After seven decades of oppression, Iranians yearn for democracy and are willing to risk their lives to win it.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Ayatollah Khomeini
Displaying 1 - 20 of 23 articles
Increasing numbers of Iranians want a government of the people, not a monarchy or an Islamic theocracy.
Iranian women have often used images of actions such as singing and dancing unveiled to show what freedom means to them and to protest the Islamic Republic’s gender oppression.
The protesters have been strongly supported by Iran’s actors, musicians and athletes who have been among those arrested, imprisoned and tortured.
Morality police first appeared in Iran soon after the Islamic Revolution of 1979. But similar forces were present in parts of the Middle East even prior to the date.
The veil as a symbol of oppression has once again moved to center stage in Iran, but it’s important to know about the history of veiling – and mandatory unveiling.
A scholar of Iranian politics explains how Iranians have organized resistance movements for the past several decades while risking arrest and public flogging.
The attack on Salman Rushdie promptly led to speculation on whether the attacker had been influenced by the 1989 fatwa against the author. A scholar explains what a fatwa is, and isn’t.
The fatwa against Salman Rushdie has political significance beyond the threat to free speech.
Some of the major events in US-Iran relations highlight the differences between the nations’ views, but others presented real opportunities for reconciliation.
Trump recently warned Iran that the US could target its cultural sites. Many of Iran’s cultural sites carry deep religious meaning for a global Shii community and such a threat risks alienating them.
Even when countries have broken ties with each other, they can communicate – as the US and Iran did just a few days ago.
Hostility to Iran’s revolution from both the West and in the region is as virulent now as it was in February 1979.
Reformers have tried to modernise Iran for decades but have failed mainly due to the country’s powerful theocracy. And then there are those who want to overthrow the regime altogether.
The novel goes to the heart of Muslim religious beliefs and challenges some of its most sensitive tenets.
Iran’s young “daughters of the revolution” are protesting hijab laws and demanding equal rights. They’re the ultimate symbol of female resistance on this International Women’s Day.
11 activists have died in prison since Iran’s mass protests were crushed in January. Now, some detainees’ families are keeping a daily vigil outside jails. It’s a sign that unrest in Iran is not over.
Although the unrest that shocked Iran’s ruling elite appears to be over, there are several reasons to think this won’t be the last time disaffected citizens take to the streets.
The Iranian president will finally get a parliament that backs his reforms. But much still stands in his way.
Two of Iran’s more moderate political factions have joined together to make sure they’re not shut out of parliament.
Top contributors
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Affiliated Faculty of Bioethics, Religion, and Society, Department of Religious Studies, DePaul University
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Senior Lecturer in Sociology, University of Manchester
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Henry J. Leir Professor of Practice in Economics of the Middle East, Brandeis University
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President, University of La Verne
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Senior Lecturer in International Relations, University of Sussex
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Senior Lecturer: Politics, History and International Relations, Aston University
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Professor of Sociology, Dartmouth College
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Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, Emory University
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Associate Professor of the Practice of International Relations, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
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Professor in the History of Art Islamic Art and Architecture, Yale University
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Assistant Professor, University of Central Florida
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Professor of Anthropology, Emerita, Concordia University
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Professor of History and International Affairs, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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PhD Candidate in Political Science, University of Oregon
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Associate Professor of Comparative Literature and Middle Eastern/South Asian Studies, University of California, Davis
