Archive
Semira N. Nikou This is the tenth in a series on parliamentary elections due in March 2012: Iran’s 2012 parliamentary elections will help define the country’s political course for the next four years. The campaign is already heating up, as political groups begin to mobilize in… Read More
Press Statement Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton The United States is deeply concerned by reports of the Iranian government’s continued repression of its people. Despite statements from Iran’s Supreme Leader and President claiming support for the rights and freedoms of Iranian citizens and… Read More
An Iranian court has imposed the death sentence on Yousef Nadarkhani, a 34-year-old protestant preacher, for apostasy after he repeatedly refused to recant his Christian faith. The verdict has generated international condemnation this week. The following are excerpts from the verdict and U.S. and… Read More
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Gallup poll reports "suffering" in Iran has nearly doubled, up from 14% in 2008 to 26% in 2011. One factor that may play into this increase is the lack of good jobs, as Gallup finds unemployment in the country above 15% and underemployment exceeding 35%. … Read More
Interview with Ali Reza Eshraghi Ali Reza Eshraghi was a senior editor at several of Iran’s reformist dailies. He is currently editor of Iran programs at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting and a Rotary World Peace fellow in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of… Read More
Kevan Harris This is the eighth in a series on parliamentary elections due in March 2012: What role does Iran’s youth play in elections? After the 1979 revolution, the voting age was lowered to 15 which automatically made youth important in elections. But since the mid-1990s, Iranian… Read More
Statement from the President on the Release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal I welcome the release of Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal from detention in Iran and am very pleased that they are being reunited with their loved ones. The tireless advocacy of their families over these two years has… Read More
Interview with Fatemeh HaghighatjooBy Semira N. Nikou Dr. Fatemeh Haghighatjoo is a former member of Iran’s parliament (2000-2004). She is currently a visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. This is the seventh in a series on parliamentary elections due… Read More
Interview with Fatemeh HaghighatjooBy Semira N. Nikou Dr. Fatemeh Haghighatjoo is a former member of Iran’s parliament (2000-2004). She is currently a visiting professor at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. This is the seventh in a series on parliamentary elections due… Read More
Mehrzad Boroujerdi and Kourosh Rahimkhani This is the sixth in a series on parliamentary elections due in March 2012: The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was established to protect domestic security, but the elite military wing has always had an implicit political… Read More
The following report about intelligence on Iran’s nuclear program was published on Sept. 15 by the Atlantic Council. The link to the full report is at the bottom: For a country that has been accumulating nuclear know-how since the Eisenhower administration, Iran has hardly been… Read More
Interview with Yasmin Alem Yasmin Alem is an international development specialist. She is the author of Duality by Design: The Iranian Electoral System published by the International Foundation of Electoral Systems. This is the fifth in a series on parliamentary elections due in… Read More
Interview with Yasmin Alem Yasmin Alem is an international development specialist. She is the author of Duality by Design: The Iranian Electoral System published by the International Foundation of Electoral Systems. This is the fifth in a series on parliamentary elections due in… Read More
Shaul Bakhash This is the fourth in a series on parliamentary elections due in March 2012: In preparation for the 2012 parliamentary election, Iran's diverse conservative parties are already forging a strategy to marginalize or even exclude their principal opponents, especially… Read More
Alireza Nader The Iranian regime faces a threat even more daunting than the 2009 Green Movement protests: a disparate yet potentially powerful civil disobedience movement motivated not just by politics, but by environmental, economic, and social issues. From demonstrations over the drying… Read More
Semira N. Nikou This is the third in a series on parliamentary elections due in March 2012: Iran’s first parliament was formed after the Constitutional Revolution in 1906. Its current parliament was created by a new constitution written after the 1979 revolution ousted the… Read More
This is the second in a series on parliamentary elections due in March 2012: First parliament (1980-1984)Speaker: Yadollah Sahabi (for one month in mid-1980); Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani (1980 to 1984) Political trends: The first parliament was the most eclectic. It included deputies from… Read More
The Iran Primer today begins a series on parliamentary elections now scheduled for March 2012. The following is an excerpt from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) report on the Iranian electoral system—its origins, framework, and elected bodies: The Islamic… Read More
A new International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran was released on Sept. 2, 2011. Its summary points include: While the Agency continues to conduct verification activities under Iran’s Safeguards Agreement, Iran is not implementing a number of its obligations, including:… Read More
Juan ColeWhat impact will the call by the United States and major European powers for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down--followed by heightened U.S. and EU sanctions--have on Syria-Iran relations?They will push Syria even more into the arms of Iran. Syria is being gradually cut off from… Read More
The State Department’s recently released Country Reports on Terrorism cites Iran as the most active state sponsor of terrorism. An excerpt: Overview: Designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1984, Iran remained the most active state sponsor of terrorism in 2010.… Read More
The State Department’s recently released Country Reports on Terrorism cites the Mujahadin-E Khalq and Jundallah as two groups that have carried out terrorist operations against the Iranian regime. Excerpts on the two groups: The Mujahadin-E Khalq Organization (MEK) … Read More
The State Department’s recently released 2010 Country Reports on Terrorism says Iran continues to provide aid to Hizballah (or Hezbollah) and Hamas. Excerpts on the two groups: Hizballah Description: Hizballah was designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization on October… Read More
The State Department’s recently released Country Reports on Terrorism list says Iran is supporting Shiite militias inside Iraq. An excerpt outlining Iran’s influence in Iraq: Overview: Sunni leaders in Iraq have overwhelmingly rejected AQI and its extremist ideology. The… Read More
The following excerpt is from a report published by the U.S. Institute of Peace written by Sean Kane, a program officer working with USIP’s Iraq Program: The center of attention in the Middle East has over the past decade swung from Egypt and Saudi Arabia eastward toward Iran and… Read More
On August 18, 2011, President Barack Obama strongly condemned the Syrian government’s crackdown on protestors and called for heightened sanctions against the country. Obama singled out Iran as the only country that Syria can now turn to. Here is the official White House statement: … Read More
Interview with Seyed Hossein Mousavian By Semira N. Nikou Seyed Hossein Mousavian was foreign policy adviser to former nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani (2005-07), former spokesperson of Iran’s nuclear negotiation team (2003-05), former head of the Foreign Relations Committee… Read More
Interview with Seyed Hossein Mousavian By Semira N. Nikou Seyed Hossein Mousavian was foreign policy adviser to former nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani (2005-07), former spokesperson of Iran’s nuclear negotiation team (2003-05), former head of the Foreign Relations Committee of… Read More
Geoffrey KempWhat are the prospects for progress this year in diplomatic efforts?There is little chance for a major breakthrough in negotiations with Iran in 2011, or for that matter 2012. Three major obstacles will prevent this. First, the political crisis in Iran itself, which suggests a… Read More
Dear Mr. President: Following the latest report of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran's nuclear program and recent Iranian missile tests, we remain seriously concerned that Iran continues to accelerate its uranium enrichment and ballistic missile programs. Meanwhile, the regime… Read More