Arab spring warms a Kurdish winter

by Gareth Smith May 3, 2011

written by Gareth Smith May 3, 2011

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was quicker towel come the ‘Arab Spring’ than United States President Barack Obama. While publicly comparing the unrest to its own “Islamic Revolution,” Tehran was weighing how the demise of two friends of the US in Egypt and Tunisia, and unrest in Yemen and Bahrain, might affect its struggle for influence with the US and its allies. The Iranian authorities meanwhile nipped in the bud February’s attempt by the opposition Green Movement to return to the streets, while the economy was buoyed by rising oil prices that passed $100 a barrel for the first time since 2008, due to the events in Libya and fears of unrest in Saudi Arabia. Iran’s fiscal outlook suddenly looked rosier, easing apprehension over contentious plans to phase out $100-billion in annual subsidies of everyday items, such as gasoline. Then came unrest in Syria, a challenge to both Tehran

iran Kurdistan Kurds

Gareth Smith

Gareth Smith was a distinguished journalist who reported from the Middle East for over two decades. He served as the Financial Times correspondent in Tehran, where he was the chief Iran correspondent from 2003, following his earlier role as Lebanon correspondent. Throughout his career, Smith covered Middle Eastern affairs for leading media outlets, including The Financial Times, The Guardian, and the BBC. He also contributed as an editor to Executive magazine. His work as a freelance journalist in the 1990s, focusing on the politics of Iran and Iraq, paved the way for his appointment at the FT. In 2009, he relocated to the west coast of Ireland, where he balanced freelance journalism with his passion for nature and the land.

Arab spring warms a Kurdish winter

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