IranSource

Aug 3, 2018

Why Trump’s Zig-Zag Diplomacy Towards Iran Will Fail

By Shahir Shahidsaless

President Donald Trump’s foreign policy – like his other policies – has seemed more about self-gratification than national interest.  He quit the Iran nuclear deal, undoing years of diplomacy, largely to erase part of the legacy of his predecessor, Barack Obama. Assisted by his administration, the current president poses as a hero forcing the Iranian […]

Iran

IranSource

Aug 2, 2018

Back to the Future Off Hormuz

By Owen Daniels

“If they impose sanctions on Iran’s oil exports, then even one drop of oil cannot flow from the Strait of Hormuz.” After a long week of Iran headlines – US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo laying out the administration’s Iran strategy, Presidents Trump and Rouhani trading implicit threats of war, Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps-Quds Force (IRGC-QF) Commander Qassem Suleimani addressing […]

Iran Saudi Arabia

IranSource

Aug 2, 2018

First Wave of Resumed Iran Sanctions Targets Automobiles, Currency, Gold

By Holly Dagres

As part of the United States’ withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the US Treasury Department will restore sanctions on a number of key Iranian sectors and activities on August 6. Here’s what you need to know about this set of sanctions: What is the JCPOA? The JCPOA or Iran nuclear deal […]

Iran

IranSource

Jul 31, 2018

Could Releasing Iran’s Green Movement Leaders Help Reformists?

By Arash Azizi

It all started with a rumor. By July 28, many Iranians discussed the imminent release of the Green Movement leaders—Mir-Hossein Mousavi, his wife Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi—who are under house arrest since early 2011 for leading the 2009 post-election protests. Karroubi’s son, Hossein, said that a “credible source” had informed him that Iran’s Supreme […]

Iran

IranSource

Jul 30, 2018

Renewed Iran Sanctions Will Bolster the Regime and Undermine the Private Sector

By Sina Azodi

The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and pursue a policy of “maximum pressure” on the Islamic Republic has been coupled with a public diplomacy campaign in alleged support of the Iranian people. But the result is likely to be a stronger central government, as sanctions crush private enterprise and force […]

Iran

IranSource

Jul 24, 2018

Trump’s Twitter War Unites Iranian Factions and Bolsters Rouhani

By Holly Dagres

As is so often the case with the current occupant of the White House, a presidential tweet muddied the message of the rest of the Trump administration. Iranians had been focusing on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s “Supporting Iranian Voices” event at the California-based Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library. But shortly after Pompeo finished […]

Iran

IranSource

Jul 23, 2018

Trump’s Angry Iran Tweet

By Ashish Kumar Sen

US President Donald J. Trump, in a late-night, all-caps tweet on July 22, threatened Iran with “consequences the likes of which few throughout history have suffered before” if Iranian leaders continued to threaten the United States with war. Trump’s tweet was an apparent response to a comment by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani to Iranian diplomats […]

Iran

IranSource

Jul 23, 2018

US Policies Undercut ‘Support’ for ‘Iranian Voices’

By Barbara Slavin

Among the oddest features of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s address at the Reagan Library on July 22 — billed as “Supporting Iranian Voices” – was the absence of any actual Iranian on the dias. Pompeo was introduced by Fred Ryan, chairman of the board of the Reagan Foundation, and by Sen. Tom Cotton, a […]

Iran
A poster and flag bearing Lebanese Hezbollah's logo in Baalbek, Lebanon. (Wikimedia Commons)

IranSource

Jul 20, 2018

Tehran struggles with terrorism financing bill

By Nader Uskowi

The Supreme Leader and hardliners will have a choice to make: continue supporting and commanding the armed militia groups and accepting questionable cash flow out of the country, or take action for the sake of their government’s future.

Iran Terrorism

Event Recap

Jul 19, 2018

Oil and Iran: How renewed sanctions will affect Iran and world markets

By Global Business & Economics Program

On July 18, the Atlantic Council’s Future of Iran Initiative in the South Asia Center, Global Energy Center, and Global Business & Economics Program co-hosted a panel discussion on the likelihood and effect of renewed US sanctions on Iran.

Economic Sanctions Economy & Business