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Selected Recent Publications

The Real Winner is the Boycott Campaign, in: Beyond Iran’s Elections: Making Sense of Raisi’s Islamic Republic, ISPI MED This Week, 23/06.
(& A. Sarkohi) Irans soziale Frage – im Schatten von Politik und Wahlkampf, Berlin: Friedrich-Ebert-Stifung (FES), 31/05 • in English translation: The Social Question – the Neglected Topic in Iranian Politics and the Presidential Campaign, FES.
(& A. Naeni) Iran’s »reformists« contemplate their post-election future, Atlantic Council, 13/05 • in Arabic translation by the Arab Center for Research and Studies (ACRS), Cairo.
Das »alte Spiel« ist aus: Irans Präsidentschaftswahl, Internationale Politik (IP), Berlin: German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP), May/June, pp. 79–83.
(& A. Naeni) Iran’s pre-election social media buzz: Toward avoiding a repeat of 2020, Washington, DC: Middle East Institute (MEI), 29/04.
(& A. Naeni) The Islamic Republic’s timely vaccine against U.S. pressure? Iran–China 25-year cooperation programme, Qantara.de: Dialogue with the Islamic World, 07/04 • republished by New Age (Bangladesh), 12/04.
(& A. Naeni) The Window is Closing Quickly for Iran’s Foreign Minister: Why Zarif May Be Over-Ambitious to See the JCPOA Revived the Fastest Possible, MENApol.Freiheit.org, Amman: Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, Middle East and North Africa program (FNF MENA), 26/03.
(& C. Bianco), With the boycott over, Qatar tries to reclaim top regional mediator role, Atlantic Council, 23/02.
Iran’s risky »counter-pressure« against the fallout of Trump’s »maximum pressure« policy: The 4 January twin incidents, Afro–Middle East Centre (AMEC), 24/01.
The President’s Daughter and Dissent in Iran, Newlines Magazine, 19/01 | long version: Iranian Faezeh Hashemi, Rafsanjani’s daughter, speaks out, Qantara.de: Dialogue with the Islamic World, 10/02.
Marx Goes Gulf: The Rise of the Working Class, in: F. Gaub (ed.) Conflicts to Come: 15 Scenarios for 2030, EUISS Chaillot Paper, Dec. 2020.
After Fakhrizadeh killing: Why Iranian over-reaction is unlikely, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi, 14/12 | republished by Indian Defence Review (IDR), 19/12.
(& M. Ghodsi), The Geopolitical Roots of Iran’s Economic Crisis, Sada Journal Feature, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace • Preliminary version: Beyond the corona pandemic: What are the causes of Iran’s economic crisis? [in Persian], Radio Zamaneh, 06/08.
(& A. Naeni) The US election through the eyes of Iran’s moderates and hardliners, IranSource, Atlantic Council, 27/10.
COVID-19 after an »Annus Horribilis«: The Coronavirus in Iran after a »Horrible Year«, The Cairo Review of Global Affairs (online), 25/08.
Ausverkauf nationaler Interessen? Verhandlungen über Partnerschaft zwischen Iran und China, Qantara.de, 12/08 ▪ in English translation: Hic sunt dracones: Is Iran set to forfeit its national interests to China?, Qantara.de, 21/08.
(& A. Naeni) The tale of an Iranian foreign minister’s rise and fall from grace, IranSource, Atlantic Council, 29/07.
