Amir Taheri

Amir Taheri
Amir Taheri was the executive editor-in-chief of the daily Kayhan in Iran from 1972 to 1979. He has worked at or written for innumerable publications, published eleven books, and has been a columnist for Asharq Al-Awsat since 1987

A Visit to French Silicon Valley  

A couple of weeks ago I had a visit from a schoolmate I had not seen since the “good old days” of pre-Khomeini Iran. Under the Shah he spent eight months in prison because he was supposed to be on the left. Under the mullahs he spent five years in jail on a charge of pro-monarchy activities. In…

France: No Extremist in the Elysee

Is France going to have an extremist president in a few months’ time? If we believe the prophecy made by popular novelist Michel Houellebecq in his “Submission” in 2015 the answer must be yes. In the novel Houellebecq claimed that the French have only seven years that is until 2025 to prevent…

Iran Military: Calculations and Miscalculations

“Today we are actively and selflessly present in all domains of national life in the service of our Great Leader and martyrdom-seeking people.” This was how two-star General Hussein Salami, Commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), boasted about his force’s role in Iran. Leaving…

US Elections: The Collectivist Option

In one of those outbursts that he specializes in Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee for the US Presidency, called his Democrat rival, Vice-President Kamala Harris, a “Communist.” Since I doubt that Ms. Harris has anything but the faintest notion about Communism, a zombie ideology that…

Iran: Good and Bad News Are the Same

The good news from Iran is that there isn’t going to be any change in the way the Islamic Republic has always behaved. This is to say the “ Supreme Guide” has decided to swallow his latest humiliation caused by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination in Tehran and refrain from seeking “hard…

Paris Olympics: The Day After

Many had dismissed it as a costly indulgence for a nation facing economic hardship while some condemned it as a dangerous diversion from the deepest political crisis France faces since the 1950s. And, yet, the two-week’ long summer Olympics hosted by Paris is now universally lauded as a success in…

Iran: A Grin and Bear it Game?

"Today he is the bravest, the wisest and the most popular leader of the Resistance Front." This is how the daily Kayhan spoke of guess who. Wrong guess. The daily's editorialists are notorious for their exaggerated praise of the "Supreme Guide" Ali Khamenei. But this time it was not Khamenei…

Iran: Desperately Seeking Gorbachev

Could Pezeshkian be Iran’s Gorbachev? Referring to President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian, the question was headlined in a Tehran daily Tuesday and triggered a torrent of comments. The paper’s commentator described Pezeshkian as a man trusted by the system and thus capable of introducing unspecified…

US Elections: The Third Party Isn’t on the Ticket

Barring another surprise “event” the coming US presidential showdown is likely to be a duel between former President Donald Trump and Vice-President Kamala Harris. That duel, if it goes through, will include a number of new features. Harris is only the second woman to reach the last round in a US…

Trump and the Return of the Republicans

Last week, Republicans were back under the Republican Party’s convention limelight in Milwaukee. This time they looked as determined to send Donald J Trump to the White House in November as they were in 2016. Eight years ago, Trump looked like a bolt out of the blue that though threatening the…