14 Aug 2013

Iran-EU Reconciliation, a Priority for Iranian New President

An exclusive interview of MEPEI with Iranian Ambassador to Romania, His Excellency Dr. Bahador Aminian Jazi, July 25, 2013 His Excellency, Dr. Bahador Aminian Jazi, has a Master Degree and a PhD in International Relations and he was Rector of School of International Relations (Iran, 2007-2010) an
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12 May 2013

2013: the Iranian Presidential Election

The on-coming 11th Iranian presidential election (June 14, 2013) represents probably one of the most important events of 2013 for the Middle East in terms of the future configuration of regional power relations and of shaping Islamic Republic’s international approach on the one hand and for the ev
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07 Dec 2010

Balancing and Bandwagoning in Baghdad

Iraqi leaders announced a power-sharing agreement late on November 10 that left Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in power despite a narrow loss to the Sunni-backed Iraqiya slate of Iyad Allawi in March parliamentary elections.  The Shiite prime minister survived the longest political stalemate
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22 Oct 2010

Pipelines for Peace

The groundwork for regional pipeline projects emanating from Central Asia through Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh has been laid. These pipelines will define new political partnerships once America cuts down its forces in Afghanistan. Background interviews with senior Pakistani and Ameri
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02 Aug 2010

Forecast for Lebanon: Cloudy Days Ahead

The Arab world was abuzz with the news about the “historic” summit that took place in Lebanon, last week, featuring King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, President Assad of Syria and President Suleiman of Lebanon.  Many news outlets, especially the state controlled ones in Syria and Saudi Arabia, t
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22 Jul 2010

Moqtada Sadr in Damascus

Moqtada Sadr arrived in Damascus this week taking time off from his clerical studies in the Iranian holy city of Qom in an effort to kick start a stalled political process in Baghdad.   Sadr during meetings with Iraqiya leader Iyad Allawi expressed his support for his brothers in the secular
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28 Jun 2010

Sadrists: Unstable Opportunists or Pragmatic Power Brokers?

Iraq is still without a government more than three months after Iraqi voters gave the secular Iraqiya slate of Iyad Allawi a narrow victory over the State of Law coalition of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.   Many observers -- and several of the Iraqi leaders themselves -- believe there may not
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20 Jun 2010

Don’t Rule Out the Activists!

Despite growing repression, democracy activists in the Middle East continue to push for change. As democracy activists working in one of the most repressive regions in the world, we always knew that authoritarianism in our part of the world is a tough nut to crack. Our autocrats have everything a
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28 May 2010

Sadr’s Political Role in Iraq

Shiite frustration with U.S. support in Iraq grew out of a failed uprising in the south following the first Gulf War. Shiites felt a Washington call to mount an insurrection against Saddam Hussein in March 1991 would be met by U.S. military support.They were wrong and the acrimony lingers. Meanwh
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