Tag Archives: revolution

Iran’s Embattled Supreme Leader: A Test for Ayatullah Khamenei

The fate of Iran’s Islamic revolution now rests in the hands of an enigmatic cleric who is little understood at home, let alone by the outside world. For the past 20 years, pictures of Ayatullah Ali Khamenei, with his oversize glasses, black turban and untrimmed white beard, have adorned shops, government offices and living-room walls throughout Iran. His modest childhood home in Mashhad has become a virtual shrine, his edicts are binding and his powers absolute

Iran 101: Understanding the unrest

For almost a week, tens of thousands of Iranians have taken to the streets in daily protests — handkerchiefs shielding their faces from the pungency of tear gas, fists punching the air, and chants of "Down with the dictator" echoing against buildings. The massive outpouring is a result of a disputed presidential election that the protesters think coronated the incumbent hard-liner, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, over their candidate, Mir Hossain Moussavi

Thirty Years After the Revolution, U.S. Still Struggles to Understand Iran

Tens of thousands of Iranians march across central Tehran to Freedom Square angrily demanding the overthrow of the nation’s leader in favor of an unlikely political leader. The scene describes Iran today, but it could be a snapshot of the Islamic revolution 30 years ago. Then, as now, the protest gradually picked up steam before exploding into a mass movement

What Iraqis Think About Iran’s Election Turmoil

Iraq and Iran have rarely had the luxury of ignoring each other; in the 1980s, the two fought a bitter eight-year war, and more recently, since the U.S. toppling of Saddam Hussein, Iran has taken an active — and some would argue malign — interest in its neighbor to the west.

Would an Iran with Moussavi at the helm look different?

He’s been labeled by many as the "reformist," a man who can take Iran beyond the truculent anti-Western rhetoric of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. So, when Iran’s government announced over the weekend that Mir Hossein Moussavi had lost in his bid to become the country’s next president, young Iranians took to the streets by the thousands alleging ballot fraud

Thousands gather to hear, cheer Iran’s Michelle Obama

Dancing in public in not allowed in Iran, but thousands could hardly contain themselves at a recent presidential campaign rally in the capital city, Tehran. On this day, the deafening cheers were not for presidential hopeful Mir Hossein Mousavi, but rather for his wife — a woman some are calling Iran’s Michelle Obama. The comparisons to the first lady of the United States stem from the role Zahra Rahnavard is playing in her husband’s quest for the presidency.

The Dead Polo Ponies and Their Mysterious Millionaire Owner

Polo fans say few things are as inspiring as watching eight majestic thoroughbred horses maneuver over a 300-yard-long field. But as anyone who was at the U.S. Open polo tournament in Wellington, Fla., last Sunday has attested, few things are as shocking as seeing those same horses stagger and drop dead.