Amir Taheri

In most government offices in Tehran the first thing a visitor encounters is a cardboard effigy of the late General Qassem Soleimani presented as “the greatest military commander in Islamic history.” Also labeled as “the martyr Haj Qassem,” his bust adorns public squares and sport stadiums in more…

Though not a satirical journal, the American magazine Foreign Policy has been publishing an essay by Muhammad-Javad Zarif every few years starting when he was Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations. The latest contribution came on December 2 with Zarif presented as “Vice President of Islamic…

Almost dormant for four years, last week the volcano of the Syrian uprising erupted with a vengeance. In four days, its lava covered the country’s second largest city Aleppo before moving towards central cities of Hama and Homs on its way to the capital Damascus. The force that carried out the…

Will cataclysms caused by wars in Gaza and Lebanon lead to a review of Iran’s military presence in the Levant? Judging by the buzz in Tehran political circles, echoed in the official media, the answer may be yes. Four factors may have pushed a review higher on the agenda. First, feeling more…

Can Donald Trump bring peace to Ukraine in a day as he asserted during the presidential campaign even before he enters the White House? The short answer is: no. To be sure, his election has helped change the tone of the protagonists. Ukrainian President Wolodymir Zelensky says he is ready to…

What will Trump’s foreign policy look like in his second term? This is the question currently making the buzz in the commentariat around the world. Western European pundits claim that Trump will abandon the Ukrainian lamb to the Russian wolf or, at least, force the European shepherd to foot the…

“Think twice! No, think thrice before you put a word on paper!” This was the advice that the great Persian poet Muhammad Iqbal, a son of India, advised his disciples in the last century. “In using words let caution be your guide.” That thought found an echo in the writings of Sayyed Kazem Assar,…

For decades at least until the early days of the current century a saying attributed to a19th century vaudeville troupe was often used to assess the prevailing political mood in an imaginary “average America”: See how it plays in Peoria! I first heard the phrase in 1974 from Thomas Philip (Tip) O…

It is late night in Paris when the phone jolts me out of my pre-sleep somnolence. It is a fellow-Iranian who wants to know who I think would be the United States’ next president. As I mumble in search of an answer the distant caller darts: So who will win? “The winner will be the American system,…

«This is not who we are! » This is one of the favorite shibboleths used by US Democrat Party’s presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her supporters with the aim of portraying supporters of her Republican rival Donald J. Trump as not quite American if not utterly alien. One of Ms. Harris’ …