Kayhan Life's Weekly Podcasts: Recent Episodes
Natasha Phillips
A growing debate over whether U.S. sanctions should be lifted in order to enable the Iranian government to tackle Iran's COVID-19 outbreak, has polarized Western governments, charities and Middle East experts.
Organizations like the United Nations have called on the Trump Administration to temporarily lift the sanctions during the outbreak, saying the sanctions are responsible for Iran's inability to fight the virus. However, some experts and think tanks believe the sanctions have not impeded the country's ability to battle the disease, saying the government has billions of dollars preserved in foundations and escrow accounts it could use to tackle the pandemic.
A new report published by Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) has found that Iran's pharmaceutical imports have not been affected by U.S. sanctions, despite the Iranian government's statement that the penalties have blocked the provision of much-needed medical supplies.
Mark Dubowitz, the CEO of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies talks to Kayhan Life about the Iranian government's accounts, the FDD's latest report and his predictions about Iran over the next twelve months.
As Coronavirus spreads across the globe, Iran now has the highest virus-related death toll in the world*, second only to China. In this podcast, award-winning global health expert Dr. Amir Afkhami, talks to Kayhan Life about COVID-19, how we can protect ourselves from being infected and why he believes the Iranian government's response to the disease is inadequate and dangerous.
[*Reported fatalities in Iran have increased to 66 since this interview was conducted.]
As Iran dominates the news, Sheherazade Semsar, the CEO of Politico Europe, talks to Kayhan Life about the way Western media crafts the Iran narrative.
Just three days into the new year, General Qassem Soleiani, the head of Iran's Quds Force and the architect behind the Islamic Republic's growing influence in the Middle East, was killed by a drone strike launched by the U.S., leading to retaliatory strikes by Iran on two military bases housing U.S. troops in Iraq.
The downing of a commercial flight chartered by Ukrainian International Airlines which killed all 176 passengers on board followed, with the Iranian government taking responsibility for the tragedy, after initially claiming the crash had been caused by a technical malfunction. Reports later confirmed that Iranian officials had accidentally fired two missiles at the plane, having mistaken it for a U.S. jet.
As Iranian citizens took to the streets to protest against the government's behavior, Iranian security officials once again blocked parts of the internet and engaged in a violent crackdown, which social media footage suggests included shooting into crowds of peaceful protesters.
The dramatic, and tragic start to 2020 has left many analysts wondering what else lies in store for Iran, the U.S. and the rest of the world.
Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington, where he focuses on Iranian security and political issues, talks to Kayhan Life about the latest developments on Iran, how the U.S.'s Maximum Pressure Campaign might unfold over the next 12 months, and whether the Islamic Republic will shift its strategy in response to the next phase.
Anti-government protests in Iran which flared up in November over a rise in oil prices, led to a brutal government crackdown that has been called the worst unrest inside Iran for forty years. The latest protests stemmed from past demonstrations over corruption and economic mismanagement in the country.
According to figures released by Amnesty International UK on December 2, more than 200 people are believed to have been killed by Iranian security forces since the protests started on November 15. Unarmed protesters were fired at from rooftops, helicopters, and in some instances on the ground at close range.
The demonstrations were obscured from international view during a government-sanctioned internet blackout, which left most Iranians inside the country without access to the world wide web.
Amnesty International and several other human rights organizations condemned the crackdown on demonstrators, while also criticizing the international community for its subdued response to the violence.
Oscar Jenz, the Iran and United Arab Emirates Country Coordinator for Amnesty International UK talks to Kayhan Life about the latest developments around the protests, what is likely to happen now and why for the first time since the inception of the Islamic Republic, the Iranian government is no longer able to commit human rights abuses with impunity.