Shayan Ghajar
As tensions between Iran and the United States reach levels unprecedented in recent years, the United States seeks to pressure nations and corporations with a stake in Iran’s oil industry to join in an embargo on the Islamic Republic’s most lucrative source of revenue. more»
Staff
The Iranian response to the recent IAEA report has been quick, dismissive, and defiant.
Lawmakers, politicians, and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp commanders have bluntly attacked the report and questioned the credibility and independence of the IAEA, charging the Agency with illegally conducting its proceedings and accepting fabricated evidence. All have vehemently reiterated a commitment to the continuing progress of Iran’s nuclear program. more»
Shayan Ghajar
On October 16, in an otherwise unremarkable and routine speech, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei dropped a potent political bomb by suggesting that Iran could easily transition from a system with a presidency to a parliamentary-based system with an appointed prime minister. The comment, however brief, was certainly intended as a major warning to the politically rebellious faction spearheaded by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and may even indicate a sincere intent to abolish the presidency in Iran. Indeed, a number of statements by powerful elites before and after Khamenei’s speech seem to lend credence to the idea that Ahmadinejad may be one of Iran’s last presidents.
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Shayan Ghajar
On October 11, United States Attorney General Eric Holder announced the dismantling of an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi and Israeli ambassadors in Washington D.C. which he described as having been “directed and approved by elements of the Iranian government and, specifically, senior members of the Quds Force.” However, despite the flurry of American officials decrying the alleged high-level Iranian government involvement in the plot, serious questions surrounding the case remain unanswered.
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Shayan Ghajar
The freeing of the two remaining American hikers from prison in Iran has occurred just before Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gives his address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York. However, rather than serving as a convenient public relations maneuver to bolster the Iranian executive’s image during his sojourn to the United States, the conclusion to the hikers’ detention has only served to highlight Ahmadinejad’s ultimate irrelevance in determining and expressing Iran’s policies. more»
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