Ledeen Begins his Pivot

Michael Ledeen, a neoconservative polemicist and long-time Iran hawk who joined the Foundation for Defense of Democracies after leaving the American Enterprise Institute in 2008, is being honest when he reminds us here that he has opposed direct US military intervention in Iran. For Ledeen, Iranian-regime… Continue Reading

Anthony Cordesman: Give Diplomacy Priority While Preserving Security

Anthony Cordesman, a highly respected military and security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), writes in a co-authored CSIS report that while the US should be prepared for the worst — an Iranian sprint towards a nuclear… Continue Reading

Where is the Iran sanctions regime heading?

I don’t know the answer to the question I’ve posted above, but today’s news may offer an indication: The EU imposes new sanctions against Iran’s nuclear program and reaffirms its said commitment to reaching a peaceful, diplomatic solution: …the objective of… Continue Reading

Will the US choose war or peace with Iran?

The National Iranian American Council’s Reza Marashi, who served at the Office of Iranian Affairs at the US Department of State during the transition from the Bush to Obama administration, on the key foreign policy issue facing the next president of… Continue Reading

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