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

Is The Supreme Leader Really So Supreme?

by Gary Sick With the surprising Iranian election over, and the moderate Hassan Rouhani elected by a clear majority, a new narrative is emerging. It asserts that absolutely nothing has changed, that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, let the… Continue Reading

Iran’s Post-Election Nuclear Prospects

by Peter Jenkins So many thoughtful analyses of the significance of Dr. Hassan Rouhani’s election are already in circulation that part of me thinks I ought to spare LobeLog readers one more. As a compromise, I will limit my focus… Continue Reading

Iranian Elections: Netanyahu, Neoconservatives Are the Big Losers

by Mitchell Plitnick Outside of Iran, there is no doubt that the biggest losers in Iran’s election this past weekend were the Likud government in Israel and its supporters, especially neoconservatives, in the United States. The response of Israel’s Prime… Continue Reading

Economic Issues Remain Murky As Iranians Go To Polls

by Djavad Salehi-Isfahani Talking to ordinary people in Neishabour and Tehran about Iran’s June 14 presidential election, economic issues seem foremost on their minds. But whom they will vote for is based on vague promises to pull the economy out… Continue Reading