Iran Talks Will Resume Amid Guarded Optimism, High Stakes

by Jasmin Ramsey via IPS News Geneva – Almost exactly four months after the election of Iran’s new President, Hassan Rouhani, talks over the Islamic Republic’s controversial nuclear program will resume here on Tuesday. Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1… Continue Reading

Saudis Should Welcome A US Move Toward Iran

by Thomas W. Lippman Shortly after President Obama’s startling telephone conversation with Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, a Saudi Arabian journalist wrote that “The phone call between Obama and Rouhani shocked the Gulf states, Jordan, Turkey, Israel, and other countries.”  No matter… Continue Reading

When Silence Is Hardly Golden

by Henry Precht The recent telephone conversation between Presidents Obama and Rouhani — and their positive descriptions of the exchange — are precisely on target for bringing an end to the Iran-US Cold War. Distrust has been the background noise for that… Continue Reading

Iran Hawks Gear Up

by Mitchell Plitnick Not everyone shares the optimism surrounding the recent communication between Presidents Barack Obama and Hassan Rouhani. From Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf Monarchies and, of course, Washington, DC, voices of war are in a panic that tensions… Continue Reading

Watching Obama in Tehran

by Farideh Farhi I read about the Obama-Rouhani phone call in Farsnews, the hardline Iranian agency sometimes referred to as False News for the way it manages to distort certain events. (The official Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) was apparently… Continue Reading