Institute for War and Peace Reporting
Iran's Project Manager at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and a teaching fellow in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; former senior editor at several of Iran's reformist dailies
Iran's Presidential Election: Interesting after All Four years ago, widespread protests over President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election appeared to threaten Iran's clerical leadership. Some dissidents are still in jail. Now that Ahmadinejad is termed out, candidates to succeed him in tomorrow's election have been picked to minimize controversy. Even two former presidents who wanted to run have been declared "ineligible." But the campaign has seen a flicker of life in the past two days. Could a relative moderate win, or at least force a run-off election? What could that mean for the economy, relations with the US and Iran's nuclear program?
What is Trump's plan for Middle East peace? On his first foreign tour, President Trump has promised "peace" between Israel and the Palestinians. Are there any details for re-starting talks that have been stalled for the past three years?
What happens when America retreats from the world? Is President Trump taking his "America First" agenda to extremes, withdrawing the country from the international stage on trade and climate change, distancing America from its traditional allies across the Atlantic and even threatening to physically isolate the country through the building of a wall along its southern border? León Krauze guest hosts.
Is the threat from Russia missing from the Russia meddling probe? There's much being made about the Trump administration's possible ties with Russia. But the bottom line is Russia's effort to influence American democracy. Do the President and his aides care enough to take action before voters go back to the polls?
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.