Striking oil workers at South Pars field in Bushehr province on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Image courtesy of Drop Site News. Iran NEW: Rethinking Political Change in Iran From Protest to War Mohammad Ali Kadivar on Iran's protests and political culture James Ryan, Mohammad Ali Kadivar • 3 min read
Striking oil workers at South Pars field in Bushehr province on Tuesday, November 4, 2025. Image courtesy of Drop Site News. Iran Rethinking Political Change in Iran from Protest to War One month before the United States and Israel began the current war against Iran on February 28, 2026, mass uprisings within the country resulted in the severest government crackdown in its modern history. Protests and repression were accompanied by calls for outside intervention. US President Donald Trump declared on January Mohammad Ali Kadivar • 11 min read
Events Iran in Context Part I: Gender and Revolution June 18, 2026 @ 10:00 AM EST James Ryan • 2 min read
The MERIP Podcast The MERIP Podcast Episode 20: The MERIP Roundtable, On the Iran War Part III Today’s episode is the third installment of our MERIP Roundtable discussing the war on Iran, instigated by the United States and Israel on February 28, 2026, and its regional reverberations. This episode focuses on Israel’s expanded war on Lebanon. Following the assassination of Ali Khamanei, supreme leader of James Ryan, Rima Majed, Ali Musleh • 2 min read
Smoke rises from Shahran oil depot after US and Israeli attacks, Tehran, Iran, March 8, 2026. Hassan Ghaedi/Anadolu via Getty Images Current Analysis War Across Boundaries–Perspectives on Iran and a Region Under Siege On February 28, 2026, the United States and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran, initiating a war with wide-ranging consequences for Iran and the broader region and devastating effects for their populations. Already, millions have been displaced and thousands killed. But this war is not a sudden rupture. It is The Editors • 28 min read
The MERIP Podcast The MERIP Podcast Episode 19: The MERIP Roundtable, On the Iran War Part II On today’s episode of the MERIP Roundtable our discussion focused on people’s experiences of the war on Iran and throughout the region two and a half weeks in. Much of the discussion of this war in the western media has centered on the strategic calculus of the United James Ryan, Naghmeh Sohrabi, Toby Jones, Kaveh Ehsani • 2 min read
MERIP updates The MERIP Podcast Episode 18: The MERIP Roundtable, On The Iran War Part I On the social impact and regional politics of the US-Israeli war on Iran James Ryan, Ida Nikou, Arang Keshavarzian, Sean L. Yom • 2 min read
MERIP updates The US and Israeli War on the Middle East Our recent work understanding the dynamics James Ryan • 3 min read
People gather to protest on January 8, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. Anonymous/Getty Images MERIP updates NEW: Governing Crisis–Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran New analysis on the protests from Ida Nikou Ida Nikou • 2 min read
People gather to protest on January 8, 2026, in Tehran, Iran. Anonymous/Getty Images Iran Governing Crisis—Sanctions, Austerity and Social Unrest in Iran Recent protests triggered by currency collapse and price shocks expose how sanctions have reconfigured state power, enabling austerity and insider accumulation rather than relief. Ida Nikou • 9 min read
The MERIP Podcast The MERIP Podcast Episode 14: The MERIP Roundtable, On Iran's Protests In this installment of the MERIP Roundtable podcast, we discuss the latest wave of protests in Iran. The protests began on December 28, 2025, as merchants and bazaar workers reacted negatively to new budgetary measures announced by President Masoud Pezeshkian. The protests snowballed in the first week of January, reaching James Ryan, Asma Abdi, Kaveh Ehsani, Maziyar Ghiabi • 1 min read
The MERIP Podcast The MERIP Podcast Episode Nine: The MERIP Roundtable, "On The Regional War" Featuring Maziyar Ghiabi, Shana Marshall and Kevin Schwartz James Ryan • 1 min read