Iran News Roundup 12/16
GOP candidates get fact checked for Iran claims at debate Michelle Bachmann made the claim that the IAEA report proves that “Iran is within just months of being able to obtain that [nuclear] weapon.” Fact checks from CNN, The Washington Post, and the New York Times said Bachmann got it wrong. Mitt Romney accused President Obama of having said “pretty […]
Iran News Roundup 12/13
Israel: Iran must choose between the bomb and survival A senior Israeli cabinet minister said that Iran must to choose between obtaining a nuclear weapon and survival (AFP 12/12). “We believe that in order to stop the Iranian military nuclear project, the regime in Tehran should face a dilemma — whether to have a bomb […]
Iran News Roundup 12/6
Obama vs. Kirk Speaking at an event hosted by the American Enterprise Institute today, Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) claimed that the unanimous passage of his amendment to force the Administration to sanction Iran’s central bank demonstrated that support for Obama’s Iran policy has “collapsed” on Capitol Hill (The Hill 12/6). The Obama Administration pushed back against the […]
Iran News Roundup 11/21
U.K. sanctions Iran’s central bank, U.S. stops just short The Obama Administration is prepped to announce new sanctions on Iran’s petrochemical industry and against the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) at 4:30pm today (Reuters 11/18) (Reuters 11/21). These steps would place greater pressure for countries and companies to divest from Iran but stop short of […]
New Iran sanctions coming today
Today the US and UK will announce a new round of sanctions against Iran. With so many existing sanctions in place, it is helpful to unpack exactly what additional measures are now being enacted. The UK will implement the “nuclear option” of sanctioning Iran’s central bank, Bank Markazi, severing all ties with Iranian banks: From […]
Iran News Roundup 11/18
Central Bank sanctions being pushed by Congress Minority Senate leader Mitch McConnell introduced legislation on behalf of Sen. Mark Kirk that would sanction the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) in an attempt to “collapse” the Iranian economy (The Hill 11/17). In the House, a letter with bipartisan support, signed by House leadership and Foreign Affairs […]
Iran News Roundup 11/17
Top Story Action on Iran at the UN: With the IAEA Board of Governors meeting today, the Washington Post is reporting that China and Russia have agreed to sign on to a resolution condemning Iran, over the IAEA’s most recent report that will not include the harsher language that the U.S. had sought (Washington Post 11/17). […]
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 […]
Iran News Roundup 11/10
Romney attacks Obama on Iran: If you want peace, prepare for war Ahead of this weekend’s GOP foreign policy debate, Mitt Romney took to the Wall Street Journal to lay out his case against Obama on Iran. Romney criticizes Obama for saying he would pursue engagement with Iran in the previous election cycle, for not […]
IAEA report sets off firestorm of comments
The IAEA released its latest report on Iran’s nuclear program, generating a range of responses from arms control groups, government officials, and policymakers in various countries. Here is what some fo them had to say: Arms control groups respond Arms Control Association: The IAEA report and annex reinforce what the nonproliferation community has recognized for some […]
The Fight For Access to Higher Education in Iran
In the same way that international forces are imposing sanctions on Iran in an effort to alter its nuclear aspirations, Iran is punishing its own people by “sanctioning” their access to basic human rights. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the nation’s religious minorities have withstood waves of repression, not limited to […]
Iran hedges its bets on Syria
How shocking it was this week to see statements by leading Iranian officials offering advice and criticism on Syria’s handling of its protests. One must grimace at the utter hypocrisy of Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi talking about the Syrian people’s “legitimate demands”, and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad saying “a military solution is never […]