Underground tunnels used by Iranian fighters to avoid enemy fire and hide troop movements during the Iraqi occupation of Khorramshahr. Summer of 1981.
📷 Mehrzad Arshadi. #Iran

Sina Toossi Re funeral: Also very fascinated by the whole label of martyrdom; much like any other religious notion, the Islamic Republic has equivocated this concept, to the point that anyone working within the system who dies on the job is automatically a martyr.

…The water cans she’s lugging are half her size

🇮🇷 Irán tras la muerte de Raisí: desafíos y guerra por el poder

Por Francisco Carrión

elindependiente.com/internacional/…

Masshad, Raisi’s hometown and a stronghold for Iranian conservatives, witnessed large funeral processions today.

While the considerable funeral processions for Raisi in major cities don't capture Iran's full political reality and widespread & deep-seated discontent against the

Reformist former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami suggests that his criteria for participating in the upcoming presidential election is having desirable candidates.

He notably didn't vote in the last parliamentary election.

Raisi's funeral is about more than the late Iranian president. My take w/ comments from Trita Parsi who speaks about how foreign dignitaries are 'manifesting' Iran's repaired relationships, and from Mohammad Ali Shabani on how this may be a 'watershed' moment
edition.cnn.com/2024/05/23/mid…

کثرت دوربین گیرانه جمعیت تشییع کنندگان پیکر مرحوم رئیسی و همراهان ، ناکارآمدی و ضعف مفرط دولت ایشان و انتخابات های غیر رقابتی و بی رونق گذشته را جبران نمی نماید.نظام اگر این همه طرفدار دارد خوب رأی دادن که آسانتر از شرکت در اجتماعات و تظاهرات و تشییع جنازه ها است.بسم الله

Join us at #ACA2024 for our panel discussion on 'Preventing Further Proliferation in the Middle East' with Arshad Mohammed, Sina Toossi, Kelsey Davenport, and Sharon Squassoni. Register to attend at ArmsControl.org/2024AnnualMeet…

It continues to astound how Israeli soldiers regularly document themselves engaging in blatant acts of cartoonish villainy.

I shudder to imagine.

(Reuters) - Bahrain's King said on Thursday in a meeting with the Russian President that there is no reason to postpone the resumption of diplomatic relations between the kingdom and Iran. King Hamad added that the kingdom is looking forward to improve its relations with Iran.

Excellent interview by Mehdi Hasan
Crucial point by Trita Parsi that Iran, in my opinion quite correctly, recognizes that 'Trump was not the aberration on this issue. Obama was.'
That absolutely nails it.

President Raisi’s funeral at his hometown of Mashhad is still underway, crowds pour into the road leading to the shrine of Shia’s eighth Imam Ali bin Mousa Al Reda making it difficult for the procession to move. Other funerals were held at the same time in Tehran and Tabriz.

In my latest for Amwaj.media, I explain how Iraqi 'resistance' factions have been expanding their regional campaign to include Jordan. Yet, there is no consensus between Iran's spectrum of local allies towards Jordan.

A thread for more nuance 🧵
amwaj.media/article/amid-g…

The essence of America’s democratic tradition lies in the robust exchange of ideas, not in suppressing debate and silencing voices we disagree with.

For those of us active in US foreign policy debates, it’s worth remembering Justice Brandeis’s profound insight after he won the

Noteworthy Raisi and Amir Abdollahian funeral attendees: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia.. Arab countries that had tense relations with Iran but have been moving closer to normalize ties.

Not really telling at all, Alex. Mokhber is the acting president (top executive for now) and Bagheri-Kani is the interim FM. So they are naturally present when a foreign dignitary is given an audience with Khamenei, as would have been Raisi and Amir-Abdollahian.

Recognition of Palestine is mostly--but not entirely--symbolic. Some tangible effects include:
1. Contributes to sense of inevitability about Pal. statehood
2. Signifies rejection of US handling of Isr-Pal issue
3. Strengthens ICC case, which rests on status of Palestine as state