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On December 6, President Rouhani warned the incoming Trump administration against trying to renegotiate or tear up the nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). His speech at Tehran University, was broadcast nationally on state television. Other officials have yet…

On December 1, the U.S. Senate voted 99-0 to extend the Iran Sanctions Act, which targets the Islamic Republic’s banking, defense, and energy sectors. President Obama is expected to sign the legislation. The law allows the president to waive those sanctions, as Obama has done with some sanctions…

CIA Director John Brennan warned U.S. President-elect Donald Trump that tearing up the nuclear deal would be “the height of folly.” In an interview with the BBC, Brennan said that backing out of an agreement made by a previous administration would be unprecedented. During the U.S. presidential…

At a press conference on November 14, President Obama discussed how the 2016 election might affect the historic Iran nuclear deal. The following is an excerpt of a question about the deal’s future after Donald Trump assumes the presidency and Obama’s reply. Q: President-elect Trump threatened to…

From August through October, Iran took additional steps toward reintegration with the world economy. It courted foreign investors in various sectors of its economy, such as energy, mining, and automobile production. The modest influx of cash back into the Iranian market and anticipation of more…

On October 24, Chatham House, a prominent London-based think tank, named Secretary of State John Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif as co-recipients of an annual prize. Members of the institution vote for person, persons or organizations who have made “the most significant…

The following are excerpts from a recently published report by Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs at the Congressional Research Service, on Iran’s foreign and defense policies.   Latin America Some U.S. officials and some in Congress have expressed concerns about Iran’s…

The following are excerpts from a recently published report by Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs at the Congressional Research Service, on Iran’s foreign and defense policies.   Russia Iran appears to attach increasing weight to its relations with Russia, which is a permanent…

The following are excerpts from a recently published report by Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs at the Congressional Research Service, on Iran’s foreign and defense policies. Iran’s relations with countries in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and South Asia vary significantly, but…

The following are excerpts from a recently published report by Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs at the Congressional Research Service, on Iran’s foreign and defense policies.   The Gulf States Iran has a 1,100-mile coastline on the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. The Persian…

The following are excerpts from a recently published report by Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs at the Congressional Research Service, on Iran’s foreign and defense policies. Iran has pursued a wide range of defense programs, as well as a nuclear program that the international…

The following are excerpts from a recently published report by Kenneth Katzman, Specialist in Middle Eastern Affairs at the Congressional Research Service, on Iran’s foreign and defense policies.   Iran’s Policy Motivators Iran’s foreign and defense policies are products of overlapping, and…

Iranian media and leaders have been closely following the U.S. presidential election. Not only have they criticized the candidates’ policies, but they have also derided the political atmosphere and American democracy. “Did you see the debate and the way of their speaking, accusing and mocking each…

On October 7, the U.S. Treasury Department updated its frequently asked questions document on the lifting of U.S. sanctions as part of the nuclear deal. Regulations on dollar-denominated transactions between foreigners and Iran were relaxed. The “update was intended to clarify the scope of…

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issued a new report critical of Iran’s human rights record. Executions were down in the first half of 2016 compared to the same period in 2015. But Tehran “has not taken any measures to halt executions or instituted a moratorium on the death penalty,” the…

International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff visited Iran and found that the economy has “rebounded strongly” since the nuclear deal was implemented and sanctions were lifted in January 2016. But Iran still needs to take several steps to ensure continued economic growth and reintegration into the global…

On September 26, Iran released retired university professor Homa Hoodfar from Evin prison. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Iranian authorities confirmed the release of the dual-national who had been held since June. She is believed to be in poor physical condition, due to a rare…

On September 23, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized the United States for not sending a clear message to European banks that they are free to do business with Iran. In a wide ranging conversation with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, he also discussed the war in Syria, tensions with…

On September 22, President Hassan Rouhani gave wide ranging comments on the nuclear deal’s implementation, U.S.-Iran relations, the Syrian war, Saudi Arabia, extremism, and more. He spoke to journalists after delivering an address to the U.N. General Assembly in New York. The following are…

On September 22, President Hassan Rouhani called on "certain countries in the region" to stop "bombarding their neighbors and put an end to their support for Takfiri terrorist groups" in his speech to the U.N. General Assembly. In particular, he urged Saudi Arabia to "cease and desist from…

On September 21, President Hassan Rouhani called for a political solution to the Syrian civil war in an interview with NBC News’ Chuck Todd. “The rule of the ballot box and the rule of the Syrian people and the will of the Syrian people should be the sole determinant of the future of the country…

On September 19, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz discussed the status of the Iranian nuclear deal and progress on implementation at the Council on Foreign Relations. The following are excerpts from the transcript of the conversation moderated by Graham T. Allison, Director of the Belfer …

Israeli leaders expressed varying degrees of hostility to the nuclear agreement between Iran and the world's six major powers. But they largely adapted to the reality of the deal and shifted their focus to nonnuclear areas of concern, according to a new brief by Dalia Dassa Kaye at the Rand…

On September 8, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran has been living up to its commitments as part of the nuclear deal, specifically as codified in U.N. Security Council Resolution 2231. For example, Iran has not surpassed limits on its stock of enriched uranium or heavy…

On September 12, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the last 280 members of a controversial Iranian opposition group, the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), had been transferred from Iraq to Albania. Founded in 1965 as an urban guerilla group, it opposed the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.…

The war of words is heating up between Iran and Saudi Arabia. They traded angry barbs before the annual hajj pilgrimage. On September 5, Iran’s supreme leader accused Riyadh of murdering its citizens one year ago. In September 2015, hundreds of Iranians were killed in a stampede during the ritual…

In the last year, Iranian and U.S. naval forces have had several close encounters in the Persian Gulf. In the most recent incident, an Iranian drone came within 1000 feet of a U.S. aircraft. It was the 14th unsafe and/or unprofessional interaction between U.S. and Iranian maritime forces in 2017,…

On August 22, the U.S. State Department issued new guidance warning Americans to “carefully consider nonessential travel” to Iran. The warning reiterated the risk of arrest and detention of U.S. citizens, particularly dual national Iranian-Americans. Iran does not recognize dual citizenship. The…

Russia and Iran escalated their military cooperation on the war in Syria. On August 16, Russian warplanes, taking off from Hamedan airbase in western Iran, bombed targets in Syria belonging to ISIS and Jabhat Fateh al Sham (formerly known as Jabhat al Nusra). Since 2011, Moscow and Tehran have…

Iran’s government reportedly continued to imprison, harass, intimidate and discriminate against people based on religious beliefs in 2015, according to an annual report by the U.S. State Department. The following are excerpts. Executive Summary The constitution declares the country to be an…