New Articles
Secret Nuclear Facility: Claim and Denial
An exiled opposition group claimed that Iran has been hiding an underground nuclear site since 2006. “The People's Mujahedin of Iran (MEK) has discovered credible evidence of a secret new nuclear site, gathered over a year by 50 sources in various parts of the regime," according to a…
Iran on Egypt: Range of Reactions
Many top Iranian officials have condemned the military coup against Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi on July 3. “The interference of military forces in the political scene is unacceptable,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Abbas Araghchi said on July 8. He charged that Western powers were…
Iran's Car Chaos
Iran is the world's fourth most dangerous country for driving in terms of road traffic death rate, according to a recent World Health Organization report. More than 27,000 people die each year in traffic accidents, equivalent to about 34.1 deaths per 100,000 people. The Dominican Republic,…
Iran Missile Program Expanding
Iran could develop and test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States by 2015, according to a new report by U.S. National Air and Space Intelligence Center. Tehran’s extensive missile development program has benefited from Chinese, North Korean and Russian…
Iran: The Week in Review
Hanif Zarrabi-Kashani The Middle East Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars offers the latest news on Iran, based on a selection of Iranian news sources. It is a weekly summary of up-to-date information with links to news in both English and Farsi.July 5:…
Iran Expanding Naval Power
Iran is expanding its maritime territorial claims while strengthening naval ties with China and Russia, according to a new Institute for the Study of War report. Tehran reduced the size, scope and duration of local naval exercises during the past year. But it also increased long-range…
Iran: Record High Foreign Investment
Foreign direct investment in Iran surpassed $4.8 billion in 2012, a record high for the Islamic Republic according to a new U.N. report. Global foreign direct investment fell 18 percent to $1.35 trillion in 2012 while investment in Iran actually grew 17 percent. Iran was the second…
Iran Willing to Accept Syrian Peace Talks?
Jubin Goodarzi Iran may be searching for an exit strategy in Syria. Tehran initially supported President Bashar Assad’s crackdown on the rebels since Syria is a frontline against the West and Israel. But Iran’s position on the conflict has evolved since fighting erupted in mid-2011. Tehran…
Gallup: Half of Iran Lacks Funds for Basics
Iranian residents' election of moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani to the presidency has been widely interpreted as evidence of their desire for meaningful change in the country. Rouhani will preside over an increasingly distressed population: Half of Iranians say there have been times…
Rouhani: Rival Constituencies
Alireza Nader Hassan Rouhani now faces the hard part. Iran’s president-elect won a decisive and surprising victory because he appealed to three conflicting constituencies— conservatives, reformists exiled from the political system, and Iranians dissatisfied with the status quo. Now his…
Rouhani: Challenges Ahead
Haleh Esfandiari The decisive election of Hassan Rouhani as Iran’s new president has been greeted around the world as a sign that Iranians are tired of hardline policies at home and abroad and are ready to embrace change. But the outcome also raises the question of how the new…
Rouhani in his own words: On Nukes, Talks
In mid-2005, President-elect Hassan Rouhani gave a detailed speech outlining Iran’s nuclear needs and its negotiating strategy with the outside world. The 39-page speech is the best indication – in his own words—of his views on Iran’s controversial program. Most notably, he told senior…
Khamenei Comments: Nuclear Deal “Easy”
In a meeting with the judiciary, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei suggested that a deal on Iran’s controversial nuclear program would be “easy” to achieve if unspecified countries in an “anti-Iranian front” were not so stubborn. “If they set aside stubbornness, resolving the Iranian…
Rouhani College Thesis: Islam Flexible
As a graduate student in Scotland, President-elect Hassan Rouhani wrote about two deeply debated issues: the flexibility of Islamic law and the separation of powers in an Islamic democracy. His work in the mid-1990s echoes many of the reformist ideas at the time. Glasgow Caledonian…
Rouhani: Tweets picture at US field hospital
President-elect Hassan Rouhani has tweeted a picture of himself next to an American woman at a U.S. field hospital set up to treat survivors of the 2003 earthquake near the southeastern city of Bam. Rouhani’s English-language account posted it one day after he reached out to the United…
Rouhani and the Economy: The Pitfalls
