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Students Call on Soleimani to Defend Kobane

            On October 9, the Basij Student Organization called on Revolutionary Guards Qods Force Commander Gen. Qasem Soleimani to defend the Syrian town of Kobane from Islamic State militants. The Basij is a volunteer paramilitary organization divided into various branches across Iran. Its…

Report: Iran's Media on Syria Conflict

            Iranian media coverage of the Syria conflict propagates official state policy and emphasizes the legitimacy of the Syrian state, according to a study by the Syria Research and Evaluation Organization. The subjective nature of this media content, however, “serves to undermine the…

Supreme Leader on Chemical Weapons

            Iran’s supreme leader has taken to social media to condemn chemical weapons used against Iran nearly three decades ago. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s office released an infographic on the 27th anniversary of Iraq’s use of mustard gas and nerve agents near the village of Sumar, Iran. The…

Report: Iran’s Evolving Rockets & Missiles

             Iran is developing more advanced rockets and missiles to compensate for shortcomings in its conventional forces, according to a new report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Most of Tehran’s current arsenal suffers from poor accuracy and reliability. But Iran is…

Rouhani Calls for Academic Freedom

      On October 7, President Hassan Rouhani warned that restrictions on academic freedom stifle innovation and lead to brain drain. “Let's let people express themselves,” he said at Tehran University during a ceremony marking the start of the new academic year. The president also highlighted the…

What Rouhani's Week in New York Means for Nuclear Diplomacy with Iran

The following article was originally published by Iran@Brookings.Suzanne Maloney       Last week's New York visit by Iranian president Hassan Rouhani fell short of any expectations that might have been set by his historic American debut only a year ago. While there was plenty of pageantry — prime-…

Iran's Dinner Diplomacy

Robin Wright (for The New Yorker)           Iran’s President, Hassan Rouhani, did not shake hands with Barack Obama at the United Nations this week, a year after their celebrated cell-phone chat. The two men didn’t even pass each other in the hallway. But Rouhani did give a quiet dinner at his…

Journalists Criticize Rouhani in Letter

            In a letter to President Hassan Rouhani, 135 journalists held his administration accountable for not fulfilling his campaign promise to create a more secure working environment for the media. The signers wrote that “it is unethical, unprofessional and insulting to deny the fact that,…

Carter on Hostage Crisis 34 Years Later

            On October 1, former President Jimmy Carter told NBC that he could have been re-elected if he had taken military action against Iran or been able to rescue the American hostages in 1980. "I think I made the right decision in retrospect [to not attack Iran], but it was not easy at the…

Congress Warns Kerry on Nuclear Program

            On October 1, Rep. Ed Royce (R-CA), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), the Committee’s Ranking Member, along with 352 other House Members—including Speaker John Boehner, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Majority Whip Steve Scalise, and Minority…

Khamenei's Tweets on Ferguson

            Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has condemned the treatment of African Americans by police offers in Ferguson, Missouri, where an unarmed black teen was fatally shot by a white officer in August. More than a dozen postings, including two YouTube clips, on Khamenei’s official…

Rouhani at UN on ISIS, Nukes & US

         President Hassan Rouhani arrived in New York on September 22 to attend the U.N. General Assembly opening. He spoke at several public and private events before and after delivering his address on September 25. A translation of his speech is included below, followed by excerpted remarks from…

In Tweets: Rouhani’s Trip to New York

            President Hassan Rouhani’s trip to New York for the 2014 U.N. General Assembly has been meticulously documented on his quasi-official Twitter account. The following are tweets in chronological order beginning with his arrival on September 22. Landed in NY. Hope #UNGA2014 gives us…

Report: Iran’s Effective Breakout

            The issue of Iran’s “breakout” capability, the time needed to obtain enough weapons-grade uranium for one bomb, is a central issue in negotiations with the world’s six major powers. But a new report by the Arms Control Association argues that “effective breakout,” or the time needed to…

Report: Arab Minority Faces Discrimination

           Iran’s Arab minority has suffered from political, economic and cultural discrimination under multiple administrations, according to a new report by the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. Arabs make up approximately two percent of Iran’s population of 80 million. But they are…

