IranSource

Jan 23, 2020

Oman’s new sultan and US-Iran tensions

By Giorgio Cafiero

In the region today there are incredibly turbulent waters which will further test Muscat’s ability to strike a delicate balance in its foreign policy of non-alignment.

Iran Middle East

IranSource

Jan 22, 2020

Perennial repression, mourning, and despair consume Iran

By Masoud Mostajabi

With no hint of reform on the horizon, demonstrations, counter-demonstraions, and repression will remain a component of an unstable Islamic Republic of Iran.

Iran Middle East

Congressional Relations

Jan 15, 2020

Congressional hearing – “US-Iran tensions: implications for homeland security”

By Atlantic Council

The Committee meeting examined the homeland security implications of the recent escalation in US-Iran tensions in the wake of the killing of Qasem Soleimani. Witnesses were given time to present opening statements to address possible retaliation followed by questions posed by committee members. Nonresident Senior Fellow Thomas S. Warrick presented four ways in which Iran threatens the homeland: terrorism, cyber-attacks, disinformation, and influence operations. Warrick underscored the imminent threat posed by Iranian cyber-attacks, “Mr. Chairman, the possibility of a terrorist attack by Iran here in the homeland is that, a possibility, but cyber-attacks are a certainty.”

Defense Policy Digital Policy

IranSource

Jan 15, 2020

Dispatch from Tehran: Iranians protest after dishonest response to downed passenger plane

By Anonymous

Angry Iranians continue to demand accountability after authorities admitted to mistakenly downing a passenger airplane in Tehran.

Iran Middle East

IranSource

Jan 14, 2020

US-Iran relations: A cloudy 2020 forecast

By Sina Azodi

In the age of Twitter diplomacy, a breakthrough from the vicious cycle of US-Iran hostility would require statesmen in both capitals with the vision to break the stalemate and the courage to resist attacks.

Iran Middle East

IranSource

Jan 6, 2020

Twenty-eight years ago Hezbollah’s leader was assassinated, and Israel paid a price

By Nicholas Blanford

Soleimani’s death brings to mind memories of an earlier aerial assassination in south Lebanon during February 1992. The aftermath of that deadly attack twenty-eight years ago may provide pointers for what might unfold in the wake of Soleimani’s violent death—and possibly remind us of the risk of unintended consequences.

Iran Middle East

IranSource

Dec 24, 2019

Japan balances Tehran and Washington

By Sachi Sakanashi

On December 19, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani visited Japan. The two-day visit was the first by an Iranian president since 2000. It also marked the third meeting between Rouhani and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe this year. The Tokyo meeting covered an array of issues. The talks ranged from finding a means to utilize Iran’s […]

Iran Middle East

IranSource

Dec 20, 2019

Iran is losing sight of its “developmental vision”

By Esfandyar Batmanghelidj

Jahromi’s postal drone offers a metaphor for perhaps the central political challenge facing the Islamic Republic. In the wake of a brutal response to protests that has left over 300 dead, commentators have pointed to a crisis of legitimacy now facing Iran’s leaders and their ideological tenets.

Iran Middle East

IranSource

Dec 19, 2019

Rethinking Iranian regional influence and internal stability

By Scheherazade Faramarzi

The upheavals in Iraq, Lebanon and inside Iran have prompted a national soul-searching. Iranian politicians, academics, sociologists and analysts—as well as ordinary people—are debating whether the Islamic Republic is weakened and over-extended or even heading toward internal collapse. The regime so far has not provided an official death toll for the domestic protests, which broke […]

Iran Middle East

IranSource

Dec 17, 2019

Landmine survivors feel the pinch of sanctions

By Holly Dagres

An estimated 20 million anti-personnel landmines were planted on roughly 16,200 square miles along the 680-mile Iran-Iraq border during the bloody eight-year conflict. Though the war ended thirty-one years ago, it still continues to claim lives.

Iran Middle East