As Iran enters a new century, many old challenges remain
A student visiting the Museum of Historical Cars on a field trip looks at a carriage (R) used by Qajar dynasty King Nasser al-Din Shah and the coronation carriage of King Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, in Tehran March 10, 2011. The carriages were both built in Austria and are housed at the museum which opened in 2001 and has a collection of rare antique cars belonging to the former royal families of Iran and private collections. REUTERS/Caren Firouz
For Iranians, the upcoming spring solstice marks not just a new year,
Nowruz, but also the beginning of a new century on their calendar the year 1400. Despite significant advances in education, modernization, territorial cohesiveness, and purported regional influence, many of Iran’s old trials and tribulations remain. These include dysfunctional politics and gridlock and economic insecurity and inequality for a sizeable share of its eighty-three million population, as well as conten
Reza Shah: Development without democracy IranSource by Shaul Bakhash
Farhad Besharati, 54, holds a bust of former Shah of Iran Reza Shah Pahlavi at his travel agency in Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United States July 14, 2015. Iran and six major world powers reached a nuclear deal on Tuesday, capping more than a decade of negotiations with an agreement that could transform the Middle East. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson
Reza Shah, a middle-ranking officer in Iran’s Cossack Brigade, seized power in 1921 and, for the next twenty years, dominated and transformed Iran as commander of the army, prime minister, and finally king.
He relied on a number of highly qualified often Western-educated Individuals whom he appointed to ministerial and administrative posts and whose ideas for reform and modernization he espoused. These men knew that their country had fallen behind the times and they aspir
For many decades, Iran and Saudi Arabia have been bitter rivals, but not over women. If there was a competition, it was only over whose government could impose more limitations on their female population.
The mullahs had another reason to neglect the Baluch, a majority of whom are Sunni Muslims and deeply suspicious of a regime based on a militant Imamist ideology. During the past four decades, an accumulation of grievances has pushed the Baluch into a rebellious mood.
According to a study by the Ministry of the Interior, almost 30% of the death sentences that make the Islamic Republic the second nation with the highest number of executions in the world, after China, are passed on the Baluch, who account for 1.8% of Iran s population.
Tehran faces a cash flow problem that has also led to cuts in stipends for Hezbollah, Hamas, and Bashar al-Assad.
The Real Roots of Iranian Anti-Americanism
U.S. policymakers may want to amplify the Islamic Republic’s supposed grievances against the United States and show sophisticated understanding by apologizing and offering concessions to make amends, but this would mean embracing a distortion of history and a prioritization of perception over reality.
The 1979 seizure of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran shocked not only Americans but also the world. It was an unprecedented event. As the embassy fell and for 444 days after, television transmitted images of raw Iranian hatredtoward the United States. Footage of “Death to America” rallies became commonplace, even after the release of the hostages.