By Michael Boren Simin Ziaie flips through the pages of 215 men, women and teenagers. Their faces represent multitudes of families and personalities. One is a 17-year-old girl who taught Sunday school, another an educator,…
Essays
Christians in Iran: Threatening Situation
The regime in Tehran is sending out mixed signals as to whether Iran’s Criminal Code will now impose the death penalty on Muslims who forsake Islam to convert to Christianity. A final decision on the…
Dr. Tavakoli’s Article in Translation
Recently, Iran Press Watch was pleased to post an abstract of Prof. Tavakoli-Targhi’s important essay, “Anti-Baha’ism and Islamism in Iran, 1941-1955”. Through the kindness of one of our readers, the site has received a scan…
Abdu’l-Baha on Baha’i Persecutions in 1903 (part 1)
Editor’s Note: The Baha’i community of Iran has had a long and sorrowful history of persecution, some of which has already been recounted in English language sources. To provide further scholarly access to this history,…
Anti-Baha’ism and Islamism in Iran, 1941-1955
Editor’s Note: Prof. Mohammad Tavakoli-Targhi’s seminal study was published in translation in The Baha’is of Iran: Socio-historical studies, 2008, New York, NY: Routledge. An abstract of this paper appears below with the link to the…
If “We are the world,” then “We are Iran”: Time to Join the Global Day of Action for Iran
Editor’s Note: In support of the Global Day of Action, Iran Press Watch is pleased to publish this invited editorial by Dr. Christopher Buck, a regular contributor to this site. This is a foundational essay…
The best solution? True democracy in Iran
Hillary Clinton’s recent statement that the United States would extend a “defensive umbrella” over the Middle East if Iran acquired nuclear weapons reflects the world’s increasing acceptance that, sooner or later, the Islamic Republic will…
Rehumanizing the Dehumanized
Editor’s Note: Today, Kayhan London, a most influential Persian-language newspaper outside Iran, published the following article. You can read the original Persian on Kayhan’s website. By Koroush Agah-Kesheh The detention for more than a year…
There Can’t be a Happy Ending to Our Story
There can’t be a happy ending to our story, if only the human rights of certain segments of society are considered Editor’s Note: Dr. Vahdati is an Iranian-American human rights activist and freelance writer who…
Paranoia, Utopianism, and Baha'i Persecution in Iran
By Robert Christian Earlier this week, Iran’s leaders canceled a trial set for the leadership of Iran’s Baha’i community, the Yaran. The seven Baha’i leaders, who had been scheduled for a show trial on charges…
The Confessions of Dolgoruki: Story Writing and Identity Scripting
The Confessions of Dolgoruki was a 1930s political-spy fiction that was taken as history. It was the purported memoirs or political confessions of Dimitriy Ivanovich Dolgorukov (d. 1867), the Russian minister in Iran from 1845…
Religious Cleansing in Iran
“Every aspect of a non-Muslim is unclean,” proclaimed Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini. He explained that non-Muslims rank between “feces” and “the sweat of a camel that has consumed impure food.” Other prominent ayatollahs, including…
Baha’is and Constructive Resilience
Editor’s Note: Following are notes from a talk by Prof. Michael Karlberg given at the Eastside Baha’i Center in Bellevue, Washington, on 27 June 2009, as part of a public program organized in support of…
Was Hoveida Ever a Baha’i?
The short answer is no. The late Amir-Abbas Hoveida, who served as the Prime Minister of Iran from 1965 to 1977, has often been called a Baha’i. Antagonists of the Baha’i Faith make this allegation…
Persecution of Baha’is and the Iranian Presidential Elections
In the run-up to to the so-called presidential elections in Iran, the persecution of Baha’is has become a political issue. Jamila Kadivar speaks of the rights that members of the religious community of Baha’i have…
Iran’s Islamic Theocracy and the Problem of Khashiyat (Fear of God): A Baha'i Perspective
Editor’s Note: Aram Anahid is the penname of a learned Baha’i intellectual in Iran, who has previously contributed to Iran Press Watch and other sites (e.g. Iranian.com). Iran Press Watch is pleased to publish this…
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