104: Iran-Saudi Detente & Iran Protests

On September 13th of last year 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was visiting Tehran with her family, having traveled from Irans’ Kurdish region. While in Tehran she was stopped by Iran’s morality police for improperly wearing her hijab, or head covering. Three days after her arrest she was dead. In the days, weeks, and months following her death Iran has seen nationwide protests, and while protests are not a particularly new thing in Iran, what’s unprecedented about these protests are the calls not simply for reforms but for the toppling of Iran’s theocratic regime, a regime that has been in power since the Iranian Revolution of 1979. Today’s episode provides an update on the protests.

Last month also saw another seismic event in Iranian, and Middle East politics. After decades of saber rattling, proxy wars, and general hostility, China helped to negotiate the reestablishment of diplomatic ties between The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Republic of Iran. What this means for the two regional super powers, for those within their spheres of influence, and for geopolitics will be the focus of the second half of our show.

Dr. Assal Rad received her PhD in Middle Eastern History from the University of California, Irvine in 2018. Her PhD research focused on Modern Iran, with an emphasis on national identity formation, and identity in post-revolutionary Iran. She’s also author of ““The State of Resistance: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran”. 

Dr. Pouya Alimagham is a historian of the modern Middle East at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His areas of expertise range from revolutionary movements, Political Islam and post-Islamism, terrorism, US foreign policy, and contemporary politics. He’s also the author of “Contesting the Iranian Revolution: The Green Uprisings" (Cambridge University Press).

99: The Iran Protests in Context

On September 13th, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini was visiting Tehran with her family, having traveled from Irans’ Kurdish region. While in Tehran she was stopped by Iran’s morality police for improperly wearing her hijab, or head covering. Three days after her arrest she was dead. In the days and weeks following her death Iran has seen nationwide protests, and while protests are not a particularly new thing in Iran, what’s unprecedented about these protests are the calls not simply for reforms but for the toppling of Iran’s theocratic regime, a regime that has been in power since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

Assal Rad is a historian and research director at the National Iranian American Council. She’s also author of “The State of Resistance: Politics, Culture, and Identity in Modern Iran". 

Pouya Alimagham is a professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of, “Contesting the Iranian Revolution: The Green Uprisings.”

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87: Will We Just Forget Afghanistan?

As the formal US occupation of Afghanistan comes to an ignominious close, human rights defender Basir Bita joins us again from Kabul. We discuss the recent offensive by the Taliban that has seen it taking large swathes of the country, the varied interests and involvement of the key international players in Afghanistan’s present and future, and perhaps most critically, the legacy of US abandonment of those Afghans who have put their lives on the line to aid its two decades of foreign occupation.

And for US citizens, this document has all the info you need concerning whom to call in Washington, and even a script for what you need to say to them to help evacuate as many Afghans as possible.

We can throw our hands up and wish that somebody would make things better, or we can be those people right now, today. The choice is yours. Let's move!

Also Recommended by Our Guest:

Episode 27: Protester. Prisoner. Student. Syrian Woman

This month marks the 8th anniversary of the popular demonstrations in Syria that ultimately led to the war. Assil Alnaser’s story takes us from the early days of those protests to her harrowing experiences as a prisoner, and then her escape and her struggles to find a home and a future in Jordan and Turkey, and later in the US, where she was subjected to the "Muslim Ban" twice after winning a scholarship. Assil's story provides a needed reminder of how the conflict in Syria started, it forces us to confront the double-victimization that many women face from their own communities after suffering sexual violence, and puts a human face on the ordeals faced by many Syrian refugees right up to the present.

Check below for more information on where you can help support Syrians and refugees, and for more about Assil’s story and about the Syrian community.

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Opening Remarks - Host: Eric Maddox
Interview starts at 6:45

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