L’Iran et le Conseil de coopération du Golfe : des relations entre un aveugle et un sourd, Confluences méditerranée, Summer 2020, eds. C. Therme & M.-R. Djalili), 167–176.
Emerging pandemic-related triple crisis raises fears of protests in Iran, Brookings, 21 June | Arabic.
(& A. Naeni) What explains the decline of Iran’s moderates? It’s not Trump, Brookings, 15 June 2020 | Arabic.
(et al.) Rethinking US Policy Toward Iran: A Forum, Middle East Report, No. 294, Spring 2020 (»Exit Empire – Imagining New Paths for US Policy«) | French.
Iran und der Golfkooperationsrat, in: M. Baraki & F. Edlinger (Hg.) Krise am Golf: Hintergründe, Analysen, Berichte, Wien: Promedia, 73–82.
Corona in Iran: Folgenreiche geopolitische Prioritätensetzung, WeltTrends: Das außenpolitische Journal, Mai 2020, 7–8.
(& A. Naeni) Iran’s corona-diplomacy, Brookings Institution, 29 April 2020.
The Islamic Republic of Iran Four Decades On: The 2017/18 Protests Amid a Triple Crisis, Brookings Analysis Paper, April 2020, ca. 60 p. | Arabic.
Where’s Iran Going? After the 2020 Parliamentary Elections, Orient XXI, 14 Apr. 2020 | French & Arabic.
Iran’s parliamentary elections occur amid unprecedented pressures: And the hardliners are moving toward monopolizing power, Brookings, 20 Feb. 2020 | Arabic.
The Revolution’s Broken Promises, in: S. Maloney (ed.) The Iranian Revolution at 40, Brookings Institution Press, ch. 2.
(& K. Shaar), Iran’s credit line to Syria: A well that never runs dry, Atlantic Council, 10 Feb. 2020
Süleymani’nin Ardından Neler Olacak? [What will happen after Soleimani?], Perspektif (Turkey), 5 Feb. 2020
Tod von Qassem Soleimani: Geliebt-gehasster General, Der Tagesspiegel, 9 Jan. 2020
What the killing of Qassem Soleimani could mean, PBS NewsHour, 3 Jan. 2020
Why Iranians are revolting again, Brookings Institution, 19 Nov. 2019
(& P. Ghalehdar) The mirage of regime change: Why the United States is Khamenei’s bogeyman, Qantara.de, 20 Nov. 2019 | German.
(& A. Palm) MENA Spring 3.0: The Persistent »Triple Crisis« in Europe’s Neighbourhood, in: M. Sus & M. Hadeed (eds.) European Security 2030: The Results of the Dahrendorf Foresight Project, Dahrendorf Forum, LSE IDEAS, Sep. 2019
Four Decades Later, Did the Iranian Revolution Fulfill Its Promises?, Brookings Institution, 11 July 2019 | Arabic
(et al.) A Harmful U.S. Sanctions Strategy? Foreign Affairs Asks the Experts, Foreign Affairs, 11 June 2019
Swamped in a Triple Crisis, Cairo Review of Global Affairs, Spring 2019
Europe and the Future of Iran Policy: Dealing with a Dual Crisis, Brookings Institution, Oct. 2018 | Arabic
The end of the Iran deal spells the end of Iranian moderates, The National Interest, 26 June 2018
There’s more to Iran’s protests than you’ve been told, PBS NewsHour, 3 April 2018 / (& A. Sarkohi) »Fürchtet euch!« Wenn Slogans für sich sprechen , Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 16. Jan. 2018, S. 37
The Iranian–Saudi hegemonic rivalry, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center, 25 Oct. 2017
Rouhani’s Neoliberal Doctrine Has Failed Iran, Middle East Institute, 18 May 2017 / Where will the Rouhani administration’s neoliberal doctrine lead Iran to? (Persian), pecritique.com (Political Economy Critique), Nov./Dec. 2017

