Garrett Nada's Blog

U.S.-Iran Trade After Sanctions

Garrett Nada A gradual lifting of sanctions on Iran could reopen the Middle East’s second largest economy (after Saudi Arabia) to U.S. and Western companies. Many European companies were active in Iran until 2010, but American companies have avoided doing business in the Islamic…

Khamenei vs. Rouhani on Non-Muslims

Garrett NadaIran’s supreme leader and president take two different approaches to interfaith outreach. While extolling the qualities of shared prophets with Christianity and Judaism, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei often censures other countries or groups for supposedly not living up to the high standards…

Economy in 2014: Some Fixes, Few Solutions

Garrett Nada            President Hassan Rouhani made significant headway in stabilizing Iran’s economy in 2014. During his first full calendar year in office, he began addressing mismanagement and corruption from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’…

From Baby Boom to Baby Shortage

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…

Economic Trends: Month of May

Garrett Nada             The biggest news in May was reports of increased oil exports to Asia and discoveries of new fields. China’s imports of Iranian crude oil more than doubled in April compared to a year ago. And South Korea’s imports from…

Rouhani Under Fire

Garrett Nada      President Hassan Rouhani faces growing pressure from hardliners for trying to improve Iran’s pariah status and, even tepidly, open up Iranian society. In recent weeks, politicians and media critics have lambasted Rouhani in the run-up to the latest nuclear…

Economic Trends : Month of April

Garrett Nada      The biggest news in April was a gasoline price hike as President Rouhani began long-delayed subsidy reform. The cost of a liter jumped 75 percent; consumption reportedly declined by half within days. The move follows Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali…

Iran and Asia 2: Japan Is Torn, Oil Hungry But Anti-Nuke

 Garrett Nada  As an oil- hungry island nation, Japan’s position on Iran is fraught with inherent tensions. It has to balance an existential thirst for oil — to fuel industries, cars and homes — against a moral abhorrence of nuclear weapons, especially as the only country devastated by…

Iran & South Asia #4: Issues, Facts & Figures

Garrett Nada The following is a rundown of key facts and figures on Iran’s relations with Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. Afghanistan and Iran       Pakistan and Iran      India and Iran       Garrett Nada is the assistant editor of…

Part II: Opposition to a Deal - Israel

Garrett Nada            Israel is the most skeptical country about diplomacy to ensure Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has generally dismissed Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s diplomatic overtures to…