Archive
According to a 2012 Gallup poll, only eight percent of Iranians approve of U.S. leadership. Quick Summary: Iranians' already low approval of U.S. leadership did not get worse after the U.S. toughened sanctions in late 2011. Eight percent of Iranians approved of U.S. leadership… Read More
On Jan. 21, Iran announced the final list of candidates for the upcoming parliamentary election. The following are key facts on the list of candidates. 5,395 candidates originally registered to run for parliament.3,444 were approved by the guardian council, which… Read More
Alireza Nader The fate of Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program—which now threatens yet another Middle East conflagration—rests in the hands of a single man: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranians are now gripped by a sense that their nation stands at a… Read More
At a meeting with Iranian nuclear scientists on Feb. 22, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the following remarks about Iran’s nuclear program, international pressure and sanctions. “The Iranian nation has never been after nuclear weapons and it will never go after… Read More
Anthony Cordesman
The Center for Strategic and International Studies on Feb. 22 published “Iran and the Gulf Military Balance - II” by Anthony Cordesman and Alexander Wilner. The following is an excerpt from the report.
Iran continues to deny it is seeking nuclear weapons but it is much more… Read More
Iran announced on Feb. 19 that it would halt all oil sales to France and Britain, a response to new EU sanctions on Iranian oil imports due to go into effect this summer. But the top 10 European economies actually acquire only a modest share of their oil from Iran. The following are EU statistics… Read More
On Feb. 19, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey made the following comments on Iran in an interview on CNN’s GPS with Fareed Zakaria. On Iran’s nuclear intentions We also know, or believe we know, that the Iranian regime has not decided that they will embark on the [...] effort… Read More
On Feb. 16, the State Department issued the following statement on Iran:Today the United States Government took three separate sanctions actions against Iran’s primary intelligence agency, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS). MOIS was designated for its involvement in the… Read More
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, conducted Feb. 8-12, 2012, among 1,501 adults, finds substantial partisan differences over how to deal with Iran’s nuclear program. The public supports tough measures – including the possible use of military… Read More
Interview with Yasmin AlemThis is the first election since the controversial 2009 election and reports of a clampdown on media are increasing. What is the situation for social media and internet usage in the lead-up to the parliamentary elections? With less than three weeks to parliamentary… Read More
According to a 2012 Gallup poll, Iranians are split, 40% to 35%, on nuclear military power. Half support cutting ties with countries that impose sanctions. WASHINGTON, D. C. -- Iranians are more likely to approve of Iran developing its nuclear power capabilities for non-military use (57%) than for… Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- As the U.S. orders more economic sanctions against Iran, a new Gallup poll finds nearly two-thirds of Iranians think recent sanctions that the United Nations, the U.S., and Western Europe have already imposed will hurt the livelihoods of the country's residents "a great deal… Read More
The following is an excerpt of President Obama’s statement on new U.S. sanctions on Iran’s Central Bank. I have determined that additional sanctions are warranted, particularly in light of the deceptive practices of the Central Bank of Iran and other Iranian banks to conceal… Read More
In an energy brief for the Council on Foreign Relations, Robert McNally outlines four possible scenarios in “Managing Oil Market Disruption in a Confrontation with Iran.” SCENARIOS 1. Partial sanctions on Iran’s crude oil exports; Iran harasses gulf production and shipping This scenario… Read More
Karim Sadjadpour How has Iranian society changed over the 33 years since the revolution? Demographically, Iran is a much different society than it was 33 years ago. Its population has grown from around 35 million in 1979 to approximately 75 million today. Before the… Read More
On Jan. 26, the State Department issued the following statement on Iran. We are deeply concerned by the alarming increase in the Iranian regime’s efforts to extinguish all forms of free expression and limit its citizens’ access to information in the lead-up to March… Read More
Below is an excerpt from President Obama's State of the Union address on Jan. 24"We will safeguard America's own security against those who threaten our citizens, our friends, and our interests. Look at Iran. Through the power of our diplomacy, a world that was once divided about how to deal with… Read More
President Obama’s Statement on EU’s New Iran Sanctions, on Jan. 23 I applaud today’s actions by our partners in the European Union to impose additional sanctions on Iran in response to the regime’s continuing failure to fulfill its international obligations regarding its nuclear program. These… Read More
Interview with Yasmin Alem How do the numbers of registered candidates compare to previous elections? The number of candidates who registered for the 2012 parliamentary elections is at its lowest since the 1996 elections. Only 5,395 individuals registered to run for parliament, a 33… Read More
Patrick Clawson What does the unprecedented new European Union oil embargo on Iran mean in practical terms?The direct impact of the new EU oil embargo is relatively limited. Economists like to say that oil is "fungible," that is, oil not sold to the EU could be sold to other countries, and so the… Read More
The European Union on Jan. 23 imposed new sanctions on Iran. The following is the EU press statement, with the full conclusions of the EU Foreign Affairs Council below.Iran: New EU sanctions target sources of finance for nuclear programme Given the EU's serious and deepening… Read More
Under the Amended Iran Sanctions Act, the United States on Jan. 11 sanctioned three companies for doing business with Iran's energy sector, expanding the range of punitive American action on the international stage. The following is the State Department announcement. Secretary of State Hillary… Read More
Annika Folkeson Tension has increased between Iran and the United States over the past weeks following new U.S. sanctions and Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz. The following are quotes on the tensions between Tehran and Washington. IRAN Vice president, Mohammad… Read More
Annika FolkesonTension has increased between Iran and the United States over the past weeks after the United States imposed new sanctions and Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. The following are key facts on Iranian oil. Iran holds the world’s fourth-… Read More
Annika FolkesonTension has increased between Iran and the United States over the past weeks after the United States imposed new sanctions and Iran threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz. The following are key facts on the Strait. The Strait of Hormuz is the world's most… Read More
The Rand Corporation issued a report in December entitled “Israel and Iran: A Dangerous Rivalry” by Dalia Dassa Kaye, Alireza Nader, and Parisa Roshan. Alireza Nader is a contributing author to “The Iran Primer.” Excerpts from the summary are posted below, with a link to the entire report. The… Read More
Interview with Yasmin Alem The daughter of the former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been sentenced to six months in prison on charges of "spreading propaganda against the ruling system." The trial of Faezeh Hashemi took place behind closed doors in December 2011. Hashemi is a… Read More
Michael Singh
Iranian officials grabbed global headlines in recent days by threatening to close the vital Strait of Hormuz, through which 20 percent of the world’s traded oil passes. Iran sought to back up its threats by holding a 10-day military exercise in the Persian Gulf and warning the… Read More
On Dec. 20, the United States issued new sanctions against front companies linked to Iran’s missile program. The following rundown was released by the Treasury Department. The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of 10 shipping and front companies… Read More
Michael Elleman For the outside world, one of the biggest mysteries about Iran is what really happened on Nov. 12, when a massive explosion went off at a sprawling military base just 25 miles from Tehran. The truth could provide pivotal information about the status of Iran’s missile program—a key… Read More