Mosaddeq’s preoccupation with the nationalization of Iran’s oil sector derived from his belief that such a venture, once realized, could bring economic prosperity, national autonomy and political sovereignty in its wake. The loss of Abadan Oil Refinery dealt Britain’s prestige a stinging blow at a time when it was struggling to adapt itself to the disintegration of empire and come to terms with the ascendance of the US
Three recent publications provide a fresh perspective of the developments which resulted in the decline of British influence in the Gulf, and the subsequent rise of the US.
Nasrin Soutoudeh, one of Iran’s most prominent human rights and women’s rights activist went on a hunger strike for the second time on October 31st to protest her unlawful detention and ill treatment in Iran’s Evin Prison. Last week for the first time her two children, three and eleven years old visited her in prison. They found their mother in poor heath and so frail that she could not even hug them.
British strategy in the Middle East consolidated around a sustained effort to prevent any adversarial penetration into the Persian Gulf, defending its position athwart the principal lines of communication and supply between Northern Europe and British India, and to protect the newly discovered Persian oil that was used to power the Royal Navy
The Israel lobby thesis, despite some flaws such as a dismissal of the power of other lobby groups. it is a valid attempt to understand a unique facet in how American policy is forged.
The historical experience of Imperial Britain as a dishonest and detrimental interference in Iran’s domestic politics and economy has fostered a lingering sense of suspicion in the collective memory of Iranians. Whether this image is gradually fading away and giving way to equally negative images of other foreign powers remains to be seen
After 9/11, the word ‘hijacking’ has been used for two events. Of course, for the terrorist attacks of that day, but some also talked about a more metaphorical action: the hijacking of American foreign policy through the influence of a “neoconservative” or “democratic imperialist” movement
The social engineering venture of the Islamic Republic has been a systematic attempt of the ruling machinery to reshape the socio-cultural infrastructure of the Iranian society in accordance with the ideological mandate of the state. In a recent attempt to stifle the internal opposition, the Islamic Republic has called for more “Islamisation” of the educational system and has in particular targeted universities for further “de-westernisation”
The recent round of crippling and comprehensive sanctions on Iran will inevitably adversely affect the government’s economic manoeuvrability, but taking their toll first and foremost on the people, the sanctions are likely to fall short of curbing the country’s nuclear activities or changing its domestic and international behaviour
Many countries use national security as the pretext for violating human rights, but why should Iran single out the Baha’is for this kind of persecution? Since President Ahmadinejad came to power in 2006, the situation has worsened for the Baha’i community in Iran. Recently, more shocking news surfaced about the demolition of houses in the province of Mazandran in the north of Iran. But this was not an isolated event. In 2007, six Baha’i houses were set on fire and more recently, almost 50 houses have been demolished.
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