Tehran
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Nurses on strike in Iran
"Strikers feel they have nothing left to lose"
In Iran, nurses are on strike to protest miserable living standards and stressful working conditions. Desperation is driving many abroad, and some to suicide.
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Israel, the USA and the Islamic Republic
Understanding Iran's "offensive-defensive" strategy
April 2024 not only saw Iran's unprecedented direct assault on Israel but also a violent crackdown on women in Iran refusing to wear the hijab. So what is behind Tehran's conflicting sense of hubris and insecurity?
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750th anniversary of Rumi's death – Part 6
Academic research and spiritual exploration
No Islamic mystic in the past two centuries has touched literary figures and academics in both East and West as much as Rumi. A look at the history of research into this hugely influential spiritual teacher
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Iran-Pakistan tensions
What was behind the Balochistan strikes?
Tit-for-tat attacks between neighbours Iran and Pakistan are linked to separatists fighting for independence of the mineral-rich Balochistan region that spans their borders
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Mahsa Amini: one year on
Tehran has lost the battle for credibility
One year after Mahsa Amini died in police custody, sparking nationwide protests, the Iranian regime has quashed all displays of public discontent. But the 2022 protest movement was not a lost cause and its impact on Iranian history cannot be undermined, writes Leela Jacinto
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'Maximum pressure' gears up
Protests drive Iran's Saudi deal
On 10 March 2023, the world woke up to the breaking news that Middle East rivals Iran and Saudi Arabia had forged a deal to restore diplomatic relations within two months and refrain from interfering in each other's domestic affairs. Ali Fathollah-Nejad and Amin Naeni examine Iran's motivations
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Iran protests
Iranian film director Jafar Panahi released following hunger strike
World-famous Iranian film director Jafar Panahi has been released from Tehran's notorious Evin prison after a hunger strike. By Stuart Braun
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Young Persian fiction
"Dort": weird fiction fresh from Iran
Literature by young Iranian authors is rare in German. Publisher and translator Arash Alborz aims to change this with his literary magazine, 'dort'. Do the first two editions live up to that promise? Gerrit Wustmann took a look for Qantara.de
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Iran protests
"Change that goes beyond the moment"
The protests in Iran have entered their third week with no indication that Tehran is prepared to address the demands that are echoing through the streets. Radio Farda’s Hannah Kaviani spoke to Erik Siegl for Qantara.de
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Mahsa Amini's death
Iranians unite in rage and mourning
The violent death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini has achieved something the entire opposition has failed to do during the 43-year rule of the ayatollahs in Iran: almost the entire Iranian people are united on one issue, only the regime supporters are divided. By Parvin Irani
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Iran and Russia
The Islamic Republic surrenders to Putin
Russia is leaving no stone unturned in its attempts to make the Islamic Republic an ally in the war against Ukraine. Fortunately for Vladimir Putin, the mullahs in Tehran are ready to subjugate themselves to shore up their own position at home. By Ali Sadrzadeh
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Interview with Iranian-German author Siba Shakib
"The notion of home is bound up with loss"
Iranian-German author and filmmaker Siba Shakib was born in Tehran. Her best-selling novels deal with themes of heritage and the past. She speaks to Qantara.de about her new novel "Der Kirschbaum, den sie ihrer Mutter nie schenkte" (The Cherry Tree She Never Gave Her Mother), home, religion and the identity politics debate. Interview conducted by Schayan Riaz