On November 4, Iran held some 900 rallies nationwide to commemorate the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in 1979. Demonstrators chanted “Death to America” outside the former embassy compound in Tehran, burned American flags, and waved posters vowing loyalty to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.…
Iran Policy
On June 14, Iran condemned the tough rebuke by the U.N. nuclear watchdog for failing to explain traces of uranium and suspect activity. Tehran’s rebuttal escalates tensions with Iran and the world’s watchdog agency, which ultimately can report serious violations to the U.N. Security Council for…
U.S. officials acknowledged modest progress in the eighth round of nuclear talks with Iran and the world’s major powers. The “negotiations in January were among the most intensive that we’ve had to date,” a senior State Department official said on January 31. “And we made progress narrowing down…
On January 19, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi arrived in Moscow to discuss expanding bilateral ties with Russia. In wide-ranging talks with President Vladimir Putin, Iran and Russia discussed cooperation on trade, banking, transportation, energy, regional security, and more.
“We in Iran have no…
On December 7, the Treasury Department imposed sanctions on 15 individuals and entities in Iran, Syria and Uganda for repressing peaceful protestors, political opponents and innocent civilians. “Ahead of this week’s Summit for Democracy, Treasury is targeting over a dozen government officials…
Supreme Leader KhameneiOn October 24, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced countries that had established diplomatic ties with Israel. “They sinned by normalizing relations with the usurping, despotic Zionist regime,” he said in a speech marking the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.…
On September 27, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett accused Iran of destabilizing the Middle East and working towards a nuclear weapon. “Iran's nuclear program has hit a watershed moment, and so has our tolerance. Words do not stop centrifuges from spinning,” he warned in his debut address to…
Two days after President Biden’s inauguration, Foreign Minister Zarif called on the new Biden administration to take two major steps to renew diplomacy with Iran: remove all sanctions imposed during the Trump administration and reenter the 2015 nuclear deal “without altering its painstakingly…
On January 4, Iran resumed enriching uranium to 20 percent at an underground nuclear facility, a major breach of the 2015 nuclear deal. The landmark agreement, negotiated between Iran and six major world powers, stipulated that Tehran could only enrich uranium to 3.67 percent. It also banned…
President Hassan Rouhani and his supporters were cautiously optimistic that Joe Biden, the projected winner of the 2020 presidential election, could shift U.S. policy on Iran. “We hope the three-year experience will be a lesson for America's next administration to abide by laws and regulations and…