Scholars dissect Iran’s shifting internal dynamics
The Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) has released the second installment of its “Iran in Context” series, a digital panel discussion centered on the political and counter-political forces shaping the country. Co-produced with the British Society for Middle East Studies (BRISMES) and the Italian Society for Middle East Studies (SeSaMO), the session scrutinizes the internal catalysts behind Iran’s political volatility over the past year.
Expert voices on domestic governance
The panel, titled “Politics and Counter Politics in Contemporary Iran,” brought together three prominent scholars: Naghmeh Sohrabi, director of the Crown Center for Middle East Studies at Brandeis University; Mohammad Ali Kadivar, an associate professor of sociology and international studies at Boston College; and Paniz Musawi Natanzi, a research associate at the University of Bern. MERIP executive director James Ryan and Rosanna Tufaro, a Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at La Sapienza University in Rome, moderated the exchange.
The participants focused on dismantling common misrepresentations of Iran’s political landscape held by external observers. Their conversation centered on the mechanisms of political change and the evolving nature of domestic governance, set against a backdrop of intense military and political instability.
Tracing protest and social friction
The discussion drew heavily on recent academic inquiry into Iran’s current trajectory. Mohammad Ali Kadivar’s analysis, published in the June 3, 2026, issue of MERIP, anchored the debate on the transition from localized protest to broader conflict. Paniz Musawi Natanzi added depth to the social analysis, drawing on her research regarding the intersection of working-class masculinity and anti-Afghan racism, which appeared in the June 2025 issue of Middle East Report.
Quantifying public sentiment
The panel highlighted work such as the June 15, 2026, preprint by Daniel Tavana, Kevin Harris, Gary Fong, and Amir Farmanesh, which investigates the phenomenon of preference falsification and the over-reporting of regime support.
Expanding the regional conversation
This podcast release follows the March 19, 2026, MERIP roundtable that examined the regional implications of the ongoing Iran war. The “Iran in Context” series is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Amazon Music.
