Gareth Smyth

Gareth Smyth has covered Middle Eastern affairs for 20 years and was chief correspondent for The Financial Times in Iran.

Author Articles

Growing links. A ship used for carrying goods is seen at the Hamad Port in Mesaieed, Qatar. (Reuters)
Doha’s Iran imports jump and it hopes US doesn’t notice
February 02, 2019
Who’s next? Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei sits next to a picture of the late founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, last March. (AFP)
Iran’s opaque politics of succession to Khamenei
January 12, 2019
People walk in front of a currency exchange shop in Tehran. (AFP)
Rohani walks an economic tightrope
January 05, 2019
Cover of Samuel Helfont’s “Compulsion in Religion: Saddam Hussein, Islam and the Roots of Insurgencies in Iraq.”
Studying Saddam’s ‘compulsion in religion’
December 15, 2018
An Iranian worker walks the platform of an oil facility in the Khark Island. (AFP)
Iran’s shadowy game with oil exports
December 15, 2018
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini speak at a meeting in Brussels, last July. (Reuters)
Is Europe aligning more closely with US on Iran?
December 08, 2018
Sensitive equation. A part of the Pardis petrochemical complex facilities in Assalouyeh, Iran. (Iranian Presidency)
Iran’s oil manoeuvres cannot stop the economy from shrinking
November 17, 2018
An Iranian checks various currency rates at an exchange shop window in downtown Tehran. (AP)
Sanctions will bite but will Iran change course?
November 10, 2018
A desire for revenge. Cover of the new book “Beirut Rules.”
‘Beirut rules’ in the region’s shadow wars
November 03, 2018
Cover of “The Middle East: The Cradle of Civilisation.”
Exploring the Middle East’s centrality to mankind
October 27, 2018
Uncertain times. An Iranian goldsmith counts gold coins in the sprawling Grand Bazaar, on August 12. (AP)
Iran sentences businessmen to death as economy feels squeeze
October 06, 2018
An Iranian tanker docks at the platform of the oil facility in the Khark Island. (AFP)
Iranians sit tight as oil sales fall
September 29, 2018
A 2013 file picture shows former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (L) and his close ally Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei in Tehran. (AP)
As former Iranian vice-president goes to jail, the ‘Ahmadinejadis’ are down but not out
September 22, 2018
Cover of Rabai al-Madhoun’s “Fractured Destinies.”
‘Fractured Destinies’ offers a window into Palestinian nostalgia and loss
September 15, 2018
Studying chess from the Abbasid era to Kuwait’s al-Sabah Collection
September 01, 2018
An Iranian worker walks on the platform of the oil facility in the Khark Island. (AFP)
Will Iran be hit hard by new US sanctions? It remains to be seen
July 21, 2018
Invaluable research. Cover of “Postrevolutionary Iran: A Political Handbook” by Mehrzad Boroujerdi and Kourosh Rahimkhani.
Providing a ‘Who’s Who’ for Iran’s last four decades
June 23, 2018
Cover of Fawaz Gerges’s new book “Making the Arab World: Nasser, Qutb and the Clash That Shaped the Middle East.”
Islamism and secular nationalism have much in common
June 16, 2018
A tribute to love, youth and Syria. Rana Haddad’s “The Unexpected Love Objects of Dunya Noor.”
Moustaches and magical realism in Ba’athist Syria
June 09, 2018
Juggling cultures. Iranians shop for items used to celebrate Noruz at the Tajrish traditional bazaar in northern Tehran. (AP)
Iran’s ‘hybrid nationalism’ has implications for Iranian politics
May 26, 2018