The European Union awarded its Sakharov Prize for Human Rights and Freedom of Thought to two Iranian activists on October 26. Human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh and filmmaker Jafar Panahi, both currently imprisoned by the Iranian regime, were awarded the ...

Shadi Mokhtari wrote a piece detailing the growth of human rights movements within the Middle East. Regional voices calling for increased attention to human rights have grown in both  number and legitimacy over the past two years. "Where they ...

Last night's foreign policy debate between President Barack Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney focused on numerous Middle East foreign policy issues, including Libya, Syria, Israel, Iran, and the U.S. approach to the Arab Spring. Both contenders agreed ...

Two days after police used tear gas to disperse anti-government protesters in Manama, King  Hamad bin Isa bin Salman Al-Khalifa called for a national dialogue to quell mounting tensions in the country. In an address to the ...

The Obama campaign responded to Mitt Romney’s Virginia Military Institute speech, citing it as lacking “meaningful specifics or outline” and “full of platitudes.” The website quoted James Lindsay of the Council on Foreign Relations, who argued that the ...

Riot police were dispatched to shut down black-market money changing operations near Tehran's merchant bazaar on October 3. The confrontation sparked violent clashes, while hundreds gathered for an impromptu demonstration to protest the rapid drop in the value of ...

U.N. Security Council members remain deeply divided on how to deal with the Syrian crisis, while both Syria and Iran have expressed discontent with perceived meddling in the conflict. "We heard calls from this podium, and on other platforms, ...

On September 28, the U.S. Department of State released a statement justifying its removal of the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) from the list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations. The Department’s primary justifications were the “MEK’s renunciation of violence, the ...

The Project on Middle East Democracy hosted a panel discussion Wednesday, titled "Will the Monarchs Reform? Challenges to Democracy in the Gulf." The panel included Maryam al-Khawaja, Acting President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Deputy Director of ...

Reports have surfaced that an Iranian political group, the Mujahideen-e Khalq (MEK), will be removed from the list of foreign terrorist organizations (FTO) by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the coming weeks. After a ...

The son and daughter of former Iranian President and current head of the Expediency Council Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani were arrested within days of one another on similar charges of conspiring against the regime. Faezeh Hashemi, Rafsanjani's daughter, was taken to Evin Prison on ...

  Early Saturday morning the Senate passed S.Con.Res. 50, which calls on "the United States to promote a global Internet free from government control and preserve and advance the successful multistakeholder model that governs the Internet today." The bill ...

Earlier this week EU Foreign Affairs Representative Catherine Ashton held talks with Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator,Saeed Jalili, in Istanbul. The EU said the dialogue was "useful and constructive," while Mr. Jalili said they discussed "common points." U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland 

Lebanon's president Michel Suleiman demanded an explanation for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's presence in the country, amid conflicting statements from Iranian officials. General Mohammed Ali Jafari, commander of the Guard, said that high level members of the elite force were in both Syria and Lebanon, ...

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay included Bahrain among the 16 nations accused of allowing government members to undertake "reprisals and intimidation against individuals" critical of regimes. Pillay said, "People may be threatened or harassed by ...