Media

Few observers foresaw the Arab Spring, but it should not have surprised anyone that the Islamist movements became the main beneficiaries of the ensuing turmoil....

According to the Iranian regime, the group of 5 plus 1 must change its policy and not Iran....

For years, European countries pushed off the issue of adding Hezbollah to the European Union’s list of banned terrorist groups, citing the fact that the group had not carried out terrorist attacks on the continent since the 1980s. Sure, it raised funds across the continent hand-over-first, and provided logistical support to operatives carrying out attacks elsewhere, but that fell below the European threshold of bombs exploding in Europe. But in...

Being its activities designated as terrorist in most EU countries, "Hezbollah remains confident that the influence of Germany and France will see to it that the EU will not proscribe the group"....

EFD Fellow Wahied Wahdat-Hagh discusses how Iran's call for "economic jihad" points to serious concern among the Iranian authorities....

Various Islamist groups in Iran are engaged in power struggles but all of them are part of the establishment of the Islamist dictatorship. All other secular groups, from socialists and communists, to nationalist and royalist are either forbidden or heavily persecuted....

Hizbollah has turned out to be an important player in the international terror scene – which is why Europe finally has to take measures....

Iranian newspaper Kayhan praises a German newspaper Freitag for defending the views of the Iranian leader Ali Khamenei. The newspaper, owned by Jakob Augstein, recently published an article about the Iranian-US dialogue shining a positive light on Iran’s actions....

Bulgarian authorities have established a link between Hezbollah and the Burgas bus bombing. Former Iranian General Mohssen Rezai praises Lebanese Hezbollah as an organisation founded by Iranian revolutionaries....

Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, will attend a security conference in Munich 1st-3rd February 2013. While there, he will also speak at the German Council of Foreign Relations. According to him, Israel is the biggest problem in the Middle East, not terrorism....

EFD Senior Policy Advisor Magnus Norell reports on the security situation in northern Africa....

Iran executes thieves to spread fear and terror among the Iranian people. However, it is more than a little doubtful that such harsh punishments will enable the regime to solve the social problems it faces....

EFD Fellow Anna Borshchevskaya discusses Russia's determination to support the Assad regime in Syria....

Ali Larijani, chairperson of the Iranian pseudo-parliament, attended the Islamic Inter-Parliamentary Union (IIPU) in Khartoum, Sudan on 21st and 22nd January, where he defended the Assad regime and spoke of Israel as a “cancerous tumour”....

In addition to the European Union proscribing Hezbollah, NATO must also enforce a buffer zone between Lebanon and Israel....

It has been reported by Farsnews that an anti-Semitic cartoon festival on the Holocaust is being organised in response to Charlie Hebdo's latest move....

EFD'S Wahied Wahdat-Hagh discusses Ali Khamenei's statement: "Stop constantly saying that elections must be free"....

With unemployment soaring and the advent of hyperinflation, the plight of ordinary workers just gets worse and worse....

Iranian Air Force general, Amirali Hajizadeh, praises the weapons to the Lebanese Hezbollah saying their missiles are "a hundred times" stronger than the weapons of the eight-day war against Israel that "were used by the Palestinians in Gaza."...

Iranian students remember the "Day of the Student" to anti-dictatorial demonstrations, a day which recalls to 7th December 1953. But while many human rights-oriented students are arrested, the oppressors continue to speak on behalf of the student movement. At universities, gender discrimination against women increases. Worse still, Baha'is are not even allowed to study....

Iran criticises deployment of German Patriot missiles to defend Turkish border with Syria. Iranian newspaper Mashregh claims Germany is attempting to increase its influence in NATO by exporting arms....

On 28th November 2012 a conference was held in Tehran to discuss the eight day war in Gaza. Star guests included Khaled Ghodumi of Hamas and Nasser Abu Sharif of the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine....

Many politicians, scholars, and journalists believe that the Iranian authorities are "rational actors". How correct are they in making this assumption?...

For years Iran has supplied military aid to organisations like Hamas and Hezbollah. The leaders of the "Islamic Republic of Iran" views Gaza as the opportunity to open a front between itself and Israel. 20,000 fighters in the Basij paramilitary volunteer militia have declared themselves ready and willing to go to Gaza and fight Israel....

For years Iran has been supporting and financing aggression against Israel and the US. It’s high time that the EU outlaws Hezbollah....

Iran's foreign policy is determined by guidelines defined by the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Therefore, Iran will only open dialogue with the US if it stops supporting Israel....

Under Ahmadinejad German-Iranian trade relations are better than even during the best years of the Pahlavi dynasty. Nevertheless, Iran’s economic problems are growing....

During a mission to Iran, German MPs met Ali Larijani in Tehran – well known for calling for the execution of homosexuals. Larijani even complained in a speech that he comes across homosexual Foreign Ministers from Europe. By this, of course, he means Guido Westerwelle, German Foreign Minister....

While three German MPs claim their visit to Iran is to discuss human rights and culture, Iranian newspapers are reporting on their plans to visit automobile manufacturing facilities in Isfahan....

Over 60 Iranian MPs have signed a petition requesting the Iranian government to commit at least US$10 million to manipulating international media in Europe and the US....

The right not to be offended has no place in a democracy. Nor do blasphemy laws....

Is official Iranian news agency, the IRIB World Service, openly publishing hate propaganda on behalf of terrorist organisations in Germany in the German language?...

The Iranian regime has closed at least two home churches and arrested the Iranian Christians involved. At the same time, an Iranian politician warns Europe that Iran will halt the export of gas to the continent....