Elections & Political Parties

But Afshin Molavi, an Iran expert at the New America Foundation, said that the vast majority of Iranians today want better relations with the United States, and middle-class Iranians in particular, he said, were hoping that the Iranian regime would ...

This is not a new clash; what the world is watching in Tehran is yet another chapter of Islam grappling with modernity, democracy and lucrative financial cronyism.

“Obama is in a bind because, because he's seen as a transformational figure,” said Steve Clemons, an analyst at the New America Foundation, a policy research institute in Washington. “And now he seems to be wanting to talk to the leaders instead of the ...

Steve Clemons, an expert at the New America Foundation, a Washington research center, said Obama made a "mistake" to dismiss the differences between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi. "Obama may not have meant to but he conveyed disrespect for the process at ...

This week's protests in Iran are truly unprecedented, says Iran expert Afshin Molavi in an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE. The demonstrators come from all walks of life and from across the country. Discontent with Tehran's hardline leadership is widespread.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: On Thursday, a million people demonstrated in the streets of Tehran. Are we witnessing a revolution in Iran?

But that characterization is not always true, said Afshin Molavi, a Washington-based Iran analyst at the New America Foundation who spent time with Basiji while researching a book. "The Basiji volunteer militia . . . are not monolithic," he said, ...

"This anti-Ahmadinejad image is connecting with a lot of Iranians because many feel Ahmadinejad has gone too far, said too many outlandish things and is responsible for a serious financial crisis the country is in," said Afshin Molavi, a senior fellow ...

Afshin Molavi, a fellow at the New America Foundation, says the next three to four weeks are 'going to be crucial to the future of any potential U.S.-Iran rapprochement.' Link to video

The groups Terror Free Tomorrow and the New America Foundation conducted the telephone poll of 1001 voters. There also are good reasons to be suspicious, however. Things seemed to go well on election day, when Iranians by the millions -- a record ...

“For Barack Obama, this was a serious misstep,” said Steven Clemons, director of the American strategy program at the New America Foundation. “It's right for the administration to be cautious, but it's extremely bad for him to narrow the peephole into ...