Rouhani’s First Year

by Farideh Farhi Ten months into office, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has proven adept at isolating his hard-line critics and maintaining the political alliance that brought him to power. Skepticism regarding his ability to deliver on his campaign promises of… Continue Reading

US International Trade Statistics on Iran Trade Misleading

by Siamak Namazi The United States Treasury has issued a new explanation for the shortage of medical drugs and equipment in Iran. They claim the Iranian government is intentionally trying to exploit the problem for political purposes. A senior US… Continue Reading

Understanding the Rial’s Freefall

by Djavad Salehi-Isfahani The sharp drop in the value of the rial in the last two weeks has created much excitement in Iran and abroad, but mostly for the wrong reasons. In the parallel (or free) market for foreign currencies, the… Continue Reading

Mark Fitzpatrick on new IAEA Iran Report: Situation Not Yet Hopeless

Writing in Al-Monitor, Mark Fitzpatrick, an expert on Iran’s nuclear program, explains why the International Atomic Energy Associations’s new report on Iran isn’t good, but doesn’t amount to disaster either: In a pre-emptive move of their own, White House officials gave… Continue Reading

The winners and losers of the U.S.’s latest Iran sanctions

This week saw the furthering of draconian legislation against Iran that may end up benefiting U.S. adversaries more than hurting Iran’s government. On Wednesday the House of Representatives passed the Iran Threat Reductions Act (H.R. 1905) and President Obama is… Continue Reading