Viewpoints

Some commentators have suggested that President Obama is hesitant about attacking Iran and that because of this Israel may take it upon themselves to attack unilaterally. The well publicised recent article by Jeffery Goldberg in Atlantic magazine suggests that that there is a ‘50/50 chance’ that Israel will do just that. ››read more

The US is trying to convince Iran that a nuclear weapons programme is not in its own best interests rather than planning military strikes ››read more

A new documentary, directed by Lucy Walker and produced by Lawrence Bender, entitled Countdown To Zero, is set for wide release on July 23, 2010. The film has been heavily publicized and promoted for many months now and is surely already a heavily-favored Oscar contender. ››read more

Punitive international sanctions imposed on Iran have strengthened Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government and assisted its post-election crackdown on the opposition Green movement, the leading reformist politician and former presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi has told the Guardian. ››read more

We’re being ushered into an unusual conversation here. Months before the destruction of the reactor outside Baghdad in 1981, PLO headquarters in Tunis in 1985, the “uncompleted military facility” in northeastern Syria in 2007, or the arms convoy from Iran in the hills of northern Sudan in early 2009, there were no magazine features full of Defense Ministry types discoursing about timelines on a not-for-attribution basis. ››read more

One related point is that “China and Russia” are often lumped together on Iran-related issues, but their interests in this regard are sharply divergent. Russia would (along with Venezuela, Mexico, Nigeria, and a few others) be a major beneficiary of a disruption in Gulf oil supplies whereas China would be hammered. ››read more

There is an old saying: “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” Many of the same writers, thinkers, political actors, and organizations that persuaded the American people and others to support invading Iraq in 2003 are now working to build public support for the United States to initiate a war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. ››read more

Iran has no nuclear weapons, unlike Israel, the US, us, France, China, Russia, India, Pakistan, North Korea. Not to mention those who could make them in a jiffy like Germany, Japan, Turkey, Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia. Neither is there any evidence they seek to build one. ››read more

What if efforts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons only made countries like Iran and North Korea more likely to want them? ››read more

Every few months the specter of a new American war in the Middle East is raised, and just as predictably, time passes without the firing of guns on a new front. So it has been since 9/11 ushered in the era of “war on terrorism” or better put, “permanent war”. ››read more

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The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) was  invited by the White House to witness President Obama sign the latest US unilateral sanctions against Iran. Although opposed to the new sanctions, NIAC accepted the invitation. The following is an open letter by Reza Saeidi, an Iranian antiwar activist in the US, responding to the report of Forough Parvizian-Yazdani NIAC’s representative who attended the occasion, met with President Obama at the White House and urged him to adopt a stronger condemnation of “human rights” violations in Iran.

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So the next time you hear a pundit claiming that Iran is on the verge of attaining nuclear weapons, don't panic. Like the boy who cried wolf, those pundits might eventually be right. For now, however, Iran has a ways to go -- and keeping that in mind is the best way to develop a measured response to the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions.
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Israel does not seem concerned about entangling the US in new wars. It has been accused of goading George W. Bush into conflict with Iraq, and it is now strongly endeavouring to encourage President Barack Obama into similar action against Iran. ››read more

The Congressional Sanctions Agreement making its way through both houses of Congress this week will do little to change the behavior of the Iranian regime. There is, however, a better way to promote lasting and permanent political change in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The United States should strongly encourage and actively negotiate the accession of Iran to the World Trade Organization (WTO). ››read more

Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran have long been arch-foes. But these enemies have grown in their ignorance, misperceptions, and demonization of each other – and have thereby dangerously raised the risk of escalation to direct conflict, analysts say. That has raised jitters in Washington, with Israel’s closest ally warning against a unilateral attack that would inevitably draw in US forces already overstretched in Iraq and Afghanistan. ››read more

Despite the Revolutionary Guards' growing involvement in major petroleum and investment projects, many analysts believe that these sanctions will have little effect. They argue that the extensive range of activities of the Revolutionary Guards in the country will offset the impact of the Western-imposed sanctions. ››read more

In pushing ahead with a new round of UN security council sanctions, the US has rendered redundant an Iranian offer to send 1.2 tonnes of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to Turkey for reprocessing as reactor fuel. Western diplomats claimed they had not rejected the idea, but it was clear to all what the effect of the UN resolution would now be. This is a mistake President Barack Obama may yet come to regret. ››read more

It seems that no matter what step Tehran takes –even if it is as substantial as the fuel exchange agreement it signed with Ankara and Brazil- Western countries, claiming their concerns over Iran’s nuclear program are not over, threaten Iran with a new round of sanctions. ››read more

Power and the media are not just about cosy relationships between journalists and political leaders, between editors and presidents. They are not just about the parasitic-osmotic relationship between supposedly honourable reporters and the nexus of power that runs between White House and state department and Pentagon, between Downing Street and the foreign office and the ministry of defence. In the western context, power and the media is about words - and the use of words. ››read more

In reality, however, when it came to money, profit triumphed over principles. When it came to oil needs, national interests triumphed over ideology. All these countries -- whether Islamic, Communist or Capitalist -- made, via Marc Rich, lucrative secret deals with the apartheid regime. Rich was used to conceal the contradictions between political rhetoric and economic deeds -- and to circumvent the sanctions.

These are the reasons why economic sanctions against Iran will almost surely fail once more. There will always be the need for hard currency. There will always be national interests. There will always be traders like Marc Rich.

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