Ali Fathollah-Nejad

political scientist & analyst

deutsch-iranischer politologe

politologue irano-allemand

Dr. Ali Fathollah-Nejad (Ph.D. SOAS) is a German–Iranian political scientist with a focus on Iran, the Middle East, the post-unipolar world order, and right-wing populism in Europe. He is the author of the much-acclaimed Iran in an Emerging New World Order: From Ahmadinejad to Rouhani (Palgrave Macmillan’s Studies in Iranian Politics, May 2021) and of the Iran 1400 Brief: Beyond the Headlines weekly newsletter (Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom’s Middle East and North Africa office). Based in Berlin, he is a Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at the Afro–Middle East Centre (AMEC), South Africa’s think-tank specialized on the Middle East, as well as affiliated researcher with Centre d’Études de la Coopération Internationale et du Développement (CECID) at Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) as well as Freie Universität (FU) Berlin’s Center for Middle Eastern and North African Politics. In 2020, two monographs were published: The Islamic Republic of Iran Four Decades On: The 2017/18 Protests Amid a Triple Crisis (Brookings Analysis Paper) and The Politics of Culture in Times of Rapprochement: European Cultural and Academic Exchange with Iran (2015–16) (Wissenschaftsverlag WeltTrends).

Ali holds a Ph.D. in International Relations from the Department of Development Studies at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) University of London and was a post-doctoral Associate with the Harvard Kennedy School’s Iran Project. Also, he had been the in-house Iran expert at the Brookings Institution’s Middle East center in Doha (BDC, 2017–20) and the German Council on Foreign Relations (DGAP, 2015–18).

He has taught globalization and development in the Middle East, contemporary Iran, the Arab Revolts and great-power politics at the University of Tübingen (as Senior Lecturer in Middle East and Comparative Politics), in the Ph.D. program of Qatar University’s Gulf Studies Center, at FU Berlin’s Center for Middle Eastern and North African Politics, the University of Westminster, SOAS etc. Due to COVID-19, his Visiting Professorship at the Centre for International Studies of the University of Economics in Prague is postponed.

His about 200 analytical pieces in English, German, and French have been translated into a dozen languages. A frequent speaker at academic conferences and political forums, he regularly contributes to international media outlets in English, German or French. Ali is fluent in German, French, English, and Persian.

Website • Twitter • Facebook • Vimeo • Soundcloud • LinkedIn

Iran Weekly Newsletter

May-July 2021 Iran 1400 Brief: Beyond the Headlines, Amman/Beirut: Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom’s Middle East and North Africa office (FNF MENA).

Covering Iran’s domestic & international challenges (above all, the nuclear talks). Sign up here!

Latest Monographs

2021 Iran in an Emerging New World Order: From Ahmadinejad to Rouhani, Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan (Studies in Iranian Politics), May. {details & advance praise}

2020 The Politics of Culture in Times of Rapprochement: European Cultural and Academic Exchange with Iran (2015–16), new forewords by A.-H. Cheheltan & A. Adib-Moghaddam, Potsdam: Wissenschaftsverlag WeltTrends.

2020 The Islamic Republic of Iran Four Decades On: The 2017/18 Protests Amid a Triple Crisis, Washington, DC: Brookings Institution & Doha: Brookings Doha Center, April (60 pp.) • in Arabic translation by Brookings Doha. {see also ongoing research project on “Iran’s long-term revolutionary process“, incl. publications & media commentary in multiple languages}

