US-led Iran sanctions can harm/alienate upper and middle-income Iranians

Virginia tech economist and Lobe Log contributor Djavad Salehi-Isfahani adds to the growing list of reasons why the Obama administration’s Iran sanctions policy is counterproductive in Foreign Policy Magazine: Despite everything, Iran seems to be weathering the storm better than advertised. Sanctions… Continue Reading →

Study suggests US & Nato munitions in Iraq caused surge in birth defects

After being asked to give his take on a recent report about the human costs of attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities, a prominent commentator on US-Iran relations said it was an “inexact science” and declined further comment even though he called… Continue Reading →

Is sanctions relief really on the table?

The Guardian is reporting that a “reformulated” proposal including “limited sanctions relief” will be launched by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (p5+1) after the US presidential election. Earlier this week Al-Monitor reported along the same lines and Secretary… Continue Reading →

Applying Lessons from the Cuban Missile Crisis to Iran

In his debunking of the myths surrounding the Cuban missile crisis, Slate journalist Fred Kaplan derives lessons that can be applied to the ongoing dispute over Iran’s nuclear program. His second and third points, in particular, stand out (emphasis mine): Second,… Continue Reading →

Sanctions without compromise won’t end Iran nuclear impasse

In a new report for the Oxford Research Group (first excerpted at PBS’s Tehran Bureau) author Eskandar Sadeghi-Boroujerdi explains why sanctions without compromise won’t change Iran’s hardline leaders’ stance on the nuclear program: The key dilemma which Western policymakers should consider is that, rightly or… Continue Reading →