Project

Iran on the Edge

After a hotly contested presidential election that resulted in street riots and a disputed claim to a renewed mandate by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iran stands at a crossroads: between reformist and conservative leadership, between its revolutionary past and its post-revolutionary future.

Ahmadinejad's claimed landslide was met with angry disbelief by the country's reform movement; it also gave renewed urgency to the many unresolved issues that face Iran at home and abroad. How will Iran manage its approach to the Arab World? How will it deal with its rapid demographic growth? How will it manage its image through media outreach-to the Arab World, Turkey, the West, China, Russia and Africa? How will it manage a population, especially among the young, for whom the Islamic Revolution has turned stale? Iason Athanasiadis reports from Iran as these social, regional and evolutionary political developments loom large.

June 16, 2009 | The Washington Times

Iran Protest Biggest Since Revolution

In an outpouring of people power not seen here since the 1979 Iranian revolution, tens of thousands of Iranians marched through the streets of Tehran on Monday to protest allegations that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won re-election through massive fraud.

Opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi, who many here think was the real victor of Friday's elections, emerged from seclusion for the first time since the vote to address the crowd, which was estimated to number as many as 1.5 million people.

June 15, 2009 | Pulitzer Center

Iran: The end of Tehran Spring?

Iason Athanasiadis, for the Pulitzer Center

Tehran tensed itself for more violence on Monday as the Iranian government denied opposition politician Mir Hossein Mousavi a permit to hold an opposition rally and Iranian state media reported that any attendees will be arrested and charged with "incitement".

June 15, 2009 | Pulitzer Center

Iran: Election night

Iason Athanasiadis, for the Pulitzer Center

Despite being in his late thirties, Shahram Khanalizadeh had never voted in an election until last Friday. But when he entered a humble polling station in a South Tehran mosque, he dabbed his finger in ink and voted for reformist candidate Mir Mohammad Mousavi.

June 15, 2009 | GlobalPost

Unrest Continues in Iran

The third day of protests over Friday's presidential election dawned with heavy clouds rolling over Tehran and premonitions that protests over alleged vote-rigging in the Iranian elections were about to breathe their last.