Iran

News from what Ross Perot used to call the guys in sharkskin suits and alligator shoes– the lobbyists who routinely outvote you and me on Capitol Hill: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which ought to be a registered foreign agent, opens its annual conference in Washington today. Its three big goals right now are […]

Iran

Hagel Confirmed, but Bloodied by American Nationalists Seeking Wars & World Dominance

Juan Cole

The GOP senators have their own foreign policy, and it isn’t the same as that of President Obama or Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel. For them, the US is a 900 pound behemoth that can boss the world around with its high-tech military at will. Their foreign policy is to shoot first and ask questions […]

Iran

“Argo” as Orientalism and why it Upsets Iranians

Juan Cole

The taking of US diplomatic personnel hostage by radical Iranian activists and angry crowds in November of 1979, and then the backing for this action of the government of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, was profoundly illegal. I know some of the former hostages, and deeply sympathize with their trauma. Nothing justifies what was done to them. […]

Iran

A Different View of Iran, 2013 (Video)

Juan Cole

Meh Heyd did a mash-up of iPhone video he just took on a trip to Iran and set it to music. In the US we seldom see this kind of footage, which humanizes the place:

Iran

WaPo says Gasoline Price Increase Mysterious, Ignores US blockade of Iran Oil!

Juan Cole

The Washington Post is surprised by the ‘mysterious’ high cost of gasoline in the US but does not mention in this article that the US government, at the insistence of the Israel lobbies, reduced Iran’s petroleum exports by 40% in 2012 by strong-arming countries to leave it in the ground and not import it on […]

Iran

Surprise! Talking to Iran just Might Work this Time (Jahanpour)

Juan Cole

Farhang Jahanpour* writes at the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research Room for optimism in Iran and the P5-plus-1 talks Iran and the P5-plus-1, which includes the United States, will meet again on 26 February in Kazakhstan. This is the first time that the two sides will meet in an atmosphere of continuing mutual […]

Iran

Iran Leader: Having Nukes is ‘Crime Against Humanity’ – US Sanctions Actually Target Fuel Enrichment

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center translated the entirety of Iran Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s speech in Tehran to Tabrizis on Saturday. In it, Khamenei for the nth time called nuclear weapons a ‘crime against humanity’ and affirmed that Iran does not want them. Although this speech was covered by US media such as the New […]

Afghanistan

Arab Television Reacts to Obama’s State of the Union Address, on Afghanistan, Iran (OSC)

Juan Cole

The USG Open Source Center reported on the reaction to President Obama’s State of the Union speech on two major Arabic-language satellite news channels, Aljazeera Arabic and Alarabiya. Aljazeera’s commentators seemed disappointed that Obama does not plan a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan. Alarabiya’s respondent concluded that Obama does not intend to do anything dramatic with […]

Iran

Ahmadinejad: US must Cease Militarily Targetting Iran before Direct Negotiations

Juan Cole

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad replied on the anniversary of the 1979 Iranian revolution to recent US overtures from Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry, suggesting direct talks between the US and Iran over its nuclear enrichment program. Ahmadinejad is quoted as saying, “The change of tone is necessary but not sufficient […]