Rouhani’s Pyrrhic Victory
“Today is a historical day,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif said as the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 nations – the UN Security Council and Germany – agreed...
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
How the Iranian President’s Populist Economic Policies Could Be His Undoing
Detractors of former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used to say that he distributed potatoes to buy votes, a derisive reference to government subsidies which contributed to Iran’s sp...
Op-eds
Analysis: A Human Rights Record Worse Than Ahmadinejad’s
President Rouhani has gone to great lengths to try to put a human face on the Islamic Republic’s regime. He has failed. “The human rights situation in the country remai...
Op-eds
Yet Another American Hostage In Tehran
Siamak Namazi is in Evin Prison in Tehran, and on the face of it that’s very surprising. Why? Because he’s long been a friend and supporter of the regime that has incarcerated him. He...
Op-eds
In Iran, Soccer Becomes a Political Football as Guards Take Over
“Red or blue? Persepolis or Esteghlal? Aboumoslem or Tractor Sazi?” Few questions divide Iran more than those about loyalty to the country’s top football clubs. ...
Op-eds
The New Axis of Evil
Do you remember the Axis of Evil? It was one of the major themes of President George W. Bush’s State of the Union speech in 2002, 4 months after the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Unite...
Op-eds
Rohani Deal With IRGC Could Torpedo Nuclear Agreement
Iranian President Hassan Rohani’s diplomacy and the landmark nuclear bargain may have reduced the gaps between Tehran and the global powers, but the agreement is widening dif...
Op-eds
Our Iranian Interlocutor
Antisemitism has never been an easy subject for America’s foreign-policy establishment. Read through State Department telegrams and Central Intelligence Agency operational and intelligence...
Op-eds
The Iranian Attack Against Me, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal
I recently commented on Senator Charles Schumer’s rejection of the Iran deal. My remarks, which appeared here August 9th, included a reference to an exchange of messages between the Obama A...
Op-eds
Embracing Iran: The Swiss Cheese Sanctions Policy
The non-EU member Switzerland became the first Western country to lift sanctions...
Op-eds
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
Rohani and the Crisis of Rising Expectations
Iranian President Hassan Rohani’s successful nuclear diplomacy has created a crisis of rising expectations among Iranians, which he cannot possibly satisfy prior to the February 2016 parlia...
Op-eds
Business As Usual: Austria to Sell Iran Cranes for Possible Use in Hangings
BERLIN – Traditionally, Austrian governments have been the least critical of the Islamic Republic’s human rights violations. Now, Austria’s government plans to rekindle a busine...
Op-eds
German Minister Engulfed by Storm of Criticism for Iran Visit
German Vice Chancellor and Economic Minister Sigmar Gabriel’s three-day ...
Op-eds
The China-Iran Nuclear Pipeline
President Barack Obama has said that the final nuclear deal with Iran will...
Op-eds
Analysis: Rouhani’s Anti-Gay Policies Mirror His Predecessor
Shortly after the election of Iran’s self-described moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani as president in 2013, the gay Iranian poet Payam Feili concluded, prophetically and pessimistically: &ldqu...
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
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
Analysis: Why Iran’s Failure to Protect Religious Minorities Doesn’t Bode Well For Nuclear Deal
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s tenure has been marked by intensified persecution and incarceration of Baha’is, Jews, Christians and Sunni Muslims, according to a new report from t...
Op-eds
Iran’s Greatest Vulnerability
Iran is on the march all over the world, from Syria and Iraq to Venezuela and Cuba (where they have a Hezbollah base). Except when they unceremoniously retreat, as in recent days when their floti...