Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Alireza Eshraghi

Alireza Eshraghi is Director of Programs at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and a Visiting Scholar at the Center for Middle East and Islamic Studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Iranians are Done Debating
An image circulating on social media claiming to show Iranian schoolgirls protesting a picture of the supreme leader. Photograph: Twitter.
Current Analysis

Iranians are Done Debating

Recent protests mark a tectonic shift in the method and rhetoric of expressing dissent in Iran. For over four decades, the Islamic leadership has fostered a culture of debate without delivery, using student debate tournaments and TV programs as an outlet for narrow critique. Previous protest movemen
Alireza Eshraghi • 10 min read