Behnam Ben Taleblu and Patrick Megahan write: Iranian officials continue to talk a big game about their naval capabilities and desires. But these attempts to deploy force through overt conventional naval means is only a distraction from Tehran’s existing ability to shape the region’s maritime environment through unconventional methods. – The Cipher Brief
In the three years since a preliminary nuclear deal was struck with Iran, Tehran has received more than $10 billion in sanctions relief from around the world in the form of cash and gold, according to current and former U.S. officials. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
The history of the frozen money, based on interviews with U.S., Iranian and European officials involved in the negotiations over the decades, shows how it has been a constant sore point between the two countries since the 1979 Iranian revolution. That sore spot finally has been removed, although in keeping with the four-decade pattern, it has been replaced by other financial grievances and more American detainees, suggesting similar dramas may lie ahead. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Mehdi Karroubi, an Iranian cleric who ran for president in 2009 in an election that was followed by protests and a brutal crackdown, has resigned from his political party, according to the Iranian news media. – New York Times
Dozens of Iranians have taken part in a rare demonstration outside Tehran's Evin prison to express their support for a jailed activist on hunger strike, Arash Sadeghi. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
In an unusual move, Iran and six world powers released previously restricted documents about their nuclear deal to enforce their view that Tehran is not circumventing limits on its limit of enriched uranium, which could be used to make nuclear weapons. – Associated Press
Jenna Lifhits reports: Iran was given secret exemptions allowing the country to exceed restrictions set out by the landmark nuclear deal inked last year, some of which were made public this week by the United Nations nuclear watchdog and others that are likely still being withheld, according to diplomatic sources and a top nuclear expert – The Weekly Standard
Open Letter: The time has come for the United States to stand by the Iranian people instead of holding secret discussions with corrupt Islamic fundamentalists. Iran has the capacity to be one of the most steadfast allies of the United States in the world once the Islamic regime is gone. We hope under your leadership the United States helps the Iranian people to take back their country from the Islamist gang which has been in charge for the last four decades, as the world without the Islamic Republic and the Islamic State is a better place. - Taghato
Ray Takeyh writes: Since the inception of the Islamic Republic, Westerners enchanted by the clerics and their mysterious ways have insisted that their regime is essentially a pragmatic one. If only America set aside its animosity, it could forge a new relationship with the much misunderstood theocracy. But in reality it is a revolutionary regime that sees a resumed relationship with America as an existential threat. The clerical oligarchs need an American enemy to justify their repression and their costly and corrupt rule. They know that between our two nations there can never be permanent peace. And this is the most important lesson for the incoming president to learn. – National Review
The history of the frozen money, based on interviews with U.S., Iranian and European officials involved in the negotiations over the decades, shows how it has been a constant sore point between the two countries since the 1979 Iranian revolution. That sore spot finally has been removed, although in keeping with the four-decade pattern, it has been replaced by other financial grievances and more American detainees, suggesting similar dramas may lie ahead. – Wall Street Journal (subscription required)
Mehdi Karroubi, an Iranian cleric who ran for president in 2009 in an election that was followed by protests and a brutal crackdown, has resigned from his political party, according to the Iranian news media. – New York Times
Dozens of Iranians have taken part in a rare demonstration outside Tehran's Evin prison to express their support for a jailed activist on hunger strike, Arash Sadeghi. – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
In an unusual move, Iran and six world powers released previously restricted documents about their nuclear deal to enforce their view that Tehran is not circumventing limits on its limit of enriched uranium, which could be used to make nuclear weapons. – Associated Press
Jenna Lifhits reports: Iran was given secret exemptions allowing the country to exceed restrictions set out by the landmark nuclear deal inked last year, some of which were made public this week by the United Nations nuclear watchdog and others that are likely still being withheld, according to diplomatic sources and a top nuclear expert – The Weekly Standard
Open Letter: The time has come for the United States to stand by the Iranian people instead of holding secret discussions with corrupt Islamic fundamentalists. Iran has the capacity to be one of the most steadfast allies of the United States in the world once the Islamic regime is gone. We hope under your leadership the United States helps the Iranian people to take back their country from the Islamist gang which has been in charge for the last four decades, as the world without the Islamic Republic and the Islamic State is a better place. - Taghato
Ray Takeyh writes: Since the inception of the Islamic Republic, Westerners enchanted by the clerics and their mysterious ways have insisted that their regime is essentially a pragmatic one. If only America set aside its animosity, it could forge a new relationship with the much misunderstood theocracy. But in reality it is a revolutionary regime that sees a resumed relationship with America as an existential threat. The clerical oligarchs need an American enemy to justify their repression and their costly and corrupt rule. They know that between our two nations there can never be permanent peace. And this is the most important lesson for the incoming president to learn. – National Review
RSS Feed