Washington and Tehran’s Vicious Spin Cycle
The crux of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran is that, at some point, in order to succeed, each side will have to take a deep breath and shake hands on a deal. But thirty years of mutual demonization and fear mongering, means it takes serious political courage to come to the table, and even […]
How do we know Iran isn’t moving to weapons?
With the alarmist rhetoric for military action against Iran, there seems to be significant confusion about the status of Iran’s nuclear program. Numerous U.S. officials and intelligence assessments have reiterated that Iran has not made the decision to build a nuclear weapon. This includes the 2007 and 2011 National Intelligence Estimates, and statements by Director […]
Applying the Lessons of South Africa Sanctions to Iran
Cross-posted from the Huffington Post “My basic approach is that sanctions have a limited place in international diplomacy or pressure,” says F.W. de Klerk, the former president of South Africa who presided over the end of the apartheid regime and the dismantling of the country’s nuclear weapons. Discussing whether sanctions are a useful tool of […]
Iran News Roundup 01/10
Hooman Majd, Vali Nasr, Bret Stephens, and Hillary Mann Leverett discuss the effects of sanctions, the probability of negotiations, and the likelihood of war on Fareed Zakaria GPS. Chinese foreign minister rejects Iran sanctions as Europe and Japan move forward China’s vice foreign minister Cui Tiankai, responsible for U.S. relations, repudiated the idea of sanctioning Iranian […]
Iran News Roundup 01/03
Iran proposes new nuclear negotiations Iran’s top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, has proposed a new round of talks with the P5+1 nations concerning its nuclear program (Guardian 12/31). Salehi said that Iran is prepared to reenter negotiations based upon the “step by step” plan proposed by Russia in July. A EU foreign policy spokesman said […]
Iran News Roundup 12/22
Iran’s currency troubles The Financial Times reports that Iran’s currency has dropped almost 10 percent in recent days, a record low against the U.S. dollar. While sanctions and economic mismanagement are likely culprits, some Iranian media have accused Ahamdinejad’s government of “engineering a deliberate devaluation to boost the rial value of its oil income in […]
Iran News Roundup 12/20
Panetta: U.S. will not allow Iran to have a bomb Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who has come under fire from neoconservatives for warning against the unintended consequences of Israeli military action against Iran, told CBS on Monday “the United States does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon” and shares Israel’s common concern. […]
The Parallels Between Iraq and Iran
What are the parallels in Iraq’s former nuclear program and Iran’s current nuclear program? What can we learn from the Iraq of the past when dealing with Iran of the present? We discuss these questions and more with expert on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction program and current assistant professor at the Norwegian Defense University […]
Is Iran Building a Nuke?
What new information has the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report revealed concerning Iran’s nuclear program? What next steps should the Obama Administration and Congress take towards Iran? These questions and more are answered in the 11th episode of Let’s Talk Iran with Ali Vaez, Director of the Iran project at the Federation of American […]
“All Options” on Iran Must Include Diplomacy
For the first time since the May 2010 “Tehran Declaration,” Iran has offered a proposal that could break the deadlock over its nuclear program. While there are many unanswered questions about the contours of the proposal and about Iran’s motivations for offering it, there is only one way to answer those questions: renewed diplomacy. According […]
Akbar Ganji: “The Worst Scenario for Iran: A Different Look”
On June 15, 2011, Akbar Ganji published an article,”The Worst Scenario for Iran: A Different Look,” on BBC Persian, examining the economy of Iran and the effects of the international sanctions on it. NIAC’s Ali Tayebi and Sahar Fahimi have translated this article from Ganji’s original pen, Persian, to English. “The Worst Scenario for […]
Stop talking war, start talking…
We’re slowly reaching a critical point in the nuclear impasse with Iran. If you listen to Iran hawks on the right, Iran is hell bent on getting a nuclear weapon. They just know that’s what Iran wants, despite, as Roger Cohen suggests, no evidence or logical basis supporting their conclusion. Unfortunately, there’s been little to […]