Worldcrunch
Tehran’s revolutionary regime is suddenly turning to Iranian nationalism hoping to rustle up public support for itself as it faces Israeli and U.S. threats. But who in Iran could believe it now, when everything it has done for years has shown its contempt for the very notion of historical roots and national interests.
Citing the costly or disastrous cases of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya as warnings to the West to steer clear of regime change in Iran is mistaken and cynical. If transitions failed before, it was for a lack of planning and vision, not because toppling tyrants is a bad idea.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, now 84, has been in power since 1989. What will happen when he dies? His death may lead to a hybrid military-Islamic regime, with members of the Revolutionary Guards imposing a more pragmatic yet equally corrupt regime. It is time for the opposition to find a unified leader they can rally behind and that can help mobilize Iranians in the transition.
By defending their fundamental rights, Iranian women are effectively fighting for the rights of all in the Middle East. Their victory could spell an end to Islamic fundamentalism that spouts lies about “family values” and religion.
After the Sunni fundamentalist Taliban rulers retook control of Afghanistan, there were initial, friendly signals exchanged with Iran’s Shia regime. But a recent border skirmish recalls tensions from the 1990s, when Iran massed troops on the Afghan frontier.
Whether out of cynicism, greed or basic lack of knowledge, the West has willingly embraced the fabricated vision of the Islamic Republic of Iran as a slightly unruly, but essentially legitimate government with which it can do business.
In Lebanon and Iraq, two countries that Iran’s clerical regime has long tried to control, some Shias are fed up with Tehran’s machinations and affiliated militia groups.
TEHRAN — Dubbed “the Prophet’s perfume,” Shia clerics in Iran are offering a chillingly wrong response to the coronavirus outbreak. Iran’s Medical System Organization lodged a formal protest this week against clerics entering hospitals to administer a liquid remedy directly to patients’ lips and mouth area, according to the Farsi service of Voice of America. […]
-Analysis- BEIRUT — Since its independence in 1943, Lebanon has been exposed to the vicissitudes of the Middle East’s complicated geopolitics, from the creation of Israel, which led to a massive influx of Palestinian refugees on Lebanese soil, to the recent war in Syria, not to mention Israel’s occupation of southern Lebanon. Since 2005 and […]
-Analysis- The recapture of Mosul by the Iraqi armed forces, with the support of the international coalition led by the United States, is a real achievement. ISIS has seen its biggest military conquest reversed, and its dream of an Islamic caliphate destroyed. But none of this means that the biggest terror organization the world has […]
A project in Tripoli, Lebanon’s second biggest city gives women from the rival Alawite and Sunni communities a chance to work together.
KISH — The island of Kish is a far cry from the rest of Iran. Although it’s just 19 kilometers from the mainland, this Persian Gulf outpost features the kind of open hedonism that would be shocking in other parts of the country. As hard-line politicians and religious figures target so-called Western imports such as […]
SPOTLIGHT: IRAN TO BOYCOTT HAJJ PILGRIMAGE Tensions between Shia Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia are once again threatening to escalate. The two archenemies are already entangled in proxy wars against each other, in Syria and Yemen, and diplomatic ties between the two have been cut since Saudi Arabia executed a Shia cleric at the beginning […]
DESPITE VIOLATIONS, SYRIA TRUCE STANDS Saudi Arabia accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime and its ally Russia of “ceasefire violations” yesterday, Al Arabiya reports. “We are discussing this with (the 17-nation) Syria Support Group,” co-chaired by Russia and the United States, said Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir. Despite the accusations of 15 ceasefire breaches of […]
German behavioral scientist Johannes Siebert is on a Pentagon team researching the motives of ISIS followers. Not all are driven by religion, and some even see themselves as humanitarians.
-Op-Ed- PARIS — In the 1970s, in the aftermath of Richard Nixon’s visit to China, commentators talked about the Washington-Moscow-Beijing triangle. These days, in the Middle East, there is another triangle: between Riyadh, Tehran and Washington. The problem for the region’s stability is that this triangle is absolutely dysfunctional. Indeed, the only way to understand […]
-Analysis- ISTANBUL — Saudi Arabia silenced Ayatollah al-Nimr by executing him. He was an open critic of the Saudi royal dynasty and the cruelty against the Shia, while a longtime advocate for democratic elections. The Saudis lumped Nimr in with 46 al-Qaeda members who were charged with terrorism in order to ruin his reputation. You […]
Many now blame the U.S.-led Iraq invasion of 2003 for the spread of terror in the Middle East. But what would the region look like today, if the Iraqi dictator hadn’t been ousted?
IRAN VIOLATED MISSILE BAN, UN SAYS A United Nations Security Council’s Panel of Experts has accused Iran of violating a UN resolution by test-firing a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead on Oct. 10, Al Jazeera reports. “On the basis of its analysis and findings, the Panel concludes that Emad launch is a violation […]
After centuries of disagreements over the legacy of the Prophet Muhammad, the split between Islam’s two main schools of thought is more apparent than ever, as the two theocratic regimes of the Middle East are increasingly hostile towards each other. “Shias, Sunnis: Why is Islam torn apart?” the French newsweekly L’Obs writes on Friday’s cover. […]
A view from Turkey on the new conflict that is not only shaking the map of the Middle East, but costing the lives of innocent victims.
