The Iran Election Bulletin is a biweekly publication covering domestic political and election issues in Iran in the lead-up to the June 12 presidential election.

By Kaveh-Cyrus Sanandaji
Middle East Center, St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford

• “We have decided that in order to attain some of our demands and those of women in Iran, we need to form a new coalition. The purpose of the coalition is strictly the presentation of women’s demands and not the specific support or not support of any presidential candidate.”
  – statement from the Seminar on the Election Demands of the Women’s Movement

By Geneive Abdo
Iran Analyst, The Century Foundation

In one month, the Lebanese people will go to the polls to elect a new parliament. They will do so under a new electoral law and administration agreed upon by all political contestants. This represents a significant step toward greater transparency and confidence in the process and the development of Lebanon and its institutions as a sovereign state.

Highlights from the Institute’s Arabic library.

The National Democratic Institute is the world’s largest publisher of Arabic-language resources and reference materials on democracy support. Its Arabic-language publications center is located in Lebanon and translates, publishes and distributes new materials on behalf of the Institute and other organizations on an ongoing basis. Learn more about the Institute’s Arabic library below.

By Gazelle Javantash

During a recent visit to Iran for the Nowrouz (Iranian new year) holiday, I had the opportunity to sit with family, students, workers and other average Iranians. While Nowrouz is not usually a time when politics becomes the center of conversation, this year was different. As I traveled across Iran, people were buzzing about the upcoming presidential election, the state of the economy and the shocking withdrawal of former president Mohammad Khatami from the presidential race just three days before the New Year holiday.