US & Iran Meet in New York

      U.S. and Iranian officials have met in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly to discuss the nuclear talks and the threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Secretary of State John Kerry met his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, at the Waldorf Astoria…

Updated US Report on Iran Sanctions

           The following is a summary from the Congressional Research Service’s latest edition of its report on Iran sanctions by Kenneth Katzman.            Strict sanctions on Iran’s key energy and financial sectors harmed Iran’s economy. The economic pressure— coupled with the related June 14,…

Zarif in New York: ISIS, Nukes & US

       On September 16, Iran’s foreign minister arrived in New York to attend the U.N. General Assembly and continue talks with the world’s six major powers on the nuclear issue. During two wide-ranging interviews and an event, Mohammad Javad Zarif discussed Tehran’s position on the Islamic State,…

"Happy" Video Dancers Sentenced

            Six young Iranians have been received a suspended sentence of six months imprisonment and 91 lashes for appearing in a video singing along and dancing to Pharrell William’s “Happy.” The director was also sentenced to one year in prison in addition to the lashes. But the sentences are…

Key Quotes from Earlier U.N. Speeches

           U.N. General Assembly openings have been a forum for some of the most dramatic exchanges between Iran and the international community. Several of Iran's top leaders have used the venue to criticize the world order and the United States. But President Mohammad Khatami's 1998 call for a "…

Survey: Iranians Ready for Nuclear Deal

             A new survey found that the majority of Iranians would support a nuclear deal that includes key requirements of the world’s six major powers. Some 79 percent of Iranians are open to an agreement in which Iran pledges to never produce nuclear weapons. But 70 percent of Iranians reject…

Iran's Leaders on Iraq Crisis and ISIS

             Iran’s policy on Iraq has evolved as the Islamic State (IS) has taken more territory since June. President Hassan Rouhani and one his advisors initially suggested Tehran could cooperate with Washington on countering IS militants. But senior military, political and religious leaders,…

Khamenei Undergoes Prostate Surgery

             With unusual candor, the office of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has released a stream of pictures of the cleric after he underwent prostate surgery. His office claimed the minor procedure was completed in half an hour and only necessitated local anesthesia. But Khamenei still…

UN: Mixed Progress on Iran Nuke Program

            Iran has begun fulfilling additional commitments it made in July to rollback its nuclear program, according to the latest quarterly report by the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Iran has downblended or converted all of its uranium that was enriched to the 20 percent level, making it even more…

Fall Push on Nuke Talks

             With the deadline for a final nuclear deal looming in 10 weeks, the pace of diplomacy on Iranian nuclear talks is picking up. The United States and Iran held their third round of bilateral talks on September 4 and 5 in Geneva. The last round was on August 7.             The U.S.-Iran…

Rouhani on ISIS, Nuke Talks

     On August 30, President Hassan Rouhani vowed to resist U.S. sanctions in a televised press conference. But he also said Iran would continue nuclear talks with the world’s six major powers.  “We hope that we will reach [an] agreement... the tyrannical sanctions must be lifted,” Rouhani told…

New US Sanctions and Iran’s Response

            On August 29, the U.S. Treasury Department and State Department sanctioned more than 25 individuals, companies and banks for supporting Iran’s nuclear program, helping Iran evade sanctions or supporting terrorism. The punitive measures reflect Washington’s “determination to take action…

Kerry Calls on Iran to Release US Citizens

            On August 29, Secretary of State John Kerry called on Tehran to release three U.S. citizens detained in Iran and one that went missing on Iranian soil. The following is the full text of the statement.       The Unites States respectfully calls on the Government of the Islamic…

UN: Iran Complying with Interim Nuke Deal

             On August 20, the U.N. nuclear watchdog reported that Iran has continued to meet its commitments under the interim deal that was implemented in January and extended through November. Iran has halted its most sensitive activities and rolled back its program in other key areas. The…

Human Rights Watch: Locked Up in Karaj

            More than 60 prisoners in Karaj, near Tehran, are serving terms for exercising their fundamental rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, according to a new report by Human Rights Watch. The organization also suspects that due process violations may have tainted the judicial process…