MER Article Whither Iranian Petrochemical Labor? On November 4, 2012, there were two snapshots of a deeply unequal struggle between labor and capital in Iran—a struggle that had begun two years earlier with a strike of temporary workers at the Mahshahr Petrochemical Complex. In Mahshahr, at the head of the Persian Gulf, Faraveresh, one of the five Mohammad Maljoo • 13 min read
MER Article The Politics of Recognition The victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential election of 2005 came as a shock to many segments of Iranian society, particularly the reformists within the Islamic Republic who believed they had pushed aside such arch-conservatives for good. Ahmadinejad prevailed thanks to the massive partic Fatemeh Sadeghi • 11 min read
MER Article The Iran Deal as Social Contract For years discussion of Iran’s nuclear program and how best to address the surrounding impasse focused on international relations—chiefly, the extent to which the United States and the Islamic Republic could and should trust each other to reach a negotiated settlement. Amidst all the conjecture, the Arang Keshavarzian • 12 min read
MER Article Talking Class in Tehroon Persian, like any other language, is laced with references to class, both blatant and subtle. With idioms and metaphors, Iranians can identify and situate others, and thus themselves, within hierarchies of social status and privilege, both real and imagined. Some class-related terms can be traced ba Rasmus Christian Elling, Khodadad Rezakhani • 9 min read
MER Article Class and Politics in Post-Revolutionary Iran The dominant narrative of the 1979 Iranian revolution granted a pivotal role to a new political actor—the downtrodden masses. Over the past two decades in Iran, a different protagonist gradually replaced them, equally captivating and elusive—the middle class. While neither category fully represented Kevan Harris • 6 min read
MER Article From the Editors (Winter 2015) January 16 was implementation day for the summer 2015 agreement between the Islamic Republic of Iran and six world powers known as the P5+1 regarding Iran’s nuclear research program. By the terms of this accord, Iran is to curtail its nuclear activities, soothing Western fears that it aims to acquir The Editors • 4 min read
Current Analysis Saudi Arabia's Dangerous Sectarian Game When Saudi Arabia executed the Shiite cleric and political dissident Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday, the country’s leaders were aware that doing so would upset their long-time rivals in Iran. In fact, the royal court in Riyadh was probably counting on it. It got what it wanted. The deterioration of Toby Jones • 3 min read
Current Analysis Iran's Unfair Nationality Laws At an October meeting of young Iranian-American leaders at the residence of the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations, I asked Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif about the country’s unfair nationality laws. By these statutes, no Iranian woman married to a non-Iranian man can pass on her citizen Narges Bajoghli • 3 min read
Current Analysis LGBT Rights in Iran Over the last two decades, issues relating to sexual orientation and gender identity have gained significant visibility and attention across the globe. The case of Iran is particularly fraught, and has received plenty of coverage due to the work of international non-profits. Shima Houshyar • 6 min read
Current Analysis An Extraordinary Feat of Diplomacy The nuclear agreement with Iran is an extraordinary feat of diplomacy. First and foremost, non-proliferation experts agree that the deal blocks all of the routes to making an atomic bomb. There are provisions for rigorous inspections—so if Iran cheats, the world will know. Second, it isn’t just Wa Chris Toensing • 2 min read
MER Article Murray and Woods, The Iran-Iraq War Williamson Murray and Kevin M. Woods, The Iran-Iraq War: A Military and Strategic History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014). Nida Alahmad • 3 min read
MER Article The Politics of Iran's Satellite Era “Once,” the Iranian comedian Mehran Modiri notes, “our marital relationships were formed over long distances. An Iranian man would explore the world abroad with his father’s money. When the money ran out, he would suddenly miss home-cooked qormeh sabzi and ask his family to send him a pure Iranian b (Author not identified) • 16 min read
