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Heshmat Alavi
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August 10, 2017
How Iran views the new US sanctionsThe recent Iran sanctions ratified by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump specifically target the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and have caused very interesting reactions from Tehran. Iranian supreme l...
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July 13, 2017
Iran regime change is in the makingSecretary of State Rex Tillerson stressed in a recent congressional hearing that the U.S. should "work towards support of those elements inside Iran that would lead to a peaceful transition of that government," signaling the overhaul needed...
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June 26, 2017
Iran's missile launches: A sign of strength or weakness?How should we evaluate Iran's medium-range missile strikes, boasted by the mullahs as an official response to the June 7 twin attacks allegedly staged by ISIS in Tehran? As a sign of strength showing Iran's ability to take on ISIS while...
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June 13, 2017
Yemen: A new Mideast flash point?With the new U.S. administration blueprinting its Iran policy after escalating developments in Syria and the recent attacks in Tehran, one major battleground between the two arch-rivals is set to be Yemen. Sitting at the opening of a major wate...
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June 7, 2017
Will Iran's Hassan Rouhani negotiate on Syria?After establishing the Iran nuclear deal as his first-term legacy, the question now is, what new initiative will Iranian president Hassan Rouhani embark on in his second term? Should there be any expectation from the international community in ...
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May 31, 2017
Crunching the numbers of Iran's presidential electionThe presidential election in Iran is over, and Hassan Rouhani has been selected to a second term. Already there are strong allegations of fraud and vote-rigging, especially from the camp loyal to Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei. ...
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May 26, 2017
Hassan ‘The Facilitator’ Rouhani Wins Iran ElectionProvided a second term not by the people but the ruling elite, Hassan Rouhani is merely another tear of the cloth known as the Islamic Republic of Iran. He provided the grounds needed for Tehran to go “ahead with multiple ballistic missile test...
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May 3, 2017
Iran’s presidential election: Nothing new after 38 yearsWe were recently witness to the first debate of Iran's 2017 presidential election, which can be evaluated from a variety of perspectives. One simple conclusion is that all candidates failed to provide any hope for a better future. Rememb...
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April 21, 2017
Iran lobby gets excited over nothingThe State Department officially notified Congress on Wednesday that Iran has met all its commitments under the Obama-negotiated nuclear agreement. The certification is required every 90 days, and the previous administration dutifully rubber-sta...
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April 17, 2017
Iran’s Presidential Election and a Slate of CrisesWhat political dilemma is the regime in Iran intending to resolve through this presidential election? In 2005, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, having the final say in all state matters, thought to spread his meddling across Iraq and the regio...
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April 11, 2017
How Trump and Congress can coordinate against IranIn recent years, one of the most divisive foreign policy subjects in Washington has been none other than Iran. The deal sealed by the Obama administration with other world powers aimed at curbing Iran's nuclear program and alterin...
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April 7, 2017
Ebrahim Raisi, the new candidate in Iran's presidential electionThe candidacy of a cleric well known for his role in the atrocious crimes by the regime ruling Iran over the past three decades was announced. Ebrahim Raisi, currently head of the massive Astan Quds Razavi entity in control of a sacred Shiite M...
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March 25, 2017
The Correct First Step on Containing IranThe new threat made by Iran to ignore a key aspect of the nuclear deal aimed at curbing its nuclear program is a necessary reminder of a very important issue. Despite all the probable results that may ensue from Iran’s upcoming presidentia...
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March 17, 2017
Iran’s Missile Production Progam in LebanonLooking for means to continue spreading havoc across the Middle East and maintain a grip on its dwindling influence across the region, new alarming reports indicate Iran is now digging dangerously deep to establish a long-term strategic foothold in L...
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March 9, 2017
Iran's latest terrorist plotsIran is continuing its blatant belligerence against the international community, especially the Middle East, despite President Donald Trump and his administration threatening to take major action. During the past month alone, Iran has test-laun...
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March 5, 2017
Iran in CrisisThe recent dust storms that wreaked havoc in southwest Iran signaled only one of the many crises the mullahs are facing less than three months before critical elections. Tehran has been hit with severe blows during the Munich Security Conference, con...
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March 2, 2017
A bombshell for IranThis year's Munich Security Conference became the scene for the condemnation of Iran as a sponsor of terror on a regional and global scale. The mullahs' regime was named as the main state sponsor of terrorism, and part of the problem, n...
