Saraqeb’s agony

Saraqeb, Asharq Al-Awsat—It’s the details in the dust that give away the enormity of what’s happened in Saraqeb. The child’s shoe, stained brown and separated from its partner, lying next to one half of a broken china saucer; the relics of normality scattered over a heap of twisted cable and broken masonry. This is just one shattered house in a pulverized street, and just one street in an echoing, abandoned neighborhood. The only sounds breaking the heavy silence are the whirr of the reg...

Read more »

Iran’s Supreme Leader under pressure over Rafsanjani disqualification

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Close aides of the disqualified Iranian presidential candidate Hashemi Rafsanjani confirmed yesterday that he will not launch an appeal against his exclusion from the race. The disqualification of the two most controversial candidates, Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, by Iran’s Guardian Council earlier this week undercut much of the hype that has surrounded Iran’s forthcoming presidential election, scheduled for June 14. However, som...

Read more »