April 2011
Anthony H. Cordesman Saudi Arabia and the United States may not share the same political system and culture, but they do share broad strategic interests. Both countries must now deal with Iran in context of the arc of political instability that extends from Pakistan to Morocco—and is of… Read More
Semira N. Nikou The Iranian leadership split over intelligence chief Heidar Moslehi has spilled over into the media, which has offered widely diverse accounts of his reported resignation—and the political repercussions. The scandal became public on April 17 when President… Read More
Semira N. Nikou In an unusual public spat, Iran’s top two leaders have split over the future of intelligence chief Heider Moslehi. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reportedly wanted him sacked and accepted Moslehi’s resignation on April 17. But Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei… Read More
Ellen Laipson The State Department's recent naming of a Persian-speaking press spokesman, Alan Eyre, opens a potentially important channel in the long-stagnant U.S.-Iran relationship. The absence of contact or inability to communicate at official levels means that American diplomats are… Read More
The following is from the executive summary of the State Department issued its Human Rights Report for 2010: The government severely limited citizens' right to peacefully change their government through free and fair elections, and it continued a campaign of postelection violence and… Read More
Afshin Molavi A war of words has erupted between Iran and its Persian Gulf neighbors over the fate of Bahrain, catapulting unrest in the tiny island nation into a regional crisis with both political and sectarian overtones. In a reflection of the tensions, a Gulf Arab foreign… Read More
David Albright and Andrea Stricker The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), a longstanding opposition group, claimed on April 7 that the Iranian regime has a secret facility producing centrifuge components for uranium enrichment, a process that can be used for both peaceful… Read More
Semira N. Nikou Libya’s rebellion has put Iran in an awkward position. Tehran has tried to balance support for the Libyan opposition, which it views as part of a region-wide “Islamic awakening,” with rejection of the NATO-led military strikes. Iranian officials charged that the U.… Read More