Egypt’s participation in the military operation “Decisive Storm” against the Houthis in Yemen is a question of interests, alliances and cold, hard cash.
Supervised and armed by Iran, young Shia volunteers have launched a major battle against ISIS in Tikrit. But taking revenge on local Sunnis is not likely to pacify the region. And what about Uncle Sam?
Shia militiamen, Sunni clans, al-Qaida, Iran and Saudi Arabia all have their hands in the rapidly shifting sands of the poorest state in the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen is everybody’s business.
In a secret location in the Lebanese capital, a 60-bed hospital treats ISIS and other Islamic extremists whose backers must pay cash in advance. Enemies share doctors where medicine is a blind business, and cash is king.
For fear of an Iran-led rise of Shia, authorities from Riyadh to Ankara fed the radicalism that now eyes them as the primary target.
Sectarian differences have long created problems for some marriages among Shia, Sunni and others. But with the death and hatred of war, romantic tragedies abound.
Released in late May after two years in prison, Nabeel Rajab has taken his cause to foreign capitals. But will the West challenge the oil-rich nation’s human rights record.
How did a city known for its ethnic and religious mix roll over for a band of Islamist radicals? In the wake of the ISIS conquest of Mosul, the spectre of it spreading to the capital looms.
Though Russia’s proposed diplomatic solution casts doubt over a U.S. military strike in Syria, Lebanese fear being caught in the middle if the fire spreads across the entire region.
BBC, AL JAZEERA (Qatar), AFP Worldcrunch BAGHDAD — Coordinated bombings in Iraq’s capital of Baghdad killed at least 44 people and wounded 157 more Wednesday, the BBC reports. Aimed at the Shia Muslim community, bombs exploded during rush hour in most of the city’s Shia neighborhoods and in two mixed towns to its south. A […]
AMMAN – The majority of Syria’s 25 million-strong population is Sunni, and while activists increasingly blame the Alawite-led shabiha Ba’ath operatives and mercenary Hezbollah forces for keeping the Assad regime in place, it is in fact the Sunni population that is quietly propping it up. Whether out of fear, genuine ideological support or financial interest, […]
BBC NEWS (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), AP, REUTERS Worldcrunch BAGHDAD – A series of bomb attacks killed at least 13 and wounded dozens on Thursday morning in Iraq, in the latest surge of violence sweeping the country, officials told AP. According to the police, most of the attacks happened in Baghdad, including a car bomb […]
AFP, BBC (UK), VOICE OF AMERICA (USA) Worldcrunch KARACHI – The death toll has reached at least 45, with 150 wounded from a powerful blast in a mainly Shiite Muslim area of Karachi. There are reports that the explosion was set off by Sunni terrorists, although by midday Monday no group had claimed responsibility for […]
BBC, AP Worldcrunch BAGHDAD – A series of car bombings in Iraq on Friday have left at least two dozen dead and scores injured. The targets of the attacks, which included a double bombing at a market in northern Baghdad that killed as many as 14, appear to be Shia population, reports the BBC. Officials […]
AL JAZEERA, BBC, LAHORE TIMES (Pakistan) Worldcrunch KARACHI/QUETTA/SWAT– Pakistan has declared three days of mourning after a string of bombings killed more than 100 people, while nine others died in separate shootings. Photo: CIA via Wikipedia In the northwest city of Quetta, a suicide bomber entered a snooker club on Thursday that was close to […]
BBC NEWS (UK), AL JAZEERA (Qatar), REUTERS, AP Worldcrunch BAGHDAD – A series of car bombs targeting security forces killed at least 14 people across Iraq, leaving dozens wounded. Car bombs and roadside devices exploded almost simultaneously in Baghdad and several other Iraqi cities. The wave of attacks took place on the eve of the […]
Maged, a young officer who’s defected from the Syrian police, says his countrymen often never even knew each others’ religious and tribal backgrounds. “We used to live in peace,” he says, recalling life before the past year of violence. “But the regime has managed to breed sectarianism in people.” Syria has not yet turned into […]
BBC NEWS, THE GUARDIAN (UK), WASHINGTON POST, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS (US) Worldcrunch MANAMA – A Bahraini civilian court has upheld jail sentences against 20 leaders of last year’s pro-democracy demonstrations, including eight prominent activists facing life in prison, reports BBC News. Among those convicted to life were Abdulhadi al Khawaja, who went on a 110-day […]
AFP (France), THE NEW YORK TIMES, BLOOMBERG NEWS (U.S.), AL JAZEERA (Qatar) Worldcrunch LEBANON – Persian Gulf states urged their citizens to leave Lebanon on Thursday after more than 30 members of the Syrian opposition movement were abducted by a Lebanese Muslim Shiite clan, in retaliation for the kidnapping of one of its members in […]