The Institute of International Finance has warned that president-elect Hassan Rouhani faces tough economic hurdles that will not be solved easily or quickly. Its new report says that rolling back sanctions is far off. The following are key points from the report issued on June 20…
Rouhani: First Presser on US, Reforms, Nukes
On June 17, president-elect Hassan Rouhani called for new ways “to build trust” with the international community on Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Rouhani, in his first press conference, said both the United States and Iran need to find a way to heal "a very old wound.” He spoke…
Obama on Rouhani Victory
On June 17, President Barack Obama said that the United States is open to engaging with Iran through bilateral channels. But Tehran must recognize that sanctions will not be lifted absent “significant steps” show that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons, he stipulated. On Iran’s election,…
Election:What Rouhani Victory Means for Iran
Shaul Bakhash Hassan Rouhani’s surprising first round victory in the presidential elections represents a significant shift in the Iranian political landscape. In a field of candidates dominated by conservatives, Rouhani ran as a moderate. He questioned the necessity of the expanding…
US Report: Human Trafficking Rises in Iran
In its annual report on human trafficking, the State Department called Iran a “presumed source, transit, and destination country for men, women and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labor.” The number of teenage girls in prostitution has reportedly risen significantly in…
Rouhani: Diverse Reaction by Iranian Leaders
Top Iranian leaders used their congratulatory messages to President-elect Hassan Rouhani to offer their own takes on the election results. Some seemed unwilling to concede the defeat of the hardliner “principlist” camp. Other leaders focused on the high turnout rather than Rouhani’s win…
G8 Communique on Iran
On June 18, the Group of Eight industrialized nations called on Iran to move “without delay” to fulfill its long-delayed obligations in answering questions about its controversial nuclear program. It also called on the international community to fully implement a variety of U.N.…
Election: US Reacts to Results
In two separate statements, the United States called on the Iranian government to heed its people’s will after the surprise election of Hassan Rouhani in the first round of presidential elections. The Obama administration also “remains ready to engage with the Iranian government…
Rouhani: World Reacts to Election
World leaders issued diverse reactions to the stunning election of Hassan Rouhani to Iran’s presidency. Governments from Europe to Israel and Russia hoped that his election would mark a turning point in stabilizing the region. Some leaders renewed their willingness to work with Iran to…
Election: Diverse Iranian Press Reaction
The Iranian press issued both praise and warnings after the election of Hassan Rouhani. In their editorials, reformist publications said the victory by a moderate cleric reflected a rejection of the status quo in politics, the economy and foreign policy. Newspapers heralded the beginning of a…
Election: Stunning Results and Videos
Hassan Rouhani, the lone reformist candidate, won Iran’s presidential election with 50.7 percent of the vote. The cleric avoided the need for a run-off by securing more than half of the nearly 37 million votes. Mohammad Baqer-Qalibaf, the mayor of Tehran, came in at a distant second…
Vote Day News: Khamenei blasts US, Pictures from polls
Fars News posts photos of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei casting the first ballot of the day and saying, “The fate of the country and the prosperity of the nation are dependent on the participation and the people’s selection, and the nation’s votes are trusted in the hands of the election…
Latest on the Race: Final Polls – and Shifts
Iranian elections are highly unpredictable due to the number of candidates and short campaigns. Polls for the 2013 presidential race were initially all over the map. But some polls now indicate that the two leading candidates are Hassan Rouhani and Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf. The other four…
Campaign Posters Capture Rivalries
Garrett Nada In flashy campaign art, Iran’s six presidential candidates are pulling at public heartstrings and playing on haunting moments in Iranian history to rally votes. Posters are now plastered across billboards, fences, office blocks and the sides of cars as well as on Facebook,…
Old War Haunts New Election
By Garrett Nada and Helia Ighani A quarter century later, the Iran-Iraq War looms over Iran’s presidential election as if it happened yesterday. All six candidates participated in the grizzliest modern Middle East conflict as fighters, commanders or officials. Over the past month, the…