New York Times (August 26)
In a series of tweets, Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, “has given reason to hope that he is serious about resolving disputes with the United States and other major powers, most urgently about Iran’s nuclear program.” One such tweet reads, “We don’t want further tension. Both nations need 2 think more abt future & try 2 sit down & find solutions to past issues & rectify things.” While promising, “it would be naïve to assume that the path to ending Iran’s isolation is now clear.”
Tags: Disputes, Hassan Rouhani, Hope, Iran, Isolation, Nuclear program, Solutions, Tension, United States
New York Times (June 4)
The U.S. has eased sanctions on Iran to allow the export of mobile phones, laptops, encryption software and related technology to individual Iranians. “This should improve the ability of Iranians to circumvent their government’s unrelenting crackdown on dissenting opinion and communicate with each other and the outside world without reprisal.” The move is overdue. “Tensions between Iran and the United States—over Syria and terrorism, as well as the nuclear program—will almost certainly get worse, barring some unexpected new policies in Tehran. But America will be in a stronger position if it is seen as standing with the Iranian people.”
Tags: Crackdown, Export, Iran, Nuclear program, Sanctions, Syria, Technology, Terrorism, U.S.
Chicago Tribune (April 12, 2013)
“Imagine a world with not one rambunctious and nuke-emboldened North Korea, but two…. On the day that Iran declares to the world that it has defied Western red lines and is capable of building its first nuclear bomb, the Middle East will become immensely more dangerous and unstable.” The time has come for “a complete banking and trade embargo against Iran.”“Imagine a world with not one rambunctious and nuke-emboldened North Korea, but two…. On the day that Iran declares to the world that it has defied Western red lines and is capable of building its first nuclear bomb, the Middle East will become immensely more dangerous and unstable.” The time has come for “a complete banking and trade embargo against Iran.”
Tags: Iran, Middle East, North Korea, Nuclear bomb
New York Times (March 6)
“China’s decision to join the United States in proposing tougher sanctions on North Korea is a welcome step,” but unlikely to prove decisive. Other measure should simultaneously be taken. “China and the United States should be working covertly to disrupt the North’s nuclear program, as the Americans and Israelis did with Iran’s…. Dealing with North Korea has never been easy, but neglect certainly will not help contain its nuclear and missile capabilities.”
Tags: China, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Nuclear missile, U.S.
New York Times (March 2)
The outcome of recent negotiations with Iran “was frustratingly incremental, but it keeps alive the slim possibility of a diplomatic solution…. It is hard to know whether Iran will ever abandon its nuclear ambitions.… Mistrust runs deep on all sides. Still, it makes sense for the United States and its partners to be creative in pursuit of a deal that will prevent Iran from producing a nuclear weapon.”
Tags: Deal, Diplomacy, Iran, Mistrust, Negotiations, Nuclear weapons
Wall Street Journal (August 28)
François Hollande, the Socialist President of France, “deserves credit” for taking a hard stance against Syria and the Bashar Assad regime. Hollande “appreciates the strategic stakes in Syria. So does Iran, which is sending hundreds of soldiers and senior Revolutionary Guards commanders to Syria to shore up the Assad regime…. The mullahs know that Syria is their bridge to Hezbollah in Lebanon and their only significant partner in the Arab world, and that their ambitions in the Middle East would be much harder to fulfill without a Damascene ally.”
Tags: Bashar Assad, France, François Hollande, Hezbollah, Iran, Lebanon, Syria
New York Times (May 20)
“The major powers have imposed increasingly strong sanctions aimed at Iran’s banks and oil trade. It is crucial to maintain that cohesion as a second round of negotiations opens this week in Baghdad.” The Iranians want the sanctions to end. This would be premature. “If Iran makes credible gestures, sanctions should be eased, but not significantly until it takes irreversible steps to roll back its nuclear activities.”
Washington Post (March 6, 2012)
“In our view, Mr. Obama’s arguments against an early attack on Iran…were persuasive.” While Iran has not decided to work toward a diplomatic settlement, there is still time. As President Obama pointed out, there will still be considerable lead time before Tehran is “in a position to obtain a nuclear weapon” and the U.S. will know when Iran first attempts this.
Tags: Diplomacy, Iran, Nuclear weapon, Obama, War
Chicago Tribune (February 22, 2012)
“This planet is a more dangerous place now that the isolated and dictatorial government of North Korea has perhaps a dozen nuclear bombs. That danger will multiply if the belligerent and theocratic government of Iran, too, develops nukes. Either nation, with launchable nuclear bombs, qualifies as an existential threat to U.S. allies, including Israel and South Korea. What’s more, the prospect of Tehran or Pyongyang slipping small nukes to anti-U.S. terror networks is too unnerving for many among us to contemplate.”
Tags: Iran, Israel, North Korea, Nuclear bombs, South Korea, Terror networks, U.S.
Economist (February 11, 2012)
“A new self-assurance has spread through financial markets.” Is this simply the calm before the storm? The U.S. economy is firming, the ECB has eased some worries and there are other positive signs. Yet, the European sovereign debt crisis could still implode and a number of other factors, such as Iran, could wreak havoc with the global economy. “Signs of recovery have multiplied, but the West’s economies are not yet out of danger.” it is too early for celebration.
