June 2011
On June 29, 2011, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned Iranian security forces for involvement in the Syrian crackdown: The U.S. Department of the Treasury today announced the designation of one of the four major branches of Syria’s security forces, the Syrian Political Security… Read More
The State Department has released its 2011 Trafficking in Persons Report. Countries are divided into three categories—Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3—based on each government’s efforts to fulfill the minimum standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (TVPA). The following is the section… Read More
The Iran Human Rights Documentation Center (IHRDC) published the following report on June 10, 2011. The report documents the cases of five former prisoners – two women and three men. They span the almost 30 years of the Islamic Republic’s existence. Four witnesses were raped; one was… Read More
Interview with Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh Semira N. Nikou Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a women’s rights activist, is a founding member of the Stop Stoning to Death Campaign and the Iranian Women’s Charter. She was director of Entesharat-e Banoo (Banoo Publications) and Entesharat-e… Read More
Interview with Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh Semira N. Nikou Mahboubeh Abbasgholizadeh, a women’s rights activist, is a founding member of the Stop Stoning to Death Campaign and the Iranian Women’s Charter. She was director of Entesharat-e Banoo (Banoo Publications) and Entesharat-e… Read More
The following is a joint statement by Department of State Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton and Department of the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on new Iran sanctions. A fact sheet detailing the new sanctions is below. Today, the United States imposed sanctions on Tidewater… Read More
Kevan Harris Iran’s biggest economic problem is the growing production slump at its factories and workshops. For both workers and the business elite, Iran's domestic industrial troubles are far more pressing--and generating far more public anxiety--than international… Read More
On June 20, 2011, the U.S. Treasury sanctioned ten shipping companies and three individuals affiliated with Iran's national shipping line. The official statement is below: Continuing efforts to target the financial underpinnings of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL… Read More
Semira N. Nikou On June 17, the U.N. Human Rights Council appointed Ahmed Shaheed, former Maldives foreign minister (2005-07), as the new special rapporteur to Iran. Shaheed had resigned from the foreign ministry in 2007 to protest the Maldives government’s… Read More
Semira N. Nikou On June 17, the U.N. Human Rights Council appointed Ahmed Shaheed, former Maldives foreign minister (2005-07), as the new special rapporteur to Iran. Shaheed had resigned from the foreign ministry in 2007 to protest the Maldives government’s failure to… Read More
Michael Elleman
As part of an ambitious plan to expand its space program, Iran claims to have launched its own satellite into orbit on June 15. It is the second satellite the Islamic republic has put into space.
The new 15.3kg satellite, dubbed the Rasad-1 (Observation-1), is designed to take… Read More
David Albright and Andrea Stricker Throughout 2011, the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) has closely followed the Iranian nuclear crisis, including Iran’s technical advancements, setbacks, controversy over possible military dimensions to its nuclear program… Read More
On June 14, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a statement on repression in Iran and Syria to mark the second anniversary of the disputed 2009 presidential election: Two years ago this week, Iranian citizens went to the polls in the hopes of expressing their democratic rights… Read More
Following a visit to Tehran in May and June 2011, the International Monetary Fund issued an assessment of Iran’s economy: The mission reviewed recent economic developments and revised its macroeconomic estimates and projections in light of new data and discussions with the… Read More
On June 9, the world’s six major powers – Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States—issued the following statement on Iran’s nuclear program to the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. It was read by Ambassador Glyn Davies, the U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic… Read More
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on new sanctions: In June 2009, the world watched as Iran’s security forces violently suppressed thousands of Iranians who were calling for transparency and accountability in their government. Nearly two years after Iran’s brave citizens took to the… Read More
Semira N. Nikou Maziar Bahari is an Iranian Canadian journalist and film maker who was imprisoned in Iran between June and October 2009. He is the co-author of a new book, "And then they Came for Me," which chronicles Bahari's 118-day long solitary confinement in Iran's notorious Evin… Read More
Semira N. Nikou Maziar Bahari is an Iranian Canadian journalist and film maker who was imprisoned in Iran between June and October 2009. He is the co-author of a new book, "And then they Came for Me," which chronicles Bahari's 118-day long solitary confinement in Iran's notorious Evin… Read More
Abbas MilaniThe opposition Green Movement emerged spontaneously two years ago to challenge results of the disputed 2009 presidential election. What is the status of the movement today?The Green Movement was then, as it is now, part of Iran’s more inclusive and enduring democratic movement. Its… Read More
Farideh Farhi Two years after his controversial re-election, President Ahmadinejad faces mounting pressure from the supreme leader, parliament and the Guardian Council on several issues. Is his presidency really in jeopardy?President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may or may not survive his second term.… Read More
Patrick ClawsonWhat do the latest U.S. and European sanctions say about international pressure on Iran? In May, the European Union imposed sanctions on more than 100 individuals and companies tied to Iran's nuclear program, while the United States sanctioned seven foreign companies involved in… Read More
The State Department issued a statement June 2 on the death of Iranian Activist Haleh Sahabi at her father’s funeral: We condemn the killing of Iranian activist Haleh Sahabi in the strongest possible terms. Eyewitness and reliable accounts of Haleh Sahabi's death yesterday at her… Read More