2021 MEDIA COMMENTARY [en|de|fr|fa|ar]

Golnaz Esfandiari, Voters Send A Message To Iran’s Leaders After Dismal Turnout For Presidential Election, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), 22/06.
John Irish & Parisa Hafezi, Analysis: Iran vote points to hardline goal of long-term power – analysts, Reuters, 21/06 (updated 22/06) • cited in: Raisi sends mixed signals to Gulf Arabs, reiterates hardline credentials, The Arab Weekly, 22/06 | in Chinese translation by SINA.
Soulayma Mardam-Bey, En Iran, une jeunesse qui ne croit plus au changement, L’Orient–Le Jour, 18/06.
Mathias Brügmann, Die Präsidentschaftswahl im Iran entscheidet über das Schicksal des Landes – und das westlicher Firmen, Handelsblatt, 17/06.
Golnaz Esfandiari, Ebrahim Raisi: The Judge Linked To The Mass Execution Of Political Prisoners Is The Favorite To Be Iran’s Next President, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), 17/06.
Petra Ramsauer, Der iranische Revolutionsführer Ali Khamenei sieht seinen Sohn als politischen Erben vor, NZZ am Sonntag, 13/06.
Borzou Daragahi, Khamenei is dropping Iran’s democratic façade, IranSource, Washington: Atlantic Council, 28/05.
Christian Böhme & Thomas Seibert, Hardliner im Iran drängen an die Macht, Der Tagesspiegel, 09/05.
Mia Swart, »No trophy of the regime«: Reactions to Jürgen Habermas’ rejection of UAE prize, Doha: Al Jazeera Centre for Public Liberties and Human Rights, 04/05.
Ghazal Golshiri, En Iran, la sécurité des sites nucléaires envenime le débat politique, Le Monde, 23/04.
Stéphanie Khouri, Washington et Téhéran de retour à la table des négociations, L‘Orient–Le Jour, 06/04.
Noura Doukhi, Accord Téhéran–Pékin : la fin de l’isolement diplomatique pour l’Iran ?, L’Orient–Le Jour, 30/03.
Jan Yumul, Yemen slips further from peace dream, China Daily Global, 26/03, p. 7 & Peace for Yemen hangs in the balance, China Daily (Hong Kong edn.), 29/03.
Maedeh Sharifi, Why Iran’s women’s rights movement will endure through US sanctions, TRT World, 08/03.
Staša Salaćanin, Why is Qatar intent on promoting GCC, US dialogue with Iran?, Amwaj.media, 08/03 | Persian | Arabic.
Gilda Sahebi, Iran will Kölnerin vor Gericht stellen, Welt am Sonntag, 28/02.
Duda Teixeira [int’l editor], Diplomacia atômica, Revista Crusoé (Brazil), 26/02.
Thomas Seibert, Irans Warnungen im Atomstreit: Wie Teheran den Westen zu Zugeständnissen bewegen will, Der Tagesspiegel, 24/02.
J. Brooks Specter, Iran nuclear deal, v2.0?, Daily Maverick (South Africa), 23/02.
Ghazal Golshiri, Impatient face à l’administration Biden, l’Iran multiplie les entorses à l’accord sur son programme nucléaire, Le Monde, 19/02, pp. 1–2. | Comments reproduced in Vietnamese by RFI (Radio France Internationale) Vietnam.
Thomas Seibert, Die gefährliche Gratwanderung der Iraner im Atomstreit, Die Presse (Vienna), 19/02, p. 6.
Charlene Rodrigues, Will the GCC be open to Qatar mediating US–Iran talks?, TRT World, 19/02.
Susanne Koelbl, Iran – »Mordgeständnis unter Folter«, Interview mit Ali Fathollah-Nejad, Der Spiegel, Nr. 7/2021 (13.–19.2.2021), S. 71.
Katharina Willinger [Iran-Korrespondentin der ARD], Atomabkommen mit Iran: Festgefahrene Konfrontation, tagesschau.de, 03/02.
Soulayma Mardam-Bey, Robert Malley, un éventuel come-back diplomatique qui fait des remous [Robert Malley, a potential diplomatic comeback that makes waves], L’Orient–Le Jour, 28/01.
Susanne Koelbl & Dietmar Pieper, Pokerspiel mit Teheran: Verhandlungen über Atomabkommen, Der Spiegel (online), 21/01.
Iran, US tensions have world on edge, China Daily (Global Weekly), 08–14/01, p. 11.
Duda Teixeira, Por que o Irã apreendeu um navio petroliero da Coreia do Sul [Why Iran seized a South Korean oil ship], Crusoé (Brazil), 04/01.
Borzou Daragahi, »No longer safe on the Earth«: A year after Qassem Soleimani’s assassination, Iran and US edge close to conflict, The Independent, 02/01, p. 45 • republished as: Iran: Killers of Soleimani »not safe«, Asian Age, 02/01.

