This individual is a guest contributor. MEI is not able to assist with contact requests.
Marjan Keypour (Greenblatt) is a human rights activist and advocate for women and minorities in Iran. She is the Founder and Director of the Alliance for Rights of All Minorities (ARAM), an international network of activists which promotes equal rights for all citizens in Iran; and StopFemicideIran, an advocacy campaign which monitors and documents acts of femicide, and memorializes their victims.
Marjan is the co-chair of Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Task Force on Middle East Minorities and an advisory board member of the Atlantic Council’s Iran Strategy Project and New Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI).
Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.
Contents:
Read MEI’s weekly briefing featuring expert analysis of key regional developments for the week ahead.
If the West is committed to not repeat the mistakes of the past, it can forge a third way that honors the protestors and rejects the tyrants in Tehran.
The last few weeks in Iran arguably have been as tumultuous as the final days before the fall of the Shah. And they could be just as consequential — if the West and regional powers respond appropriately. While Iran is undeniably at the center of this escalating conflict, what external actors do matters.
For thousands of years, Iran has stood out as a culture that prized diversity and a place where religious minorities have flourished as independent communities. The Islamic Republic now seeks to change that, however, by implanting its own leaders inside different faith groups to protect and advance its interests.
Incoming Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi may break the mold of his predecessor by exceeding expectations in his first 100 days, but make no mistake—less horrific is still horrific; no one should be fooled.
The Islamic Republic of Iran recently announced that it is now welcoming the possibility of women’s leadership at the highest levels of government. Optimists are celebrating this development in the belief that it could reinvigorate weak voter turnout and lead to much-needed reforms in the country. But a more realistic analysis finds that this is little more than a cynical ploy. There is an overwhelming body of evidence that suggests not much has happened to truly advance women’s rights in the Islamic Republic in years.
