Iran Primer's Blog
Iran to Attend Syria Peace Talks
On January 19, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced that Iran had been invited to join the peace talks on Syria. The following is his statement, followed by a comment from the State Department. U.N. Secretary General's…
Feinstein on Iran in Senate Speech
On January 14, Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) made the following speech on the Senate Floor. The statement was partly to block the proposed Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act (see link at bottom). But it also more broadly…
White House: Details of Implementing Iran Nuclear Deal
On January 16, the White House released the details of implementing the nuclear deal signed by Iran and the world’s six major powers. The following is the White House statement with a link to the European Union's factsheet.…
Nuclear Deal to Start January 20
Iran and the world’s six major powers agreed to begin implementing the Geneva nuclear agreement on January 20. Iran and the so-called P5+1 —Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia, the United States— had reached a historic interim…
White House: New Sanctions Amount to War Resolution
On January 9, the White House warned that a new Iran sanctions bill proposed in the Senate could push the United States toward war with Iran. The “Iran Nuclear Weapon Free Act” is co-sponsored by more than one-half of the 100…
Photos: People, Places and Political Sites
Robin Wright captured a cross section of images from Iran on the eve of the revolution’s 35th anniversary. The pictures include exclusive images from inside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran as well as leading ayatollahs and some of the many visual contradictions in the…
Inside Iran with Robin Wright and David Ignatius
Two long-time Middle East experts have recently returned from Iran. Their discussions with cabinet members, ayatollahs, hardliners, members of parliament, economists, opposition figures and ordinary Iranians offer rare insights…
Iran’s Leaders Alarmed by Sunni-Shiite Tension
Iran’s top religious and political leaders are alarmed by growing Sunni-Shiite tension in the Middle East. Tehran is especially worried about the influx of Sunni militants into Syria, al Qaeda’s resurgence in Iraq, and Sunni-…
Facts and Figures on Sunni-Shiite Balance
The rivalry between Shiite Iran and Sunni Arab states reflects the deepest schism in the Islamic world. The split dates back to the seventh century, when the sects disagreed over the issue of leadership after the Prophet Mohammed’s…
Rouhani Tweets on Freedom of Arts
On January 8, President Hassan Rouhani appealed for loosened censorship of the arts in an address to six art and cultural guilds. “Art without freedom is meaningless,” he told the gathering of prominent Iranian artists. “Every…