Iran Archives - Page 64 of 130 - Foreign Policy In Focus

Negotiating and Looking Tough: The Mirrored Policies of the U.S. and Iran

by Farideh Farhi, Erik Leaver | Oct 3, 2006

September was a hopeful month for those interested in the de-escalation of tensions between the Unites States and Iran. The extension of a U.S. visa by the Bush Administration to the former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami despite vociferous conservative opposition was seen as a sign of possible change in U.S. foreign policy. In addition, a mixture of softer words employed by Iran’s current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN and in his many media appearances in the U.S. regarding Iran’s intentions in the region brought hope of possible movement in Tehran.

Nobel Women’s Initiative

by John Feffer, Sorosh Roshan, Jody Williams, Emira Woods | Aug 9, 2006

The Nobel Women’s Initiative is trying to reduce the risk of war with Iran. Read excerpts from the press conference organized by the Institute for Policy Studies.

Iran: The Day After

by Phyllis Bennis | Apr 20, 2006

The airwaves and the headlines are full of talk of a U.S. military strike against Iran. That is as it should be–the danger of such a reckless move is real, and rising, and we should be talking about it. The Bush administration claims that negotiations are their first choice. But they have gone to war based on lies before, and there is no reason to believe that they are telling the truth this time.

Controlling the Bomb

by John Gershman, Zia Mian | Apr 4, 2006

The United States is trying to prevent Iran from acquiring the capacity to make nuclear weapons. This is only the most recent of its seemingly endless series of battles over the past 60 years to control which other countries have access to these weapons. In this time it has failed to understand that as a nuclear-armed superpower it is as much part of the problem as part of the solution. As the Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca explained almost 2000 years ago, “Power over life and death—don’t be proud of it. Whatever they fear from you, you’ll be threatened with.”

Nuclear Proliferation: A Gathering Storm

by John Gershman, Conn Hallinan | Feb 2, 2006

“Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”

Targeting Teheran

by John Gershman, Conn Hallinan | Jan 25, 2006

Iran has long been a target of the Bush administration’s rhetorical ire. The president called it “the world’s primary state sponsor of terrorism,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice characterized it as “something to be loathed,” and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld accused Teheran of designing roadside bombs to kill U.S. and British troops. But with the U.S. military under siege in Iraq, and polls running heavily against the White House’s Middle East version of Vietnam, it seemed just bluster and so much talk.

Taking the Wind Out of the Perfect Geopolitical Storm: Iran and the Crisis over Non-proliferation

by Ian Davis, Paul Ingram, Miriam Pemberton | Nov 18, 2005

Whos NextIran & Syria?

by John Gershman, Conn Hallinan | Nov 3, 2005

In the wake of a United Nations investigation implicating a number of Syrian and Lebanese officials in the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the Bush administration is calling for international sanctions, and leaking dark hints of war. But the United States is already unofficially at war with Syria. For the past six months, U.S. Army Rangers and the Special Operations Delta Force have been crossing the border into Syria , supposedly to ÂinterdictÂ terrorists coming into Iraq . Several Syrian soldiers have been killed.

Implications of the Seventh Majlis Elections in Iran

by Christopher Boucek, John Gershman | Oct 2, 2005

On February 20th Iran elected its seventh Majlis (parliament) in an election that has been widely criticized by many Iranian and international observers for the heavy-handed manner in which the regime had interfered in the electoral process. The conservative Council of Guardians disqualified an estimated 2,500 candidates from standing for election–by some counts nearly four times the number of barred candidates in the 2000 Majlis elections. As a result, Iran ‘s conservative factions recaptured control of the Majlis at the expense of the reformist movement associated with President Mohammad Khatami. The political discourse within Iranian domestic politics has thus been re-centered within the conservative camp.

Fuelling Mistrust Between Iran and the United States

by John Gershman, Roger Howard | Sep 29, 2005

Imagine your reaction if, during last November’s presidential contest, the mullahs of Iran had suddenly launched a tirade of criticism against the American system of democracy and beamed their message onto our television sets and radios for all of us to hear: democracy in the United States, the mullahs might perhaps have claimed, is a corrupt process that is determined largely by the influence of the wealthiest donors, and a process that wholly fails to address the religious needs of a secular, materialist culture.