Iran’s Telling Ministerial Confirmation Hearings

by Farideh Farhi Iran’s cabinet confirmation hearings this week were painful, but not for its new president Hassan Rouhani, despite the rejection of 3 out of his 18 ministerial nominees. They were painful for Iran’s hardliners, whose mismanagement of the… Continue Reading

On the So-Called “Nuclear Iran Prevention Act”

by Farideh Farhi Paul Pillar has aptly explained why the vote this week in the House of Representatives for even more sanctions against Iran (H.R. 850) is at odds with the stated US foreign policy objective of changing Iran’s nuclear… Continue Reading

Rouhani Faces Tests at Home and Abroad

by Jasmin Ramsey via IPS News The successful campaign of Iran’s President-elect Hassan Rouhani may have been built on the persistence of hope among Iranian voters for a better future. It remains to be seen how effectively the moderate cleric… Continue Reading

A Prudent Triumph

by Ali Reza Eshraghi Nearly two weeks after Iran’s June 14 presidential election, there’s an unprecedented optimism in the air. Seemingly endless speculation is occurring on a daily basis about the make-up of president-elect Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet. At the same… Continue Reading

Parsing Rouhani’s Victory

by Reza Marashi The election of Hassan Rouhani as Iran’s next president has elicited different interpretations in Washington. To some, Iranian officials from both sides of the political spectrum are cut from the same cloth, so a pox on both… Continue Reading