Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – In Iran since the presidency of Hassan Rouhani (2013-2021), the ruling elite has debated whether a grand bargain with the United States is possible. Those who believe that the US is not an honest or reliable partner for any deal-making are taking some delight in Trump’s humiliating treatment of Ukrainian […]
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Iran
Why Is Saudi Arabia Seeking To Mediate A Deal Between U.S. And Iran?
By By Kian Sharifi ( RFE/RL ) – After facilitating the first high-level talks between U.S. and Russian officials since the Ukraine war began, Saudi Arabia is now reportedly positioning itself as a mediator in another high-stakes negotiation — this time between the United States and Iran. CNN, which first broke the story, reports that […]
Lebanon at a Crossroads: Can Saudi Arabia Counter Iran’s Waning Influence?
Trabzon, Turkey (Special to Informed Comment, Feature) – The recent visit of Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to Lebanon on 23 January marks a critical moment for Saudi Arabia-Lebanon bilateral relations. This visit comes after years of strained relations between Saudi Arabia and Lebanon, driven by the ongoing rivalry between Saudi Arabia […]
Can Israel Destroy Iran’s Nuclear Program?
By Kian Sharifi ( RFE/ RL ) – U.S. intelligence has concluded that the odds of an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear program in the next few months are high, according to major American media, but the jury is out on whether Israel can destroy its archfoe’s nuclear facilities on its own. Iran is widely […]
Netanyahu’s Quest to Attack Iran with the Mother of all Bombs
The emboldened Netanyahu cabinet is in a war path, again. It is mobilizing to attack Iran and lobbying President Trump into a plan that presumably would use the “Mother of All Bombs” Ever since his rise to power in the late 1990s, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has worked toward a war with Iran, presumably […]
On the 46th Anniversary of Iranian Revolution: An Interview with Amb. John Limbert
“No one should be surprised that the Iranian Revolution took a religious form. The fact that God appears on almost every page does not reflect religious convictions of my own, nor for that matter any conscious design at all, but simply arises from the circumstance that in any description of the fabric of Iranian life […]
Iran: Unchecked Repression of Dissent
Human Rights Watch – (Beirut) – Iranian authorities have continued their brutal, targeted repression even though the new Iranian president has promised change, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2025. The authorities have targeted human rights defenders, women, ethnic and religious minorities, and families of those arrested or killed in the 2022 protests. For […]
The Fatal Despair of Exile: An Iran they could neither Live in nor Leave Behind
Nothing takes me from the butterflies of my dreams to my reality: not dust and not fire. What will I do without roses from Samarkand? What will I do in a theater that burnishes the singers with its lunar stones? Our weight has become light like our houses in the faraway winds. We have become […]
How Solar Power could save Fossil Gas Giant Iran from its Energy Crisis
Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Iran has for weeks been in the midst of an energy crisis. It may seem paradoxical given that it has some of the biggest oil and gas fields in the world. Some 70% of Iran’s electricity is generated by fossil gas. Power blackouts have inflicted billions of dollars of losses […]