Iran

China is Cutting the US Out of the Middle East with an Axis of the Sanctioned

by Juan Cole

Recent American policies have squandered an opportunity to engage poductively with Iran and Saudi Arabia and instead pushed them toward stronger economic development relationships with China. 

H.W. Brands on Ben Barnes's "Revelation" about the Iran Hostage Crisis

"In effect, Connally and Casey were telling the Iranians not to do something the Iranians had no intention of doing."

Despite Defeat, Iran's Footballers Won

by Golnar Nikpour

Iranian players' show of solidarity with protesters facing government repression has been more important than the results on the pitch. 

Why the Iranian Revolution Turned So Repressive

by Shadi Hamid

The Iranian revolution consolidated its power, and committed itself to a path of repression, through a fusion of clerical and state power that was unprecedented in the Islamic world. 

After Four Decades, Iranian Women's Frustrations are Erupting

by Kelly J. Shannon

Since the 1990s, Iranian women have been engaged in slowly escalating protest against the restrictions imposed by the Islamic Republic. Have those protests become too large and too public to be contained? 

Attacking Iran would be a Catastrophic Mistake for Israel

by Alon Ben-Meir

Regardless of a success or failure to reach a new agreement with Iran, Israel must not attack Iran’s nuclear facilities and must work closely with the US to develop a joint strategy to curb Iran’s ambition to acquire nuclear weapons and potentially end the conflict with Iran on a more permanent basis.

Adam Tooze: How Sanctions Work (and Why they Often Don't)

On the "Ones and Tooze" Podcast, Adam Tooze examines economic sanctions against Iran, which have inflicted pain on the population without impacting the country's nuclear program. 

My Son Was Killed In Iraq 14 Years Ago — Who’s Responsible?

by Andrew Bacevich

"Even today, the electorate shows little inclination to rethink the core assumptions informing basic US national security policy. Supporting the troops means suppressing second thoughts, asking few questions, and shoveling more money to the Pentagon."

The Princeton Historian Mugged by Reality

Xiyue Wang was released from an Iranian prison in 2019 after being detained for four months. The Princeton doctoral student is now a critic of softening American sanctions aginst Iran. 

Iranian American Historian On Assassination Of Iranian Nuclear Scientist

Abbas Milani of Stanford University discusses the US-Iran relationship and the shocking assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist last week. 

A Message from 'Queen Elizabeth' to the Shah Played Role in CIA 1953 Coup in Iran, Documentary Says

Historians who uncovered a message from "Queen Elizabeth" believe its misinterpretation helped persuade the shah not to flee Iran at a pivotal moment.

Fundamentalist Pandemics

by Juan Cole

What evangelicals could learn from "The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam."

Sanctions Are Inhumane—Now, and Always

by Aslı U. Bâli, Aziz Rana

In a world imperiled by global pandemic, it is long past time to put an end to sanctions—including new ones against Iran—and to reconstruct U.S. foreign policy around international solidarity.

Can Donald Trump Avoid a War with Iran? History Tells Us To Worry.

by Lawrence J. Korb

The last thing our military personnel and the country needs is another Vietnam or another unwinnable war in the Middle East. 

America held hostage

by David Marks

Forty years after the Iran hostage crisis, its impact endures.

How the US repeatedly failed to support reform movements in Iran

by Pardis Mahdavi

For 40 years, the relationship between the U.S. and Iran has been marked by disagreement – but also by a series of missed opportunities.

Imagining an Iranian Spring

by Andrew Meyer

The recent brush with war between the US and Iran underscores the persistent question of US-Iranian relations: will the two countries ever reach a point of mutual toleration ever again?

Stepping Back From the Brink of War

by Alon Ben-Meir

Trump’s order to kill General Soleimani is one of the most reckless acts taken by a president, who once again has put his personal political interest above the nation’s security.

In 1980, a 34-year-old Donald Trump said the US should invade Iran in response to the hostage crisis

According to historians Brendan Simms and Charlie Laderman, as cited by Brookings, this was Trump's first known comment on US foreign policy. 

We’re living in the bizarre world that Flaubert envisioned

by Susanna Lee

Many might feel bewildered and demoralized. But fans of the 19th-century French novel have seen this before.