin Jahanbegloo 7 March 2016

Unlike what many may think, elections in an illiberal country like Iran are not only a political show. Their outcome serves as a test of strength among Iran’s competing power centers. Over the weekend, the Iranian people went massively to the polls to elect members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly, the parliament, and the 88 members of the Assembly of Experts, which is in charge of selecting the next supreme leader to replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. This was the first time that the two political bodies were elected simultaneously.
Political Theory
Iran’s 2016 elections: candidates and power clashes. What is at stake?
Marina Forti 24 February 2016

In Iran the time has come to call voters to the polls. “Even an influential minority will make the difference in the next parliament,” said reformist candidate Mohammad-Reza Aref only a few days ago addressing a crowded assembly of young supporters of the National Determination Party (as reported by the Financial Times’ correspondent). Similar appeals have been made by President Hassan Rouhani.
Sociology
Iran, a Journey Through the “Great Change”
Expectations and risks of the Rouhani Era
Marina Forti 27 May 2015

Tehran – One front page headline reads “Delegation of U.S. oil companies to visit Tehran.” Others instead announced that “Trade delegations follow one another.” There have even been headlines stating “Crowds of foreign investors prepare to invade Iran,” with English-language Iranian newspapers not holding back in their use of superlatives and one column saying that Iran is the “last frontier” for international investors. Expectations are high, extremely high.
Political Theory
Why the West Needs to Reach an Agreement with Iran on the Nuclear Issue
Emma Bonino interviewed by Antonella Rampino 5 November 2014

Emma Bonino, Italy’s former minister of foreign affairs, has returned from Iran, where, with a group of European and Arab experts on Middle Eastern affairs organised by the European Council on Foreign Relations, she attended a two and a half hour long briefing with Foreign Minister Zarif. However, returning from the country from which, as Italy’s Foreign Minister, she was the first to sense a strong signal of political change when the reformists won, Emma Bonino has brought a warning: “Should negotiations on nuclear issues fail, the only real chance of beginning a stabilisation process for the entire region would be lost.”
Political Theory
Presidential Elections in Iran. All Set to Choose Ahmadinejad’s Successor
Antonella Vicini 14 June 2013

After the final frantic hours of election campaigning, Tehran and the rest of the country now await voting results. Since 8 a.m. over 50 million people have been called upon to choose between six candidates, Said Jalili, Baqer Qalibaf, Ali Akbar Velayati, Hassan Rouhani, Mohsen Rezaei and Mohammad Gharazi. Of these, according to Interior Ministry data published on Sunday, 1.5 million will be voting for the very first time, meaning they turned eighteen after June 2009. There are 60,000 polling station and in Tehran, which has 14 million inhabitants in its constituency, there are 6,000 polling stations set up in mosques, schools, banks and even mobile ones with 12,000 booths.
Political Theory
Presidential election 2013, reformists cornered in Tehran
Giuseppe Acconcia 12 February 2013

Iran, 14 June’s next Presidential elections are upon us. And, in Tehran there is a confrontation between conservatives close to the Supreme Leader and hardliners backed by the outgoing President-in-office, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The space is too small for other fronts. Iranian reformists remain excluded from political life with two of their leaders, Moussavi and Karroubi, key players of the anti-regime protests in 2009, still blocked under house arrest. Yet, this time above all tensions could be caused by the severe monetary crisis that is hitting the country and causing an increase in prices without precedent. However, on the eve of the elections Iranian authorities are still counting on anti-American propaganda and repressive actions against the reformist press.
Political Theory
Iran – Supreme Leader vs. President: 1-0
Roberto Toscano 5 March 2012

Elections in Iran have always had a contradictory meaning. On one hand, they have always been less than free and fair, even when the polls were basically correct, (meaning not materially rigged), because of the vetting of candidates by the Guardian Council. On the other, they have been a flexible mechanism measuring the relative strength of the different components of the regime. Not a democracy, certainly, but a sort of pluralistic oligarchy.
Religion
Mohammad Khatami, Reformism from ‘Within’
10 December 2011

By Nicola Missaglia Seyyed Mohammad Khatami, famous for having been the fifth president of the Islamic Republic of Iran between 1997 and 2005, is an Iranian Shiite intellectual, philosopher and theologian who belongs, without doubt, to the varied world of Islamic reformism.
Books
Mostafa Mastur’s “Pig Bone and Leper’s Hands”. A powerful introduction to contemporary Iranian society
it
Roberto Toscano 19 September 2011
One is immediately captured by an incredible rhythm, a narration that is apparently broken but is on the contrary coherent and fully unitary. It is almost a script ready for a movie. What came to my mind was Altman’s “Short cuts”, which is not surprising, since Mastur is the Farsi translator of Raymond Carver, the author of the literary work from which that movie was drawn.
Religion
Shirin Ebadi, battling for rights
it
5 August 2011
By Nicola Missaglia Jurist and Nobel Prize winner Ebadi took the lead in sponsoring an International Women’s Day in Iran, as well as a series of protest events against Iranian family law. In addition to having published numerous books, among them, Iran Awakening, A Memoir of Revolution and Hope (Milan 2006), as well as The Golden Cage, Three Brothers, Three Choices, One Destiny (Milan 2008), Ebadi founded the Defenders of Human Rights Centre in Iran and the Society for Protecting the Child’s Rights. These two organizations are NGOs for the defence of human rights, which focus on strengthening the legal status of women and children in Iran.