Iran Primer's Blog
U.S. Sanctions Chinese, UAE, Singapore Firms for Iran Dealings
Under the Amended Iran Sanctions Act, the United States on Jan. 11 sanctioned three companies for doing business with Iran's energy sector, expanding the range of punitive American action on the international stage. The following is the State Department announcement. Secretary of State Hillary…
Israel and Iran: A Dangerous Rivalry
The Rand Corporation issued a report in December entitled “Israel and Iran: A Dangerous Rivalry” by Dalia Dassa Kaye, Alireza Nader, and Parisa Roshan. Alireza Nader is a contributing author to “The Iran Primer.” Excerpts from the summary are posted below, with a link to the entire report. The…
Regime Isolates Entire Rafsanjani Family
Interview with Yasmin Alem The daughter of the former Iranian President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has been sentenced to six months in prison on charges of "spreading propaganda against the ruling system." The trial of Faezeh Hashemi took place behind closed doors in December 2011. Hashemi is a…
U.S. Sanctions Iran “Front Companies”
On Dec. 20, the United States issued new sanctions against front companies linked to Iran’s missile program. The following rundown was released by the Treasury Department. The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of 10 shipping and front companies…
U.S. Sanctions Military Officials on Human Rights
On Dec. 13, the United States sanctioned two senior Iranian military officials for being responsible for or complicit in serious human rights abuses in Iran: Hassan Firouzabadi is chairman of Iran’s Joint Chiefs of Staff and Abdollah Araqi is deputy commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard…
Iran UN Letter: US Drone is Aggression
The following is a letter to the U.N Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, from Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, sent on Dec. 8. In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful…
U.S. Launches Virtual Embassy Tehran
On Dec. 6, Under Secretary for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman gave a briefing about the launch of the “virtual embassy Tehran” to provide a means for the United States to communicate directly to Iranians. The following are excerpts. This initiative is designed to enhance our outreach to the…
New Testimony: U.S. Policy on Iran
On Dec. 1, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman and Treasury’s Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence David S. Cohen testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The following are two excerpts, with links to their full statements below. Wendy…
Tehran's Growing Tensions with the West
The following is an interview by the Council on Foreign Relations with USIP fellow and Iran Primer editor Robin Wright:
The attack on the UK embassy in Tehran (BBC) on November 28 reportedly by Iran's Basij militia, a volunteer paramilitary wing, has led to heightened tensions between Iran and the…
Gallup: Few Iranians Approve of U.S., European Leadership
According to a 2011 Gallup poll, the U.K., U.S., and EU did not enjoy much approval in Iran even before they tightened sanctions there, escalating tensions. Nine percent of Iranians approved of U.K. and U.S. leadership when Gallup surveyed in February and March 2011 and not many more approved…