Iran Archives - Page 49 of 125 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Dissecting Iran’s Economic Jihad

by Richard Javad Heydarian | Jul 28, 2011

In the absence of genuine democratic institutions, a set of common economic grievances is galvanizing the Arab Street against a diverse host of unaccountable regimes across the Arab world. However, deep and structural economic problems also characterize much of the Middle East, including non-Arab Iran. Recognizing the depth and gravity of the country’s economic challenges, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamanei has declared 2011 as the year of “economic jihad.”

The Courtship of Iran and Pakistan

by Abolghasem Bayyenat | Jul 25, 2011

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari paid a second visit to Tehran last weekend after having been there only three weeks ago. Official reports by Pakistani and Iranian sources broadly characterized the visit as “part of the ongoing process to strengthen bilateral ties, step up consultations with countries in the region for peace and stability at a time when tension was developing in some parts and for promoting peace and stability in Afghanistan and fighting militancy.” But this rationale hardly warrants two head-of-state level official visits in such a short span of time. After all, lower-level officials could have dealt with such concerns, as in the past.

Iran Missile Tests Timed to Capitalize on Gates’s Acknowledgment U.S. Tired of War?

by Nicholas Kariuki Githuku | Jul 19, 2011

It may have been a coincidence but the latest round of Iranian missile tests came seven days after the outgoing US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates acknowledged that Americans were “tired of a decade of war.”

Israel and the Futility of Attacking Iran: Interview with Abolghasem Bayyenat

by Kourosh Ziabari | Jul 19, 2011

Given the largely conflicting political identity of the two governments which in most contexts has defined conflicting foreign policy interests for the two countries , the United States views its relations with Iran as a zero-sum game and will thus struggle to contain Iran’s growing power and influence in the region, even if this would mean swimming against the tide and creating unnecessary costs for its foreign policy in the region.

The Politics of Iran’s Space Program

by Abolghasem Bayyenat | Jul 6, 2011

Iran’s recent successful launch of a second satellite into orbit has drawn considerable attention around the world. As in the past, Iran’s announcement of the launch of its domestically built satellite into space received mixed reactions in the West. Some mainstream U.S. media treated the announcement with skepticism and ridicule. “Before you cancel that European vacation or start building a bomb shelter, it’s worth taking Iran’s boasts with a grain of salt,” one commentator wrotein Wired. “While Iran has cooked up some indigenous weaponry over the years, its desire to puff out its chest and pronounce immunity from the effects of international sanctions has led to some absurd exaggerations and outright lies.”

The Persian Gulf: an “Aquatic Tinderbox”

by Russ Wellen | Jul 6, 2011

Due to limited communication between them, a misunderstanding between the navies of Iran and the West could turn into an international incident. Russ Wellen at the Foreign Policy in Focus blog Focal Points.

Shifting Targets: From Iran to Libya and Syria (Part 1)

by Rob Prince | Jul 1, 2011

Invading Libya is about the oil, Syria — eliminating the only Russian naval base in the Mediterranean and weakening Hizbollah.

Iran: Poetry Can’t Be Arrested

by Sholeh Wolpe | Jun 29, 2011

One Saturday afternoon while walking down Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles, I gave into the urge to stop people at random and ask them what came to their minds when I mentioned Iran. Here are some of their responses: Islamic government, human rights violations, a nuclear threat, sponsors of terrorism, Holocaust deniers, women in veils, anti-Semites, Khomeini’s fatwa on Salman Rushdie, enemies of Israel and the West, and the 1979 hostage crisis. Only one person had anything positive to say, and it had something to do with a great kebab dish he had had at a Persian restaurant on Westwood Boulevard.

Has Iran’s President Ahmadinejad Become a Sympathetic Figure?

by Russ Wellen | Jun 22, 2011

Is Supreme Leader Khameini’s assertion of his will over President Ahmadinejad the step back that it seems for Iran?

Iran’s Turmoil at the Top

by Conn Hallinan | Jun 15, 2011

There is a struggle between Ahmadinejad and the clerics around Khamenei. Although it may play out in arguments over obscure religious issues — one critic of the president accused him of recruiting an army of genies – at its heart the fight is over political and economic power: who wields it and to what purpose? Some of the players, like the president and the supreme leader, perform in the spotlight. Others, like the powerful Revolutionary Guard and an increasingly restive population hammered by economic difficulties, operate in the wings.