Iran

With Ayatollah Jannati continuing his role, the Supreme Leader is solidifying his control on power and trying to ensure a like-minded successor.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei explicitly threatened a harsh crackdown on dissidents and proposed limits on the Internet and cyberspace, harkening back to the country’s bloody suppression of dissent during the 1980s.

With the weakening of Iran’s middle class, the safety valve of the political system is eroding.

Borzou Daragahi’s latest report delves into the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan and how the swift collapse of the US-backed government in Kabul last summer shocked the United States and its influential neighbor, Iran. 

This report by the Future of Iran Initiative and Digital Forensic Research Lab (DFRLab) explores the social media habits of Iranian netizens and how the Islamic Republic is repressing the online space.

A new report outlines an image of women’s struggles for equality to help US policymakers better understand the intricacies of Iranian society and to design policies that support—but do not supplant or undermine—the women’s movement.