MER Article Women's Space/Cinema Space Post-Revolutionary Iranian cinema has attracted critical attention abroad while constituting a vibrant focus of cultural, narrative and technical experimentation at home. In the politically restrictive context of the Islamic Republic, film has become one of the key ways that sensitive topics are bro Norma Claire Moruzzi • 13 min read
MER Article "The Temptation of Democracy" Launched in 1992, Goft-o-Gu (Dialogue) aimed to open channels of constructive dialogue between Iran’s disparate political and intellectual currents. Given the highly polarized and repressive atmosphere at the time, Goft-o-Gu’s publication was a strikingly bold move. The journal discussed issues that Kaveh Ehsani • 11 min read
MER Article Iran and the United States While visiting the desert city of Yazd during my most recent trip to Iran, a young female physician confronted me in the living room of her family home. The intense, chadored Iranian sharply demanded my answers to four questions: Why did the US oppose the Iranian revolution? Why did the US support S James A. Bill • 7 min read
MER Article "Existing Political Vessels Cannot Contain the Reform Movement" Sai’id Hajjarian, a leading theorist of the democratic Islamist new left, is one of President Khatami’s closest political advisers. In 1998 he ran for the Tehran City Council, receiving the second largest number of votes. Hajjarian is also the official permit holder for the daily Sobh-e Emrooz and s (Author not identified) • 6 min read
MER Article Iranian Press Update The press has played a crucial role in advancing Iran’s emerging reformist agenda. Following the initial wave of attacks on the reformist press, which culminated in the closure of Jame’eh and Tous in the summer of 1998, a second crop of independent dailies appeared in late 1998. These papers exposed Sha'banali Bahrampour, Ramin Karimian • 3 min read
MER Article "The Conservatives Have Misjudged" During his brief tenure as vice minister of Islamic guidance and culture, Ahmad Bourghani oversaw the issuance of hundreds of press permits and the flowering of an independent Iranian press for the first time since 1979. Kaveh Ehsani • 8 min read
MER Article Pushing Back the Limits of the Possible The “Iranian Spring” caught the world by surprise one fine day in May 1997. Long viewed as the epitome of a rogue state and boycotted and shunned by the international community, Iran successfully held fair elections. Of the four candidates who passed the Guardian Council’s grueling test, Mohammad Khatami Zarir Merat • 10 min read
MER Article "God Hasn't Died in This Society Yet" Alireza Alavitabar is a key theoretical tactician of Iran’s religious New Left, an ideological trend to which President Khatami belongs. Alavitabar's greatest impact has been as the editor of the path-breaking Bahman (1996), Rah-e No (1998) and Sobh-e Emrooz (1999), publications that have advocated Kaveh Ehsani • 12 min read
MER Article Municipal Matters Although the 1997 election of Mohammad Khatami as president of Iran is widely considered a political watershed, an intriguing question remains unanswered: Why did such a grassroots intervention not occur earlier? What had changed to unite Iran’s heterogeneous interests and constituencies at this par Kaveh Ehsani • 17 min read
MER Article The Islamization of Law in Iran The re-Islamization of law by the leadership of the Islamic Republic following the 1979 revolution immediately clashed with the realities of contemporary Iranian society. [1] This clash engendered divisions between the parliament and the Guardian Council (a body of faqihs [2]] tasked with safeguardi Azadeh Niknam • 16 min read
MER Article Political and Social Transformations in Post-Islamist Iran Post-revolutionary Iran’s modernization policies have led to profound social, demographic and cultural changes in both urban and rural areas -- and to unintended political consequences for the political elite. Demands for political modernization, previously limited to city-dwellers, are now voiced by the entire population. These developments highlight the Azadeh Kian • 13 min read
MER Article Do-e Khordad and the Specter of Democracy A shadow haunts Iran, the shadow of democracy and popular sovereignty. Twenty years ago the Islamic Revolution established a polity based on two contradictory elements: a republic of equal and sovereign citizens, and a hierarchical theocracy of pastoral power descending from an unelected religious l Kaveh Ehsani • 6 min read
