Inspections-Based Solution to Nuclear Issue Assessed at NIAC Capitol Hill Briefing
NIAC hosted Charles Ferguson, President of the Federation of American Scientists, a Congressional briefing on Friday entitled “Iran’s Nuclear Program: Can an Inspections-Based Solution Work?”
House Unveils Bill to Expand Sanctions, Impose Oil Embargo on Iran
Top members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee have introduced new legislation designed to implement new “crippling sanctions” against Iran, including an embargo on Iranian oil exports that would bring the U.S. closer to imposing the types of sanctions carried out against Saddam Hussein’s Iraq.
NIAC Commends UN Human Rights Council Efforts on Iran
NIAC commends efforts underway at the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) to productively address the continued campaign of human rights abuses in Iran.
Congress Clashes over U.S. Participation at the Human Rights Council
Members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee clashed over U.S. participation in the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) last week.
Clinton Testifies on Iran Sanctions, Nuclear Enrichment, and the MEK
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appeared before two Congressional hearings that featured a series of pointed exchanges regarding Iran’s nuclear program, US sanctions, and the terrorist designation of the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK).
NIAC Commends Targeted Human Rights Measures
NIAC commends today’s announcement that the Obama Administration is designating Basij Commander Mohammed Reza Naqdi and Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi for US financial and visa restrictions due to their involvement in human rights abuses against the Iranian people.
Experts Debate Iran Options, Reject Military Confrontation
Foreign policy and non-proliferation experts convened yesterday to discuss “principled and pragmatic” solutions to dealing with Iran.
Fueling Ethnic Tensions in the Persian Gulf is Not a Strategy for Middle East Stability
Washington risks entering into a game of escalating provocations with Tehran even as continuing efforts to restart talks in November are underway. Iran’s announcement that the two US hikers being held Evin prison will now face trial just ahead of the talks is no coincidence. The move is particularly shameful considering that these US citizens […]
Senators Call for UN Human Rights Monitor on Iran
A bipartisan group of Senators are urging the Obama Administration to undertake serious efforts to address Iran’s human rights crisis at the United Nations this fall. The group, led by Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urging the Obama Administration to work to pass a resolution at the United Nations establishing a human rights monitor for Iran.
NIAC Calls for Release of Shiva Nazar Ahari
NIAC condemns the imprisonment of Iranian human rights activist Shiva Nazar Ahari and reiterates its call for the Iranian government to release all political prisoners, including Ms. Ahari, who are being held in contravention of Iran’s constitutional international legal obligations.
NIAC Condemns Alleged Torture of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani
NIAC calls on the Iranian government to comply with its international human rights obligations and to suspend Ashtiani’s death sentence, as well as the sentences of all other Iranians who have been tortured to elicit false confessions or who have otherwise not been provided fair trials.
Congress moves forward with ‘crippling sanctions’ (and misses opportunity to support Iranians)
On Monday, the latest version of Congress’s sanctions bill was unveiled just in time to be passed and sent to the president’s desk by July 4. But while lawmakers have attempted to reconcile the pain that these new sanctions will impose on ordinary Iranians with Congress’s claims of support for the people of Iran, this bill remains a blunt instrument that perpetuates the sanctions-only framework that has dominated the United States’ Iran policy for decades.