Archive
Mark N. Katz During a visit to the United States in mid-July, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov presented the Obama administration with a plan for "step by step" nuclear talks with Iran. What is new about the Russian initiative?Foreign Minister SergeiLavrov’s “step by step” approach to… Read More
The CSIS Burke Chair compiled a series of chronological reports with the assistance of Adam Seitz of the Marine Corps University on Iranian perceptions of national security and competition with the United States. The following is an excerpt with a link to the full report at the end… Read More
The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center recently released a report charting executions by the Islamic Republic of Iran since December 2010. The report is based on information from official and semi-official sources as well as other reports; links to the sources are included… Read More
The International Monetary Fund released a report today on Iran’s subsidy reform. The final section addresses the challenges ahead. A link to the full report is at the bottom: The successful implementation of the drastic price increases has created a unique opportunity for Iran… Read More
David Albright and Andrea Stricker The conflict over Iran’s nuclear program appears to be getting worse. In June, Iran decided to relocate 20 percent enrichment at its fortified Fordow enrichment plant near Qom and install advanced centrifuges that would triple its enrichment output. … Read More
Geneive Abdo: The following text was given to insideIRAN.org by a group of intellectuals who are leaders in the Green Movement in Tehran. They are also the authors of this manifesto.We, dozens of groups of Green activists in Iran, have decided to offer several recommendations for the reform and… Read More
Semira N. Nikou Tensions are deepening between Washington and Tehran over new claims about Iranian military aid to Iraqi militias. The Obama administration charges that the Iranian arms have been increasingly used in attacks against U.S. troops. The U.S. holds the radical militias responsible… Read More
Alireza Nader President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is in hot water these days. His challenge to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which began after he fired the minister of intelligence in April, has provoked the deepening wrath of Iran’s political and military elite. There is even… Read More
The following is a statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: I am very pleased to announce a big step forward in the Obama Administration’s support of the Iranian people. Under our old visa policy, Iranian students and exchange visitors were eligible for visas that lasted… Read More
State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland issued the following statement on persecution of religious minorities in Iran on July 6, 2011: We are dismayed over reports that the Iranian courts are requiring Youcef Nadarkhani to recant his Christian faith or… Read More
Interview with Roberto ToscanoSemira N. Nikou Roberto Toscano served as Italy’s ambassador to Iran between 2003 and 2008. Along with five former European ambassadors to Iran, you wrote an open letter in June 2011 encouraging the United States and the European Union to engage Iran on its… Read More
Interview with Roberto ToscanoSemira N. Nikou Roberto Toscano served as Italy’s ambassador to Iran between 2003 and 2008. Along with five former European ambassadors to Iran, you wrote an open letter in June 2011 encouraging the United States and the European Union to engage Iran on its… Read More
On June 29, 2011, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iranian security forces for involvement in the Syrian crackdown: The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of one of the four major branches of Syria’s security forces, the Syrian Political Security… Read More
The State Department has released its 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report. Countries are divided into three categories—Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3—based on each government’s efforts to fulfill the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). The following is the section… Read More
The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) published the following report on June 10, 2011. The report documents the cases of five former prisoners – two women and three men. They span the almost 30 years of the Islamic Republic’s existence. Four witnesses were raped; one was… Read More
Interview with Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh Semira N. Nikou Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a women’s rights activist, is a founding member of the Stop Stoning to Death Campaign and the Iranian Women’s Charter. She was director of Entesharat-e Banoo (Banoo Publications) and Entesharat-e… Read More
Interview with Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh Semira N. Nikou Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a women’s rights activist, is a founding member of the Stop Stoning to Death Campaign and the Iranian Women’s Charter. She was director of Entesharat-e Banoo (Banoo Publications) and Entesharat-e… Read More
The following is a joint statement by Department of State Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Department of the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on new Iran sanctions. A fact sheet detailing the new sanctions is below. Today, the United States imposed sanctions on Tidewater… Read More
Kevan Harris Iran’s biggest economic problem is the growing production slump at its factories and workshops. For both workers and the business elite, Iran's domestic industrial troubles are far more pressing--and generating far more public anxiety--than international… Read More
On June 20, 2011, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned ten shipping companies and three individuals affiliated with Iran's national shipping line. The official statement is below: Continuing efforts to target the financial underpinnings of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL… Read More
Semira N. Nikou On June 17, the U.N. Human Rights Council appointed Ahmed Shaheed, former Maldives foreign minister (2005-07), as the new special rapporteur to Iran. Shaheed had resigned from the foreign ministry in 2007 to protest the Maldives government’s… Read More
Semira N. Nikou On June 17, the U.N. Human Rights Council appointed Ahmed Shaheed, former Maldives foreign minister (2005-07), as the new special rapporteur to Iran. Shaheed had resigned from the foreign ministry in 2007 to protest the Maldives government’s failure to… Read More
Michael Elleman
As part of an ambitious plan to expand its space program, Iran claims to have launched its own satellite into orbit on June 15. It is the second satellite the Islamic republic has put into space.
The new 15.3kg satellite, dubbed the Rasad-1 (Observation-1), is designed to take… Read More
David Albright and Andrea Stricker Throughout 2011, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) has closely followed the Iranian nuclear crisis, including Iran’s technical advancements, setbacks, controversy over possible military dimensions to its nuclear program… Read More
On June 14, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement on repression in Iran and Syria to mark the second anniversary of the disputed 2009 presidential election: Two years ago this week, Iranian citizens went to the polls in the hopes of expressing their democratic rights… Read More
Following a visit to Tehran in May and June 2011, the International Monetary Fund issued an assessment of Iran’s economy: The mission reviewed recent economic developments and revised its macroeconomic estimates and projections in light of new data and discussions with the… Read More
On June 9, the world’s six major powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States—issued the following statement on Iran’s nuclear program to the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. It was read by Ambassador Glyn Davies, the U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic… Read More
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on new sanctions: In June 2009, the world watched as Iran’s security forces violently suppressed thousands of Iranians who were calling for transparency and accountability in their government. Nearly two years after Iran’s brave citizens took to the… Read More
Semira N. Nikou Maziar Bahari is an Iranian Canadian journalist and film maker who was imprisoned in Iran between June and October 2009. He is the co-author of a new book, "And then they Came for Me," which chronicles Bahari's 118-day long solitary confinement in Iran's notorious Evin… Read More
Semira N. Nikou Maziar Bahari is an Iranian Canadian journalist and film maker who was imprisoned in Iran between June and October 2009. He is the co-author of a new book, "And then they Came for Me," which chronicles Bahari's 118-day long solitary confinement in Iran's notorious Evin… Read More