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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-… Read More
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… Read More
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,… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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,… Read More
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,… Read More
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… Read More
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 "… Read More
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… Read More
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,… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
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… Read More
Garrett Nada Iran has a numbers problem. Over the past 35 years, Tehran’s family planning policy has gyrated so radically—from encouraging too many babies to producing too few—that the Islamic Republic faces existential economic dangers. The origin of the problem dates to the… Read More
Iran’s policy on Iraq has evolved as the Islamic State has taken more territory since June. Tehran has welcomed the nomination of Haidar al Abadi to replace Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki. The Islamic Republic has backed Maliki, a Shiite, since he took office in 2006. But the endorsement… Read More
In an annual address to Iranian ambassadors, President Hassan Rouhani called critics of his approach to nuclear talks cowards. “As soon as there is talk of negotiations they say 'we are trembling,'” said Rouhani in comments broadcast live on state television. “Well, to hell! Go and find… Read More
On August 7, a high-level U.S. delegation led by Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns (left) met with Iranian officials in Geneva. It was the first meeting of officials from the two sides since the world’s six major powers and Iran failed to produce a final nuclear agreement in mid-July… Read More
On July 29, Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on the status of nuclear talks between Iran and the world’s six major powers. “We believe strongly that it is worth taking additional time to pursue these very complicated and… Read More