Middle East Policy

Iran’s Assault on Civil Society cfr.org May 31, 2007 The good news is that Iranian civil society is booming. Women’s groups and labor unions, environmental organizations and students groups—even anti-land mine nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)—all ply their trade in abundance, in striking contrast to many of Iran’s Arab neighbors. As this new Backgrounder explains, the bulk of these groups took root during the reformist years of former Iranian President Mohammed Khatami. But the hard-line regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has brought with it bad news for such groups: a new era of repressiveness, shuttering NGOs and arresting activists. The basij, the Iranian regime’s enforcers of Islamic religious codes, routinely stop women for failing to wear proper headdress, and they and other agents of the regime harass ethnic minorities, bloggers, political activists, and homosexuals, too. Iranian author Nasrin Alavi, writing in PostGlobal, likens it to a “ second cultural revolution ,”

Syria’s Alliance with Iran usip.org May 2007 By Mona Yacoubian Against a backdrop of growing instability in the Middle East, and despite continued pressure from the West, Syria’s alliance with Iran appears to be holding strong and perhaps even deepening. The United States has strongly criticized both Syria and Iran for contributing to the region’s volatility and, in particular, for playing a destabilizing role in each of three regional conflicts: Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine. Recent U.S. overtures to both Syria and Iran raise the question of whether either country can be persuaded to forsake their longstanding alliance and adopt a more constructive role in the region. Main Points: Spanning more than a quarter century, Syria’s alliance with Iran has proven to be quite durable. The alliance’s breadth has insured that the bilateral relationship is not merely a tactical "marriage of convenience." Rather, deepening ties in a variety of realms—strategic, political, economic, and c

Another Anti-Syrian Parliamentarian Assassinated Naharnet 13 Jun 07 Al-Moustaqbal Movement Parliamentary Deputy Walid Edo, an outspoken critic of Syria, was assassinated by a powerful car bomb blast that also killed his elder son, Khaled, and four other people in Beirut's seaside Manara district Wednesday. A Ranking police officer said the booby-trapped car, parked between the Long Beach and Sporting Club swimming facilities, was detonated as Edo and his son left the beach. "Their bodies were hurled by the powerful blast and found about 20 meters from the explosion site," said the source, who asked not to be identified. Edo's two body guards and two civilian pedestrians also were killed in the powerful explosion that wounded 10 other people in the district usually crowded by beach fans. Tongues of flame shot up in the sky from the gutted remains of the booby-trapped car as fire fighters fought the blaze to prevent it from spreading to other vehicles parked in the crow

I am posting two reports on the struggle of Iranian women and bloggers for their basic rights abused by the theocratic totalitarian dictatorial regime occupying Iran. Also, I am highlighting the Freedom House's journal on democracy and human rights in Iran, www.gozaar.org : Freedom House launched “ Gozaar ,” a new Persian/English online journal devoted to the discussion of democracy and human rights in Iran. “Gozaar,” which means “transition,” recognizes that free access to ideas and information is the cornerstone of freedom. In response to widespread censorship and the closure of all independent print newspapers in Iran, the journal seeks to help Iranian democrats fulfill the universal aspiration for freedom of expression by creating an inclusive and provocative space for the discussion of liberty. Each issue features interviews, essays, political cartoons, feature articles, satire, and reviews of art, film and literature. A central feature of “Gozaar” is its bi-lingual discussio

The UN Security Council unanimously adopted a new resolution (1747) sanctioning Iran on its nuclear program. This question (the Iranian nuclear program) constitutes one of the two key battles in the context of the struggle for the new Middle East; the other is about the Special Tribunal for Lebanon . These two battles are of key importance to the future of the Middle East and for the new Middle East, as I have said before. This resolution is definitely a setback to the anti-democratic Middle East Totalitarian Axis led by the Iranian totalitarian regime. We should be clearly aware that the struggle for freedom and democracy in the Middle East from Iraq and beyond entails change at the geopolitical level in the Middle East . This required geopolitical change is achieved by breaking the Middle East Totalitarian Axis and weakening and containing its pressured components alongside defeating totalitarianism. For an empirical insight into the post-Iraq Middle East, read my article, The Strugg

The annual release of a report on human rights by the U.S. State Department is mandated by law. The report reviews progress and pitfalls around the world—not including the United States—and highlights major offenders. The report chides many serial violators of human rights norms—China, Syria, Iran, and Cuba, among others. Like those nations, North Korea's violations are highlighted in the report's introduction , which condemns it as “one of the world's most isolated and repressive regimes.” Similar language is reserved for China, where “human rights record deteriorated” and Cuba, which “continued to violate virtually all the rights of its citizens.” See also these related posts on Middle East Policy blog : - Middle East Human Rights 2007 - Freedom in 2006, Worst of the Worst - Freedom in the World 2006 - The 13 Internet Enemies 2006 Following is the main sections of the introduction of Country Reports on Human Rights Practices - 2006 released by the US: Country Reports on