2021 VIDEO & AUDIO INTERVIEWS

Will Ebrahim Raisi Have Legitimate Mandate To Lead Iran?, TRT World »The Newsmakers«, 21/06.
هل بات الاتفاق النووي بين إيران والغرب وشيكا؟ [Is a nuclear agreement between Iran and the West imminent?] (in Arabic), Al Araby TV »للخبر بقية«, 20/06.
Can a new president make a difference in Iran?, Al Jazeera English »Inside Story«, 18/06.
Judiciary head Ebrahim Raisi is the front-runner in Iran’s presidential race, TRT World, 18/06.
Who will be Iran’s next president?, Al Jazeera English »Start Here«, 15/06.
Brand auf dem iranischen Marineschiff »Charg« – was steckt dahinter?, DW (Deutsche Welle) Nachrichten, 03/06.
What the Guardian Council’s selection of candidates for Iran presidential elections and beyond, Al Jazeera English, 25/05.
Iran’s presidential elections after Guardian Council’s selection, DW (Deutsche Welle) TV, »DW News«, 25/05 | Bericht auf Deutsch: Wächterrat im Iran schließt moderate Kandidaten aus, Deutsche Welle | Report in English: Iran approves ultraconservative candidates for presidential vote, DW | Report in Persian by DW Persian service.
Episode 3: Nominations are In – Who are the Candidates? Who Will be Approved? Who has no Chance?, »Iran Election 1400« podcast, Middle East Studies Forum (MESF), Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship & Globalisation, Deakin University (Victoria, Australia), 21/05.
ITSS Verona Interview – Freedom of Expression and Worship in Iran, ITSS (International Team for the Study of Security) Verona, 13/05.
Episode #3 – L’Iran, les réalités du mythe {45 min}, Podcast »L’Orient à l’envers«, 15/04.
Pasaule kabatā ⟩ Irānas–ASV attiecību normalizācija: kurš spers pirmo soli? [The world in your pocket⟩ The normalization of Iran–US relations: Who will take the first step?], TVNET (Latvia), 12/03.
Iran Nuclear Deal Deadlock, TRT World »The Newsmakers«, 02/03.
Outcome of IAEA chief’s Iran visit & why Iran’s nuclear strategy seems to be playing out, DW (Deutsche Welle) TV, »DW News«, 22/02.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi’s visit to Tehran & Iran-related comments by Western leaders at the Munich Security Conference (MSC), DW (Deutsche Welle) TV, »DW News«, 20/02.
Iran & Golfstaaten {36min}, interviewt von Fritz Edlinger, Herausgeber und Chefredakteur von International – Die Zeitschrift für internationale Politik & Generalsekretär der Gesellschaft für Österreichisch-Arabische Beziehungen (GÖAB)/Society for Austro–Arab Relations (SAAR), 17/01.

2021 TALKS & LECTURES

25/26 Nov. | [tbc] Iran’s Socioeconomic Crisis and the Future of Protest, paper presentation in the panel »Social justice and mobilization in the MENA: Understanding the struggle for socioeconomic and political transformation post-2011«, org. & chaired by Dr. Irene Weipert-Fenne (Peace Research Institute Frankfurt, PRIF), Institute for the Study of Protest and Social Movements (ipb) Annual Conference 2021 »Social Movements and the Social Question«, Berlin/online.
11 June | Panel »Iran in an Emerging New World Order: A Book Talk with Ali Fathollah-Nejad« w/ Prof. Anoush Ehteshami (Durham University, UK), mod. Alex Vatanka (MEI) | org. Middle East Institute (MEI), Washington, DC (online).
8. Juni | Panel »Iran – Katalysator des Nahost-Konflikts?« mit Katharina Willinger (Leiterin, ARD-Auslandsstudios in Teheran) & Dr. Payam Ghalehdar (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter, Lehrstuhl für Internationale Beziehungen, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen & Fellow, Centre for International Security Policy, Hertie School of Governance, Berlin) | mod. Susanne Koelbl (Auslands-Reporterin des Spiegel) | org. Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die Freiheit (FNF) Landesbüro Bayern / Thomas-Dehler-Stiftung, München (online).
26 Feb. | 42 Jahre Islamische Republik: Innen- und außenpolitische Herausforderungen | Iran – Politische Studienreise digital | org. Alsharq Reise, Berlin, 26–27 Feb., Zoom.
17 Feb. | Panel »Biden, Rouhani and the Iran Nuclear Deal« ft. the Iranian Ambassador to South Africa Mahdi Aghajafari & Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and Transnational Institute (TNI) Fellow Phyllis Bennis | org. Afro–Middle East Centre (AMEC), South Africa (via Zoom) | Report by Daily Maverick.
16 Feb. | Panel »The Future of U.S. Policy towards the Middle East in Generals« | IALIIS Annual International Conference, »Ramifications of the Change of the U.S. Administration on World Affairs« | org. Ibrahim Abu-Lughod Institute for International Studies (IALISS) & supported by Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), Birzeit University (West Bank, Palestine), 15–18 Feb., Zoom.
11 Feb. | Die Dreifachkrise der Islamischen Republik | Iran – Politische Studienreise digital | org. Alsharq, Berlin, 11–12 Feb., Zoom.
29 Jan. | Aktuelle Lage in Iran ｜ Deutsch-iranische Parlamentariergruppe des Deutschen Bundestags.