Civil Society Watch
#Iran — Has the Time Come for a Thaw in Relations with Its Own People?
Pay no attention to the executions behind the curtainArseh Sevom — In this week’s overview, we learn that the short term political aims of sanctions have long term effects on the most vulnerable. Improved relations may actually lead to some ease in US sanction
#Iran — Is Rouhani The One
Arseh Sevom—Could Hassan Rouhani be The One? Since Rouhani’s inauguration, a number of prisoners of conscience have been released, a more than thirty year freeze in relations between the US and Iran defrosting, and hopes raised. Some of the sanctions have been
#Iran — The Smell of Change
Arseh Sevom — As we were getting ready to post this week’s review, we heard the good news that Nassrin Sotoudeh and eight other political prisoners had been released from prison. Author Pejman Majidzadeh’s nose must really be filled with the smell of change no
#Iran: Can Word Games Lead to Action and Real Change
Arseh Sevom–While the war in Syria may become an international war soon, Iran and America have been engaged in some pre-diplomatic word games. Will Ta’amol, the Persian word for mutual action, enter the language the way that the Russian word Glasnost (openness
#Iran — I Want My Google Play
Arseh Sevom — Budget shortfalls have wreaked havoc on the state of Iran’s healthcare, which is facing more than one billion euros of debt. Since sanctions were loosened on personal electronics, Iranians can now buy iPhones and Androids. Social Media is not jus
Iran — Sanctions Lock Doors for Civil Society
Arseh Sevom –For many civil society actors in Iran, the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and the international community have multiplied the hardships they face from their own antagonistic government. Sometimes it can feel as though all the door
Iran Sanctions — More Pain, Less Gain?
It seems that the least productive U.S. congress in more than 50 years, agrees on one thing: loading sanctions upon sanction on Iran. The new laws seem to be counter-productive, are hurting ordinary Iranians, and harm chances for negotiations. Iranian research
Iran: Mourning Hikers, Hoping for Wisdom
So many people were touched by the story of the three Iranian climbers who successfully opened a new way to the summit of Broad Peak, yet were lost on the way down. Social networks buzzed with news, prayers, and remembrances of the climbers. Trees on Tehran’s
House of Cinema Attacked
July 15, 2013 was another in a long list of bad days for Iran’s beleaguered House of Cinema. On the order of the Ministry of Culture, the building that houses the organization was broken into and shut down by the police.