Mohsen Kadivar
is an Iranian jurist, theologian, and Shiite cleric. He was imprisoned during the Shah’s reign and also faced imprisonment under the Islamic Republic for his critiques of the Velayat-e Faqih doctrine, introduced by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 and integrated into the Iranian constitution.
In 1999, Kadivar was sentenced to eighteen months in prison by the Special Court for Clergy for spreading false information about the Iranian Islamic Republic system and supporting enemies of the Islamic revolution. He was imprisoned in the notorious Evin Prison. In 2016, along with a group of Iranian intellectuals, including Sedigheh Vasmaghi, he denounced the conviction of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri for disclosing information about the 1988 political prisoners’ executions. Mohsen Kadivar currently serves as a Professor of Islamic Studies at Duke University in North Carolina, United States.
What is your opinion on the failure of peace negotiations? What strategy have both sides adopted?
Given the complexity of the Iran-US relations over forty-seven years, it was far from certain that an agreement would be reached after the first session of peace negotiations. The initial session usually serves as a mere diplomatic formality, and the conclusion of the first round of talks without an agreement – as announced by the US Vice President – must be interpreted as…
