IRAN: Khatami Calls for National Reconciliation

Amid intensified factional fighting among conservatives who dominate the presidency, the parliament, and the office of the Islamic Republic's Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an appeal for national reconciliation and forgiveness by a former reformist president is making a major splash in Iran's political discourse.

OP-ED: Iran’s Greatest Spiritual Leader

Iran's officially recognised "spiritual leader" today may be Ayatollah Khamenei, but for hundreds of years before the current establishment of mullahs and ayatollahs, Iranians of all creeds have looked to another spiritual leader: Jalal ad- Din Rumi.

A Bad Week for Iranian Diplomacy

As U.S. President Barack Obama unveiled a new economic support plan for fledgling democracies in the Middle East and set down principles for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, Tehran called back two ships carrying demonstrators who had intended to show solidarity with beleaguered Shiites in Bahrain.

Sunni Monarchies Close Ranks

Reports that the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is considering some form of membership for two non-Gulf states – Jordan and Morocco – confirm that the conservative Sunni monarchies of the Middle East are closing ranks against Iran, Shiite-led Iraq and the democratic wave sweeping the region.

Iran’s Two Executives Play a Lose-Lose Game

The very public disagreement between Iran's Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over the sacking of the intelligence minister, Heydar Moslehi, is turning out to be a losing game for both sides.

Amid Turmoil, a Nuke-Free Middle East May Be in Jeopardy

A proposed international conference on a nuclear weapons-free Middle East, tentatively scheduled for 2012, may be in jeopardy amid the growing political turmoil sweeping across the Arab world - and Israel's fears of negative fallout on its own security.

Washington Failing to Understand Iran’s Opposition

The popular uprisings that have brought turmoil to Arab countries across the Middle East and North Africa have also underscored Washington's dearth of knowledge about forces on the ground in authoritarian states in the Middle East. One of the largest questions bedeviling policy makers has been the composition of various emerging opposition movements.

Friends or Foes, Syria’s Neighbours Wary of Assad’s Ouster

As Syria accelerates a violent crackdown on opposition demonstrators, the country's rising instability and uncertain future are already reverberating beyond its borders in Iran, Israel, Lebanon and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf.

Arab Spring Stalls as U.S. Defers to Saudi “Counter-revolution”

As the so-called Arab Spring enters its sixth month, it appears to have run into seriously wintry headwinds.

Smart Planning for the Global Family

When it comes to population growth, the United Nations has three primary projections. The medium projection, the one most commonly used, has world population reaching 9.2 billion by 2050. The high one reaches 10.5 billion. The low projection, which assumes that the world will quickly move below replacement-level fertility, has population peaking at eight billion in 2042 and then declining.

OP-ED: Misunderstanding Bahrain’s Shia Protesters

Listening to the rhetoric coming out of Tehran, one might assume that Bahrain's Shia opposition is relying on help from its co-religionists next door. But, in fact, the opposite is true: the Shia opposition wants nothing more than for Tehran to stay out of the sectarian dispute unfolding in the tiny kingdom.

Iran Battles U.S. At UN Human Rights Council

Forty-nine United Nations member-states have co-sponsored a resolution asking for a special mechanism to monitor Iran's human rights situation, which is expected to be voted later this week at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).

BAHRAIN: Saudi Intervention Likely to Bring Regional Blowback

Saudi Arabia's incursion into neighbouring Bahrain is a risky move that could further inflame domestic unrest in both countries and give a propaganda boost to Tehran's campaign to cultivate the Arab street.

MIDEAST: Obama Besieged by Policy Challenges

Rarely, if ever, has a post-World War II U.S. president been beset by so many foreign policy challenges and uncertainties in one key geo-strategic region at the same time.

Views of U.S. Influence Steadily Climb Under Obama

For the third straight year, views of the United States continued to improve during 2010, according to the annual BBC World Service Country Rating Poll released Monday.

WOMEN’S DAY: Rallies Planned in Iran Despite Crackdown

Women's rights campaigners are hoping for a strong turnout to public rallies set to be staged across the Islamic Republic of Iran next Tuesday, despite a government crackdown on opposition demonstrators in recent weeks.

US: Iranian “Terrorist” Group Courts Friends in High Places

For years now, supporters of the Iranian opposition group the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) have lobbied in vain to have the organisation taken off the U.S. State Department's terrorism list.

Iran Steps Up Crackdown on Opposition Leaders

On Monday night, Iranian security agents raided the home of opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, separating him from his wife, searching his house and arresting his son, Ali Karroubi, according to the local media outlet Saham News.

As Talks Stall with Iran, U.S. Steps Up Propaganda War

Egypt's revolution appears to have stiffened the spine of the Barack Obama administration when it comes to Iran.

U.S.-IRAN: Unrealistic Agenda Undermined Nuke Talks

No observers of U.S. relations with Iran over the past three decades were surprised when late-January talks in Istanbul failed to hint at, let alone deliver, a breakthrough that would ease tensions between the Islamic Republic and the West.

Behind the Spin, Egypt Gives Tehran Political Heartburn

Judging from official propaganda in both Iran and much of the Arab world, the uprisings that toppled Tunisia's dictatorship and threaten Egypt's authoritarian regime are the direct descendent of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.