Iran
Iran: Deep state, shallow protests
As protests in Iran enter a third month, the persistence of this unrest presents challenges for Iran’s theocratic system. But the fact that Iran’s demonstrators are battling an…
Commentary
Protests alone not enough to force out Iranian mullahs
Originally published in The Australian.
The personal is political: Iran protests for a normal life
Over summer in Australia we’re featuring selected articles from the past year. This was originally published 6 October 2022.
Chants of “Women, Life, Freedom” and “Down with…
Iran protests: the more things change …
It is always difficult to judge the significance of popular protests in autocratic regimes, particularly so in the social media era, when tiny snippets of videos without context…
After Mahsa Amini’s death, Iran protests signal a generational shift
Mahsa (Zhina) Amini, whose death on 16 September sparked a nationwide uprising in Iran, was not a political dissident. When Amini was arrested by the Islamic Republic’s morality…
Iran applies its own maximum pressure in nuclear talks
Negotiations in Vienna to revive the Iran nuclear deal have dragged on through nearly a dozen rounds for more than a year now. The Biden administration’s hopes for a quick…
Iran banks on Beijing and Moscow, inviting painful historic parallels
After months of shuttle diplomacy in Vienna, Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian raised hopes his country’s negotiators might finally sit down for direct talks with…
China – a lonely superpower
As the United States, United Kingdom and Australia move to form a new AUKUS grouping, various reports have emerged of a “new Quad” led by China and featuring Iran, Pakistan and…
Iran’s energy diplomacy
Much is made of Iran’s use of proxy or allied groups to exert “hard power” influence throughout the Middle East where Tehran believes its interests are under threat (Lebanon), or…