1. To understand Iran's protests it's striking to juxtapose images of the young, modern women killed in Iran over the last week (Mahsa Amini, Ghazale Chelavi, Hanane Kia, Mahsa Mogoi) with the images of the country's ruling elite, virtually all deeply traditional, geriatric men.
2. 83-year-old @khamenei_ir has been ruling since 1989. He's the only leader many young protestors have ever known. The institutions he's empowered-and empower him-are likeminded hardliners whose main source of diversity is whether their beards and turbans are black or white
3. The powerful Guardian Council--which is headed by 95-year-old Ayatollah Jannati--has the authority to vet all electoral candidates and veto all parliamentary legislation. It's composed of 12 men, all directly or indirectly appointed by Khamenei
4. The Assembly of Experts are 88 male clerics-all Khamenei loyalists-who have the power to anoint/remove the Supreme Leader. The joke about them is their average age is deceased. It's also chaired by 95-year-old Ayatollah Jannati (who makes Khamenei look youthful)
5. The Expediency Council is an advisory body to the Supreme Leader. It's composed of 44 men, appointed every 5 years by Khamenei, and headed by 61-year-old Ayatollah Sadeq Larijani.
6. Khamenei is commander-in-chief of Iran's most powerful military body, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), led by 61-year-old Hossein Salami. The IRGC are around 190,000 men who oversee the bassij (morality police) that crush protests and enforce female dress code
7. 61-year-old President Ebrahim Raisi is Khamenei's mini-me. His career was launched after serving as a hanging judge in the first decade of the revolution, when he oversaw the execution of thousands of political prisoners
8. It's premature to assess whether Iran's ongoing protests will lead to change. But it's totally unsustainable that Iran's women-who are far more educated than its men-will continue to live under a gender apartheid regime ruled by reactionary old men
I spoke w/ @elonmusk about Starlink in Iran, he gave me permission to share this: “Starlink is now activated in Iran. It requires the use of terminals in-country, which I suspect the [Iranian] government will not support, but if anyone can get terminals into Iran, they will work"
Biden administration officials are open to helping get Starlink terminals to Iran but there are two main challenges, financial and logistical. It will cost many millions of dollars to setup and sustain thousands of Starlink terminals to Iran. This challenge is surmountable.
The bigger challenge is logistic. @elonmusk and the USG have sent more than 15,000 Starlink kits to Ukraine, but Ukraine's government is a close ally and eagerly cooperated. Iran's regime wants to keep the Internet off so it can repress people in the dark. cnet.com/home/internet/…
1 The Iranian regime’s brutal killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini—whose head was reportedly bludgeoned repeatedly against a wall after she was detained for showing too much hair—should permanently alter how foreign officials and reporters interact with Iranian officials #مهساامینی
2 In her recent 60 Minutes interview w/ President Raisi (here questioning the Holocaust), Leslie Stahl said “I was told how to dress, not to sit before he did, and not to interrupt him.” These terms are no longer acceptable; they legitimate discrimination
3 Compulsory hejab is one of the three ideological pillars of Iran's theocracy, along with 'Death to America' and 'Death to Israel'. Mahsa's case was not isolated. Numerous Iranian women are serving double-digit prison sentences for refusing to veil. amnesty.org.uk/actions/iran-w…
1. Last week I testified before the @SFRCdems on the need for a US strategy toward Iran that has three broad objectives: 1) Contain Iran’s nuclear program 2) Counter Iran’s regional influence and 3) Champion Iranian democratic ambitions. foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…
2. Since 1979 Iran has sought to expel the US from the Middle East, replace Israel with Palestine, and remake the region in its image. Whether or not the nuclear deal is revived, Iran's aspirations to help topple the US-led world order will continue. foreignaffairs.com/articles/iran/…
3. Iran presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the US. A strategy that focuses only on the nuclear and regional ambitions of Iran's regime while overlooking the democratic aspirations of Iran’s people ignores the lessons of how the Cold War ended theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…
The FBI uncovered a plot by the Iranian regime to kidnap Brooklyn-based Iranian activist @AlinejadMasih. "Iranian Intelligence Services Allegedly Plotted to Kidnap a US Journalist and Human Rights Activist from New York City for Rendition to Iran" justice.gov/opa/pr/iranian…
"A New York federal court unsealed an indictment today charging four Iranian nationals with conspiracies related to kidnapping, sanctions violations, bank and wire fraud, and money laundering. A co-conspirator, also of Iran, faces additional structuring charges."
“On multiple occasions in 2020 and 2021, as part of the plot to kidnap [Alinejad], Farahani and his network procured the services of private investigators to surveil, photograph and video record [Alinejad] and her household members in Brooklyn.”
RIP Vartan Gregorian, a father figure to so many of us and one of the greatest men I’ve known. This is one of many poems he taught me: “Goodbyes are only for those who love with their eyes. Because for those who love with heart and soul there is no such thing as separation” -Rumi
Vartan was a proud Armenian who was born in Tabriz, studied in Beirut, and emigrated to America as a young man. He became President of some of America's greatest universities and cultural institutions, but never forgot his roots. His memoir is beautiful: amazon.com/Road-Home-My-L…
"We will remember him most for his immense intellect, his thoughtful generosity, his witty, learned, and sly sense of humor...He was a man of the world who inspired the world.” carnegie.org/news/articles/…
1 Fakhrizadeh was the captain of Iran’s nuclear program as Soleimani was the captain of Iran’s regional activities. Iran’s regional/nuclear ambitions don't end after their deaths, but the absence of their leadership and institutional memory will be felt.
2 Tehran has already blamed Israel, the most likely culprit. But if initial news reports prove correct that he was killed by suicide attackers, speculation may turn to Sunni radicals rather than the Mossad.
3 The killing of Soleimani triggered fears of WWIII, but Tehran's reaction is often restrained but drawn out. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and they may choose to exact that revenge over a period of months/years where/when we don't expect it nytimes.com/2012/02/14/wor…