73 Prominent International Relations Scholars Say Iran Deal Will Help Stabilize Middle East
73 prominent International Relations and Middle East scholars have issued a letter in support of the Iran deal, arguing that it is a “strong and positive step toward stabilizing the Middle East,” and that a potential Congressional rejection of the agreement would further destabilize the region and “reignite Washington and Tehran’s gravitation towards a military confrontation.”
Clinton and Baker on Iran, Israeli strikes, and diplomacy
In an interview with Charlie Rose at the State Department last Wednesday, June 20, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Former Secretary of State James Baker discussed the role of diplomacy in resolving US- Iranian tensions [watch the interview here, read the transcript here]. Baker said the U.S. must pursue all non-military means to prevent an […]
Afghanistan’s Hidden Opportunity
Since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, Afghanistan has become the world’s leading producer of opium and heroin. This has humanitarian as well as security implications for both the United States and Iran and highlights perhaps the most obvious issue where mutual antagonism between the United States and Iran has prevented the two countries […]
Iran Interested in Stable Afghanistan…For Now
The Sunday Times has recently claimed that Iran has been involved in training insurgents in Afghanistan to kill NATO troops. This claim has in turn been repeated by various other news sources like FOX News, The Australian, Global Times, Taipei Times, etc. But the source of this allegation is two Taliban commanders. How kind of […]
What Obama didn’t say on Tuesday night
photo credit: The White House, Pete Souza Tuesday night, President Obama delivered a much-anticipated speech on the situation in Afghanistan. He announced that he will be sending 30,000 additional troops in the first part of 2010, and will begin withdrawing troops in the Summer of 2011. The speech made no direct references to Iran, and […]
U.S. sees Iranian aid to Taliban as insubstantial
Reuters (and only Reuters) has the story: The United States believes that Iran has supplied arms to insurgents in neighboring Afghanistan but top advisers to President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that the information was conflicting and any threat appeared unsubstantial. Shi’ite Iran is not a comfortable ally of the hardline Sunni Taliban, but analysts […]
As Israel installs new hardline PM, US and Iran meet on Afghanistan
Today, Benjamin Netanyahu will become Israel’s newest Prime Minister, leading a hardline Likud government alongside Avigdor Lieberman’s ultra-nationalist (and largely racist) Yisrael Betenyu party and incorporating Ehud Barak’s Labor party. The newly-formed government will place Kadima leader Tzipi Livni in the awkward position of leading the pro-peace movement (Livni is not widely regarded as a […]
Clinton sets date for first US-Iran meeting on Afghanistan
From the New York Times: BRUSSELS — Setting up the prospect of its first face-to-face encounter with Iran, the Obama administration proposed a conference on Afghanistan later this month that is likely to include Iran among the invited participants, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday. “We presented the idea of what is being […]
Abduction of Iranian diplomat could spur US-Iran cooperation
From the New York Times: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan – Gunmen abducted an Iranian diplomat in the chaotic city of Peshawar in Pakistan’s northwest Thursday, a day after the assassination of an American aid official there. The diplomat, Hesmatollah Atharzadeh, who was the commercial counselor at the Iranian consulate, was leaving his house in the suburb of […]
Obama administration to engage Iran on Afghanistan
The Washington Post reported yesterday that the Obama administration will look to Iran for assistance in Afghanistan. Obama strategists have said that the idea is to have Iran as an interlocutor rather than another element which impedes progress. Iran’s record in Afghanistan can be seen as a both a positive force for change– aiding US […]