Reports
On April 3, the Rand Corporation convened a day-long conference on Iran in the days after a nuclear deal. Participants concluded that that an agreement could herald a new era for Iran and its relationship with the outside world. But experts warned that Tehran would still likely be…
Iran’s economy has shown signs of stability since President Hassan Rouhani took office in August 2013, according to a new report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Inflation declined to about 29 percent in January 2014, down from about 40 percent in late 2013. But Iran’s “near-…
Ali Vaez, Karim Sadjadpour (via Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) Conception (1957–1979) The genesis of Iran’s nuclear program can be traced back to 1957. Ironically, it was the United States—then Tehran’s key strategic patron—that sowed the seeds of nuclear development by…
Ali Vaez, Karim Sadjadpour (via Carnegie Endowment for International Peace) Caesura (1979–1984) One of the first debates among the revolutionaries who overthrew the shah was about the legacy of the ancien régime. The royal heritage included the nuclear program, deemed by the…
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accumulated formidable authority within Iran’s political system since he became supreme leader nearly 25 years ago, mainly through transforming the Revolutionary Guard Corps into a key political and economic player. But even Khamenei has had to “devise sophisticated…
Iranians have low confidence in their justice system, according to a new World Justice Project study. The Islamic Republic ranked 82 among 99 countries on The Rule of Law Index 2014, which drew on more than 100,000 household and expert surveys worldwide. Iranian citizens in Tehran,…
On March 20, the U.N. nuclear watchdog released a new report detailing Iran’s implementation of the interim nuclear deal brokered in November 2013. Tehran has continued to comply with the agreement and has not enriched uranium to 20 percent. But it has not yet completed a facility to…
Half as many Americans view Iran as the United States’ greatest enemy as did two years ago, according to a new Gallup poll. Some 20 percent of Americans polled see China as the top U.S. enemy. About 16 percent of Americans see Iran as the greatest enemy. The same amount considers North…
On February 27, the State Department released its annual country reports on human rights practices. The following are excerpts from the Iran chapter. Executive Summary Despite high popular participation in the country’s June 14 presidential election, candidate vetting conducted by…
Iran remains one of the world’s most restrictive countries in terms of media freedom, according to the 2014 World Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders. The report noted that at the end of 2013, “Iran continued to be one of the world’s biggest prisons for media personnel, with 50…