Iran's attack on Israel had several potential objectives:
-Deter future Israeli attacks
-Rally Arab/Muslim solidarity
-Instill fear in its own population
As Israel prepares to respond, these objectives appear unfulfilled. My discussion with Mary Louise Kelly: npr.org/2024/04/16/124…

“The Islamic Republic and its proxies are far more dedicated to the eradication of Israel than they are the wellbeing of their own population.” Karim Sadjadpour tells MSNBC’s Inside with Jen Psaki

Israel’s killing of a senior Iranian general today in Damascus is the latest clash of what is now a 45-year conflict. Norman Roule and I spoke to Peter Bergen recently about the United States and Iran and the battle for power in the Middle East. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/can…

An Iranian foreign ministry official in London denied his regime was behind the knife attack against journalist Pouria Zeraati. Several years ago I wrote about the division of labor within the Iranian regime: theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

This is a wakeup call for US and European officials. Iran is actively trying to kill reporters and activists in the West and nearly succeeded in the middle of London. Fortunately my dear friend Pouria Zeraati will be OK. Next time we may not be so lucky.

Navalny showed Russians what civic courage looks like. Putin wants to show Russians that courage is pointless.
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

The Islamic Republic is “one of the most menacing regimes beyond their borders but one of the most unstable and unpopular regimes at home. And so that also needs to be part of our strategy, to advance the cause of political change inside Iran” Karim Sadjadpour on Erin Burnett OutFront

Just when you think the Iranian regime can’t go lower, here we have the official government newspaper celebrating - yes celebrating - the murder of 1000 Israelis. What an embarrassment these people are to Persian culture and civilisation. An absolute disgrace.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards helped plan Hamas’s terror attack on Israel, sources from Hamas and Hezbollah, Europe, and Syria told the The Wall Street Journal. The Revolutionary Guards worked with Hamas since August to devise the attack, which was praised by Khamenei.ir wsj.com/world/middle-e…

'The theocracy’s brutal forces may have cleared the streets, but the people’s defiance is far from over,' writes Nazanin Boniadi ti.me/44SVOX6

Outside their homeland, women of Iranian origin become world-class mathematicians and astronauts; inside Iran, the ruling clerics debate whether women should be allowed to ride bicycles. My essay in TIME on Iran's decaying Islamist regime. time.com/6312691/mahsa-…

“The huge lesson we have learned about Putin is that, when he’s put in a corner, he’s not a rat that lashes out, he negotiates. It’s not just the Russian military power that looks weak, Putin looks weak.” My The Wall Street Journal Review cover essay. wsj.com/articles/whats…

Dictatorships are hard but brittle; one crack can shatter. Putin brutally repressed even our smallest opposition because he understood that any perception of weakness was fatal. His ability to hide the consequences of war from his elites is now over.

1. ‘The Islamic Republic vs. Iran.’

Thanks to Oslo Freedom Forum and Human Rights Foundation for the opportunity to highlight Iran’s #WomanLifeFreedom revolution, and discuss a decades-long theocracy that has hijacked a multi-millennial civilization. A few key takeaways 🧵
#MahsaAmini #KatayounRiahi

Saddened to hear about the passing of Firouz Naderi, a renowned NASA scientist and passionate advocate for democracy in Iran. He was a dear friend and mentor to so many of us and will be deeply missed.

«تنها راهی که رژیم برای در قدرت ماندن دارد تفرقه انداز و حکومت کن است»

کریم سجادپور در گفتگو با بی‌بی‌سی از افزایش اعدام‌ها در سایه‌ی گسستگی اپوزیسیون می‌گوید

(با زیرنویس فارسی)

او اما با این نقل قول از توماش ماساریک، رییس‌جمهور پیشین چکسلواکی، که «دیکتاتورها تا پنج دقیقه آخر…

Reacting to a rise in executions in #Iran + two men hanged for blasphemy, Karim Sadjadpour tells me the Islamic Republic 'is on an execution binge' & calls the gov 'a socially repressive police state'. We discuss that & the backdrop: #Iran protests. More figures on our BBC News (UK) site.

1/5 🚨Breaking: The Islamic Republic's judiciary executed #YousefMehrdad and #SadrallahFazeliZare , two active social media users, on charges of 'insulting Islamic sanctities' and 'blasphemy' by hanging.

As war engulfed an upscale neighborhood in Sudan's capital, residents desperate to escape had just one option: a battered taxi driven by two penniless students. A tale of two heroes. nytimes.com/2023/05/05/wor…

'In the long run, society has changed so significantly that such a regime cannot remain in power. It's dead. The regime is dead. It just doesn't know it yet.' -Iranian artist Parastou Forouhar