Ronen A. Cohen (Hebrew: רונן א. כהן) is an Israeli scholar of Middle Eastern studies. He is an associate professor at Ariel University, and heads both its Middle Eastern & Central Asian Studies (MECAS) center and Department of Middle Eastern and Political Science Studies.[3]
Ronen Cohen | |
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Born | 1976 (age 47–48) |
Academic background | |
Alma mater | Bar-Ilan University[1] |
Thesis | The Development of the Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization and Its Struggle Against the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1997–1987 (2004) |
Academic work | |
Institutions | Ariel University[2] |
Main interests | Iranian studies |
Website | https://www.ariel.ac.il/wp/mecarc/ronen-a-cohen/ |
Cohen's main field of research is contemporary history and politics of Iran[2] and he has written numerous works on the subject including monographs on Iranian organizations the Hojjatieh, the Forqan and the Mojahedin-e Khalq.
Cohen maintains that Ruhollah Khomeini was immensely influenced by Musa al-Sadr, deriving "most of his methods and vision" from his pupil. He credits Iranian Revolution to Sadr, not Khomeini, stating "Khomeini conducted the music, but the music was composed by al-Sadr."[4]
In a June 2013 interview with The Jerusalem Post, Cohen categorically dismissed that the next Iranian president, to-be-elected in 2013 presidential election, may follow a nuclear policy different from his predecessor and said "the president is a clerk, a pawn of the supreme leader".[3]
Writing an opinion piece for Israel Hayom in 2018, Cohen remarked that regime change is inevitable in Iran: "it is just a matter of time before the revolution implodes and blows up in everyone's face".[5]