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February 22, 2017
Containing IranThe new White House with President Donald Trump at the helm has rightfully placed Iran "on notice." Washington also responded with a new round of sanctions after Tehran's January 29 ballistic missile test, in defiance of a United ...
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February 6, 2017
How to truly bring Iran’s mullahs to their kneesFollowing a week of high tensions between the Trump administration and Iran, it was quite interesting to see how Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei, the man with the last word on all national security and foreign affairs, remained completely silent....
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February 3, 2017
Trump Must Pressure IranIran was involved in a long slate of aggressive measures up to the very doorsteps of President Donald Trump taking the helm in Washington. This concerning pattern of escalating extremism ironically increased following the Iran nuclear deal sealed bet...
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January 29, 2017
Iran Sabotages a Syrian CeasefireDespite the boasted rhetoric about the agreement reached in the Astana talks over the Syria ceasefire, this latest stage unveiled the limits involved parties face in bringing an end to the six-year war. Even Russia’s chief negotiator at th...
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January 25, 2017
What Is Iran’s Policy-Making Mechanism?As we close in to the Iran presidential election -- read "selection" -- a more precise look at the policymaking mechanisms at work in this very peculiar theocratic system is necessary. The regime in Iran, with Hassan Rouhani as its ...
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January 19, 2017
Time to end the Iranian 'reformist-moderate' hoaxEight years of Barack Obama’s tenure has come to an end. We are also winding down on the first, and maybe last, term of Iranian president Hassan Rouhani. This should mark the long overdue end of the U.S.-Iran appeasement doctrine, b...
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January 17, 2017
Iran threatens the Syria ceasefire effortFollowing nearly six years of bloody warfare and an atrocious takeover of Aleppo by the Russia-Iran-Assad axis, the world has finally reached a relatively reliable settlement in this war-ravaged country. Unfortunately, Iran continues to pose a ...
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January 13, 2017
Iran: What to do?When it comes to Iran, the transition from the Obama administration to the Trump administration is a hopeful one. There is high hope the incoming administration will challenge Iran’s domestic policies, expansionism and support of terrorism, ...
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January 7, 2017
How Iran Got Stuck in the Syria QuagmireIran, known for its unbridled sectarian meddling in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Lebanon, is currently facing an unwanted quagmire and dead-end in the Levant. We cannot limit Iran’s role and its meddling across the Middle East to 2016 alone. There i...
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January 4, 2017
Iran political prisoners suffering from global silenceThe case of a political prisoner on a hunger strike in Iran has recently gained widespread global attention as a campaign for his release went viral, with the hashtag #saveArash trending worldwide. Iranian authorities are under pressure to rele...
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December 26, 2016
How Iran actually lost in AleppoFollowing a historic period of perseverance, Syrian rebels and their families were forced to evacuate eastern Aleppo after its liberation back in 2012. An unjust, intense war was launched upon Aleppo by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) and it...
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December 21, 2016
Time for a Principled Approach on IranThe time has come to reassess, readdress, and readjust the course of action in Western foreign policy in respect with Iran. Last year’s nuclear deal between the international community and Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of ...
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December 14, 2016
Trump and Iran’s Achilles Heel(s)Any entity in this world has its strong points, and its weaknesses. And there is a certain weakness, known as the Achilles Heel, which leads to a disastrous outcome. The regime in Iran, after nearly 38 years in power, has based its entire existenc...
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December 3, 2016
Decades-old appeasement policy vis-à-vis Iran must endThe West, specifically the United States, must close the book on over three decades of appeasement with Iran, said Iranian opposition leader Maryam Rajavi at a conference in Paris on Saturday, November 26. If the international community is seri...
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November 23, 2016
Hassan Rouhani: Iran's ExecutionerAs we begin to wind down to the end of Hassan Rouhani’s term as president of the regime in Iran, it is time to take a look back at the past four years. We all remember how the West joyfully welcomed his election -- read selection -- as a change...
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November 19, 2016
Righting the Wrongs of U.S.-Iran PolicyThe world begins to digest the major development of business tycoon Donald Trump defeating former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Among the many questions regarding this unexpected election result is the new administration...
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September 12, 2015
More Setbacks for IranNearly four decades of unbridled violence in the Middle East, especially recently in Syria and Iraq, has shown that as long as the regime in Iran and its proxies in the regime are not evicted, any political or even military solution aimed at establis...
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August 9, 2015
Iran StumblesNearly four decades of unbridled violence in the Middle East, especially recently in Syria and Iraq, has shown that as long as the regime in Iran and its proxies in the regime are not evicted, any political or even military solution aimed at establis...