This individual is a guest contributor. MEI is not able to assist with contact requests.
Shahmahmood Miakhel is the Country Director in Afghanistan for the US Institute of Peace (USIP). Prior to that he was a Governance Advisor for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), and, from 2003–2005, a Deputy Minister of the Interior in the Government of Afghanistan. In 1994–1995 he worked for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in South and Southeast Afghanistan helping to establish District Rehabilitation Shuras (DRS). He also worked as a reporter for the Pashto service of the Voice of America from 1985–1990.
The leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran is publicly committed to good relations with Bahrain. And yet Tehran’s campaign to undermine the ruling authorities in Manama continues unabated. The latest incendiary reactions from Tehran came in response to the January 15 executions in Bahrain of three men who had been convicted of killing three police officers in 2014.
President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for the Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson said yesterday that he would conduct a “full review” of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal if the Senate confirmed him. Speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Tillerson pledged that he would add further verification systems to “clarify whether Iran is complying.”
The existence of political prisoners in Iran is hardly a new phenomenon but it is a topic that is proving increasingly damning for Tehran. In particular, it is the media in the large Iranian diaspora, which has been at the forefront in recent weeks to highlight the individual cases of political prisoners that have opted to go on hunger strike in order to bring attention to their cases.
A top Iranian diplomat and the deputy foreign minister for European and American affairs, Majid Takht-Ravanchi, stated on January 12 that Iran will not under any circumstances “renegotiate” the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) that was reached between Iran and world powers in July 2015.
Iran Will Receive 130-Ton Uranium Shipment from Russia
On January 12, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) confirmed that Tehran will soon receive a shipment of 130 tons of natural uranium that it has purchased from Russia.
In Iran, 40 Former Political Prisoners Ask for “National Reconciliation”
In an open letter, 40 formerly imprisoned political activists affiliated with the Green opposition movement have asked the Iranian authorities to reconsider their policies. The signatories of the letter urged the authorities to utilize the recent passing of Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani as “an opportunity for dialogue and national reconciliation.”
The question about whether Iran and Russia can sustain the recent elevation in relations is hotly debated in Tehran. This urgency is brought about as the Iranians and the Russians are pushing ahead to see if they can coordinate their policies on the question of a political settlement for the Syrian war that will satisfy both Moscow and also Tehran’s objectives.
Iran-Backed Militant Groups Make Territorial Gains in West Mosul
On January 12, Iran’s Fars News Agency (FNA) reported that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) “liberated” three regions in the west of Mosul.
According to FNA, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), PMF forces are preparing for the “sixth phase of operations to liberate the west of Nineveh Province.”
New Report: Human Rights Situation Hasn't Improved under Rouhani
In its World Report 2017 published today, the Human Rights Watch said President Hassan Rouhani has not delivered on his campaign promise to improve the human rights situation in Iran over the past three years.
The confirmation hearing of the man slated to be the next US Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has received a mixed review in Iran. On the one hand, Tillerson’s remarks on Iran were hardly encouraging to Iranian ears.
The recent announcement by Saudi Arabia that the retired Pakistani General Raheel Sharif will head a 39-member anti-terrorism coalition made of Muslim states is a matter of much concern in Tehran. Iran, which was not invited to join the coalition, regards the Saudi initiative as a regional project aimed to contain its influence.
Lebanon’s Government Should Lay the Groundwork for Fairer Representation and Accountability
The Lebanese parliamentary electoral system is the worst in the world. It ensures that a small sectarian oligarchy can monopolize control of parliament and state power, and it sets impossible obstacles to the rise of new political parties and alternative leadership. The necessary remedy is to introduce proportional representation, either through the mixed system proposed by the National Electoral Law Commission headed by Fouad Boutros in 2006, or through other variations proposed by a number of groups since then.
