The dust has settled for the time being in the US-Iran duel. Retreating from the conflict, US President Donald Trump tweeted “all is well” in response to Iran’s retaliatory strikes on airbases in Iraq hosting US troops on January 8. Shortly after, he went back to his “go-to” deterrent of...
At his speech on January 8 following the Iranian missile attack on Iraqi bases hosting American forces, US President Donald Trump announced, with his usual tone of self-congratulation, that "Iran appears to be standing down, which is a good thing for all parties concerned and a very good thing for...
In the first Democratic primary debate, the candidates were asked to raise their hands if they would reenter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), otherwise known as the Iran nuclear deal. Of the 10 presidential candidates on stage, all raised their hands — except New Jersey Senator...
On Monday, July 22, Iranian media reported the arrest of 17 alleged CIA assets, captured around facilities associated with the country’s nuclear program. Some of these individuals, although unnamed, have already been sentenced to death. It is not clear whether this group is connected to an...
Attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman are an effort to signal to the rest of the world that no one is beyond Iran’s reach. There is a tendency in Western policymaking circles to view the consequences of Iran’s actions as being confined to the Middle East. Recent attacks on oil...
Iran’s attacks on oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz were a sacrifice to lure Washington into a draw. Iran’s botched operation in the Strait of Hormuz, in which the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy nearly got caught in the act of mining two tankers, brought the world to the brink...
After last week’s tanker attacks in the Gulf of Oman, Tehran will need to undertake a sober assessment of its options, which are few, and its prospects, which only get worse. Last week’s attacks on two oil tankers outside the Strait of Hormuz show that for now Tehran is choosing from a very...
For four decades, relations between Iran and the United States have been marked by misunderstandings, tensions and enmity. The two countries seem to find it impossible to settle their differences and engage with each other on a basis of mutual respect. Reckless decisions by the leaders of the two...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to Hooman Majd, a prominent Iranian-American journalist and author. Those who follow international news come across mentions of Iran almost constantly. Over the past two decades, the regime in Tehran has been in the headlines for its...
In this edition of The Interview, Fair Observer talks to renowned American poet and literary scholar Charles Bernstein. Strangulating economic sanctions are no novelty for the Iranian people, who have borne the brunt of international embargoes for almost four decades now. The United States...
There is a window of opportunity for striking Iran that will close in a year, making an attack more complicated. Keeping track of the Trump administration’s foreign policy is like trying to track a cat on a hot tin roof: We’re pulling out of Syria (not right away). We’re leaving...
At this critical crossroads, Iran needs a glasnost, a spirit of openness and dialogue that would allow society to air its grievances and to move closer to consensus. With bread and butter issues a priority, Iranian demands for political dynamism have been obfuscated amidst the country’s...
US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal might be welcome to Iran’s supreme leader and conservatives in government. Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy, by Trita Parsi, is an account of how a long-running fear that Iran was intent on acquiring nuclear weapons was resolved...
There is a failure in the West to understand how the Kremlin interprets Washington's basic foreign policy aims and intentions. The telephone call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump on January 29 was the first official contact between the two leaders since...
The “diplomatic coup” triggered by Iran and the US has given rise to a new era in Tehran’s relations with the international community. The whole episode began in 2013 when a moderate, pragmatic cleric, popularly known as the “Diplomat Sheikh,” replaced Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the...
