Middle East

Iranian demonstrators march in Tehran in 2011, during a protest asking the government to intensify its enforcement of the Islamic dress code.

From Sulking To Sanctions, A Street-Level View Of Life In Iran

3:15pm November 04, 2013

Journalist Hooman Majd's new book, The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay, was inspired by the year he and his young American family spent in Tehran, where Majd was born. He tells Fresh Air about the country's long-standing tradition of sulking, and what sets Tehran apart from most other Islamic metropolises.

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World News

Will Hard-Line Critics Scuttle Iranian Talks?

8:55am November 03, 2013

by Peter Kenyon

The resurgence of diplomacy in the Iranian nuclear standoff has generated hope in the West for a peaceful solution to the long-running crisis, and hope in Iran for the lifting of painful economic sanctions. But the new opening has also invigorated hard-line opponents in Israel, Washington and Tehran. Analysts say pressure from these conservative critics could derail the talks as they enter a particularly difficult phase.

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Is that Subway? Middle East analyst Holly Dagres is on a hunt for fast-food lookalikes in Tehran.

World News

Mash Donalds? Iranians Copy American Fast-Food Brands

2:37pm November 02, 2013

by NPR Staff

If you wander through the streets of Tehran, you might find that faux McDonald's, or maybe a Pizza Hat. The rise of the "fake franchise" caught the attention of Iranian-American Holly Dagres, a Middle East analyst and commentator, who says some of these eateries "look like the real deal."

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Brooklyn Hipster Finds The 'Big Sulk' In Iran

11:36am November 02, 2013

Iranian American journalist Hooman Majd wrote a memoir about his family's one-year sojourn in Tehran. Majd and host Scott Simon discuss his new book, The Ministry of Guidance Invites You to Not Stay: An American Family in Iran.

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Iranian Hard-Liners Plan 'Grand Day Of Death To America'

6:46am November 01, 2013

Some hard-liners in Iran are planning a "Grand Day of Death to America" on Monday — the anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979. Revolutionary Guards commanders promise the slogan will "echo across the nation."

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A Marmaray Project train awaits its inauguration ceremony in Istanbul on Tuesday.

World News

Ottoman Dream Come True: Train Links East And West In Istanbul

9:04pm October 30, 2013

by Peter Kenyon

Istanbul inaugurated the world's first continent-connecting train line this week. It's not the Orient Express, but the subway does make real an idea first proposed in the mid-19th century.

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Saudi Women Get In Driver's Seat To Protest Ban

8:00am October 28, 2013

Dozens of women in Saudi Arabia drove cars Saturday in open protest against the kingdom's ban on women driving. NPR's Deborah Amos, who has been covering the story, speaks with Steve Inskeep about the outcome and implications of the protest.

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Candidates for town council Michal Chernovitsky (left) and Adina Ruhamkin campaign in a park in El'ad, or Forever God, a small religious community in Israel. They could be the first women on El'ad's council, and the first ultra-Orthodox women to win publi

Election In Ultra-Orthodox Israeli Town Tests Gender Norms

8:29am October 27, 2013

by Emily Harris

"It's a new thing. I hope it will be accepted, but I'm not so sure," one resident says about women running for town council. "Here women who express themselves aren't seen as a good thing."

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A woman drives a car in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Saudi Arabia is the only country where women are barred from driving, but activists have launched a renewed protest and are urging women to drive on Saturday.

Saudi Women Go For A Spin In Latest Challenge To Driving Ban

7:39pm October 24, 2013

by Deborah Amos

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that effectively bars women from driving. Women are making a renewed challenge to the ban by getting behind the wheel and posting videos in advance of a national drive-in set for Saturday.

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Children play at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, where more than 120,000 Syrian refugees live. Roughly two-thirds are kids, many of whom have been traumatized by the violence in their homeland.

World News

Syria's Grinding War Takes Toll On Children

2:19pm October 22, 2013

Two million Syrian children have been displaced by the war. Many have witnessed violence and experienced trauma that could have life-long consequences. One of the biggest challenges for international aid agencies is healing the invisible scars of the youngest victims.

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