Solmaz Khorsand in conversation with Ali Fathollah-Nejad & Azadeh Kian

INSIDE IRAN - REGIME RESILIENCE AND THE STRUGGLE FOR CHANGE

There is a saying among Iranians. ‚There will always be a market for Iran experts.‘ And they are right. Since the revolution in 1979 and the Islamist takeover, the world has been captivated and frightened by the (wannabe) regional hegemon whose rulers have suppressed the population, particularly women and minorities, funded terrorist groups in the region, and toyed with the nuclear threat of becoming a nuclear power. Since 13 June, when Israel attacked Iranian soil and the 12-day war that followed, a fragile ceasefire has been in place. Commentators around the world foresee the next round coming soon and expect it to be more brutal and lethal than the first.

How stable is the Islamic Republic’s regime? What would happen if the Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, were to die? Can Iran’s democracy movement, which has survived for the past 46 years, gain momentum and lead the country towards a free and democratic future? A feminist revolution on the horizon as it was called for during the „Woman, life, freedom“ protests after the death of Mahsa Jina Amini in 2022?

To discuss these issues, renowned experts Azadeh Kian and Ali Fathollah-Nejad will join journalist Solmaz Khorsand for a conversation that will provide insight into the inner workings of the Iranian regime, the mistakes of the West, and the long history of Iranian resistance.

Solmaz Khorsand, Independent journalist and podcaster; fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences (IWM)

Ali Fathollah-Nejad, German-Iranian political scientist, Director of the Center for Middle East and Global Order (CMEG), and author of most recently Iran – How the West Betrayed its Values and Interests (in German) (Berlin: Aufbau).

Azadeh Kian, Iranian-French academic, Professor of Sociology, director of the Social Sciences department and director of the Center for Gender and Feminist Studies at the University Paris Cité