Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Former Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior advisor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a press conference after registering his candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, at the election headquarters of the interior ministry in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, May 11, 2013. (AP Photo)

Candidate Profile: Ali Akbar Velayati

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 11, 2013 | Features, Profiles

For many years, Ali Akbar Velayati was known as the top man in Iranian diplomacy. He served as Iran’s foreign minister for 16 years, from 1981 until 1997, during the presidencies of Ayatollah Khamenei and Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. Notably, he is among those whose...

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Iranian presidential candidate and lead nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili waves to supporters during a campaign rally in Tehran on May 24, 2013. (AFP Photo)

Candidate Profile: Saeed Jalili

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 9, 2013 | Features, Profiles

Saeed Jalili was almost completely unknown in Iranian politics until October 20, 2007, when he was appointed as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, replacing Ali Larijani, after service as a diplomat in Iran’s foreign ministry. Since...

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File photo of new Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Candidate Profile: Hassan Rouhani

by Asharq Al-Awsat | Jun 8, 2013 | Features, Profiles

Though he has held a number of official posts in the power structure of the Islamic Republic of Iran over his lengthy political career, Hassan Rouhani has come to be seen by many of Iran’s beleaguered reformist movement as their best hope in 2013. The only...

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Turkish Olympic Committee members speak about Istanbul’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics during a news conference in Istanbul, Turkey, Wednesday, March 27, 2013. Source: AP Photo

Why Turkey Needs the Olympics

by Barçin Yinanç | Apr 14, 2013 | Majalla Blogs

Imagine yourself catching a taxi in Paris or London. On discovering you are a tourist, the driver may—or likely will not—inquire after your opinion of the city. This is small talk, and the driver invests little in your response. The experience is rather different in...