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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Iran News Roundup 11/7
War watch: Israeli and U.S. officials discuss military strikes on Iran This past week has seen an increased amount of war talk in both Israel and the U.S. Shimon Peres joined in, saying, “the possibility of a military attack against Iran is now closer to being applied than the application of a diplomatic option.” Yet, […]
“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 […]
Obama Should End Silence on Human Rights Abuses in Iran
Cross-posted from the Huffington Post Frustration is growing among the Iranian people over the Obama administration’s silence on human rights abuses in Iran. Condemnations of Tehran’s abhorrent treatment of its people have been few and far between. But before nuclear diplomacy moves towards a premature ending, the Obama administration must act quickly to reinvigorate its […]
IAEA Votes to Censure Iran
From Reuters: The International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors voted 25-3 to censure Iran in a motion that gained rare backing from Russia and China, which have in the past blocked attempts to isolate Iran, a trade partner for both. The U.S. envoy to the IAEA, Ambassador Glynn Davies, said in Vienna on Friday […]
Iran Prepared to Exchange Uranium on its Soil
AP reports: “Iran said Tuesday it was ready to exchange its low enriched uranium with a higher enriched material, but only on its own soil, to guarantee the West follows through with promises to give the fuel” This position is being taken as Iran’s “official” response to the IAEA-brokered nuclear proposal born of talks among […]
Flux In Iran affecting its handle on foreign policy, nuclear issues?
In an interview with the Council on Foreign Relations, Iran expert Ray Takeyh suggested that the Iranian government is preoccupied with internal divisions both among its officials and with a state-society divide that has subsequently impeded its foreign policy. Takeyh: I don’t believe at this point that the Islamic Republic has a foreign policy if […]
Iranian Nuclear Official: No Reason to Reject Nuclear Deal
ILNA interviewed an Iranian nuclear official recently who criticized the Iranian leadership for not accepting the proposed nuclear deal offered by the P-5+1. The official, Ahmad Qarib of the Iranian Atomic energy Organization, said Iran does not currently have the capacity in its nuclear infrastructure to use all of its enriched uranium, and that therefore they have nothing […]
Still waiting…
Despite Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks about a turn towards “cooperation” with the West about its nuclear program, Iran seems to have once again managed to stall the process. Reports have been varied in their interpretation of Iran’s response to the nuclear deal drafted two weeks ago with the IAEA. The IAEA reported that Iran gave an […]