Articles
His Persian essays in full English translation, and the articles he has written in English for other publications.
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Iran protesters: the Harvard professor behind their tactics
A Christian Science Monitor report by Scott Peterson on Gene Sharp, the retired Harvard scholar of nonviolent resistance whom Iranian authorities blamed for the 2009 post-election unrest. Farsi downloads of his manual…
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Key Iranian Dissident Dismayed By Obama
A Newsmax report by Kenneth Timmerman, reposted on a blog. Sazegara voices deep regret over Obama's remark that Tehran could still regain legitimacy. He had hoped Obama would lead an oil boycott and refuse to deal with…
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As gloating over Iran's internal turmoil tunes down, exercises in the Gulf take off as scheduled
An analytical report reposted on a blog from Arab Monitor. It says Mohsen Sazegara, a former Iranian deputy prime minister and exiled opposition figure, told Al Jazeera that the US administration lacked the courage to…
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Militia Adds Fear To Time of Unrest
A Washington Post report by Tara Bahrampour on the Basij militia's role in Iran's post-election crackdown. It traces the force's origins in the Iran-Iraq war and its role in enforcing moral codes, with analysts saying…
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Dark side of a reformist win in Iran
An op-ed by Mohsen Sazegara in the Boston Globe, written just before Iran's 2009 presidential election. He argues that a Mousavi or Karroubi win would end Ahmadinejad's term but not Khamenei's real power. Recalling the…
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"A House of Reeds"
Mr. Khamenei: In the past few weeks, the media under your command, such as the state broadcaster (IRIB) and Kayhan , have overstepped their bounds and heaped every accusation and insult imaginable upon me. The words of…
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If Only…
In his account of Hussein ibn Mansur al-Hallaj, at the point where Hallaj is being led to his execution and the incited crowd is stoning him, Attar of Nishapur writes: "Then everyone threw a stone. Shibli, to go along…
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Iran and the Caspian
Background The Caspian Sea, also called the Sea of Mazandaran or the Khazar, is the largest lake in the world, with an area of 376,000 square kilometres. For centuries most of this lake lay within Iranian territory, but…
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"In the Clutches of the Demon"
The story begins in the autumn of 1998, at the annual congress of PEN International in Helsinki. Dr. Soroush travels to Helsinki on an invitation he had received from PEN several months earlier to attend the meeting as…
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The Intersection of Three Failures
One: Mr. Khamenei, the Leader of the Islamic Republic, has had three specific policies for Mr. Ahmadinejad and his government. These three policies are: 1. In the foreign arena, the policy of fleeing forward This means…
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"Evin Prison Everywhere"
Dear Faraj Sarkouhi: Unfortunately, I read your recent article titled "A Critique of Verdicts and…" and I was very sorry. Why? For the reasons I will set out below. I came to the conclusion long ago that what goes on in…
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From the Field of Human Rights – Seminar on the Endless Violation of Human Rights in Iran
From the Human Rights Field – Seminar on the Endless Violation of Human Rights in Iran Issue No. 103, Friday, 14 Ordibehesht 1386 Mohammad Tahavori – Washington Prism "What is to be done?" Dr. Stephen Marks, a professor…