إيران

Student demonstrations in Iran this week have exposed the unpopularity of the Islamic Republic, which, among other problems, imposes medieval restrictions on women and has presided over the halving of the average Iranian's income. The question for the U.S. is how best to support the forces of change. European governments

Yesterday, Prince Sultan, the Saudi second deputy prime minister and minister of defense and civil aviation, left Tehran after meetings with senior Iranian leaders, including Ayatollah 'Ali Khamene'i, President Muhammad Khatami, and Defense Minister 'Ali Shamkhani. The talks centered on ways to increase regional stability, the signing of a civil

Tomorrow's municipal elections, the first ever in Iran, have been the occasion for the latest round in the infighting between Iranian hardliners and moderates. That infighting has gotten progressively worse since President Muhammad Khatami took office in August 1997, and it has stymied progress on pressing economic problems and on

U.S. View: Iranian Moderation? "In past years, Iran's opposition to the Middle East peace process and to those willing to negotiate with Israel has been vitriolic and violent. The Islamic Republic still refuses to recognize Israel, and its leaders continue to denounce Israel in inflammatory and unacceptable terms. But last

Iran gave a new twist to President Khatami's call for a "civilizational dialogue" on July 22 when it test-launched a medium-range missile with the potential to reach India in the east, Russia in the north, Egypt and Turkey in the west and Israel, Jordan and all Gulf Cooperation Council states

Testimony before the House Committee on International Relations The U.S. sanctions on Iran have imposed costs on the U.S. economy, but those have been small compared to the benefits. When the sanctions were adopted, the weight of expert opinion was that they would have little effect on Iran. The Financial

On May 6, 1998, Bruce Riedel, special assistant to the president and senior director of Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council, addressed The Washington Institute's Soref Symposium. The following are excerpts from his speech. Read a full transcript. When President Clinton was elected in 1992

It is a great pleasure to be here this evening to speak to this audience on the subject of U.S. policy in the Gulf. I would especially like to thank Rob Satloff for inviting me. Five years ago, of course, my predecessor, Martin Indyk, addressed the Institute on our policy

The following analysis was prepared for the Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States (The Rumsfeld Commission), March 23, 1998. This paper will attempt to answer the following questions: 1) What are the current missile capabilities of Iraq and Iran? 2) What kind of WMD payloads