Iran’s Impossible Return to the 1990s
Two men personify the post-revolutionary phase of the Islamic Republic in the 1990s: then-president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Hassan Rohani, his Supreme National Security Counci...
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
A Raw Deal for Iran’s Dissidents
Iranian dissidents are increasingly worried that — with the nuclear deal signed and business prospects looming — the West will give Iran a pass on human rights. European dignitaries v...
Op-eds
Iran’s Succession Crisis Overshadows Nuclear Pact
The July 14th Vienna agreement between Iran and global powers may, at least for a time, contain the crisis over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme but an impending succession battle i...
Op-eds
The IRGC’s Ambivalent Response to the Nuclear Deal
With all eyes fixed on the battle between President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress over the nuclear deal, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s struggle against Iranian critics of the deal...
Policy Briefs
History Contradicts the Dream of Iranian Moderation
Most backers of the nuclear accord with Iran hopefully insist that the theocratic regime will moderate once sanctions are lifted. Plugged back into the global economy, Iran will become less milit...
Op-eds
Iran’s Expendable President Rouhani
While Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif celebrate their recent nuclear negotiating triumph, neither they nor their Washington-based fans should pop the&nb...
Op-eds
Analysis: Europe to Drop Sanctions on Iranian Terrorists and Entities
Along with the Iran nuclear agreement, the European Union has agreed to remove sanctions on Iranian entities and individuals deeply involved in terrorism. Making matters significantly wo...
Op-eds
The Iranian Nuclear Paradox
The lines are clearly drawn in Washington on President Obama’s plan for a nuclear deal with Iran. As negotiations for a final agreement continue well past their June 30 deadline, most...
Op-eds
The IRGC v Rohani: Spy v Spy
While the United States has pinned its hopes for a negotiated solution to the dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme on Iranian President Hassan Rohani’s government, the “...
Op-eds
Learning from Rafsanjani’s Memoirs
Secretary of State John Kerry broke with years of U.S. and international policy on Tuesday, indicating that revealing past...
Policy Briefs
Iran’s Losses Mount in the Syrian Quagmire
“We must possess Syria. If the chain from Lebanon to here [Tehran] is cut, bad things will happen,” former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said in a December 24, 2...
Op-eds
Transformational Diplomacy
Many supporters of an Iranian nuclear agreement believe that a deal could help to moderate, even democratize, Iranian society. Barack Obama’s constant allusions to the transformative potent...
Op-eds
Admiral Shamkhani, Rohani’s Iron Fist in an Iron Glove
President Hassan Rohani’s appointment of Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) in September 2013 was initially seen as a...
Op-eds
Reported Israeli Raid on Sudan Could Reveal Khartoum’s Duplicity
Sudan may have joined the Saudi-led fight against Iran-backed p...
Policy Briefs
The Iranian Nuclear Threat and Greek-Israeli Relations
Two items in the March 7 issue of The National Herald, an editorial, “Netanyahu’s Pyrrhic Victory” and an opinion piece, “A National Disgrace: Boehner Undermines the Presi...
Op-eds
What else is Iran hiding?
We don’t know all that has transpired in the talks on Iran’s nuclear program being conducted in Switzerland, but we do know that the White House has shied away...
Op-eds
Unanswered Questions Surrounding Tehran-Pyongyang Cooperation
With the deadline for nuclear negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 group drawing near, unanswered questions about the nature of the relationship between Tehran and Pyongyang are taking on new s...
Policy Briefs
Iran’s Succession Battle: Does it Matter?
Mohammad Yazdi, a hardline ayatollah and former Judiciary chief, was elected chairman of Iran’s Assembly of...
Policy Briefs
Succession After Khamenei
Iranian TV aired footage Sunday of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addressing a group of environmental officials at his residence in central...
Policy Briefs
Cry for Argentina
“When heads of state become gangsters, something has to be done.” Winston Churchill said that. It’s a proposition not many people nowadays endorse. Fewer still take it upon...