Iran

Insane and Ill-Advised: Trump’s Future War with Iran, Part 2

by Danny Sjursen September 1, 2019

Part 1 | Part 2 Iran is an enigma to most American policymakers. Iranian foreign and defense policies, according to Kenneth Katzman, are “products of overlapping, and sometimes contradictory, motivations.” The key question is whether Iran is an expansionist, theocratic, Shia-chauvinist state, or a rational, defensive bulwark with only limited regional aspirations. While it is a bit of both, ...

Insane and Ill-Advised: Trump’s Future War with Iran, Part 1

by Danny Sjursen August 1, 2019

Part 1 | Part 2 It’s an inconvenient truth: the president of the United States has no coherent foreign policy. Period. At times Donald Trump talks sensibly about pulling out of quagmires in Syria and Afghanistan, while simultaneously ratcheting up threats against America’s favorite (at least since 1979) punching bag — Iran.  He’s also loaded up his administration with ...

America’s Legacy of Regime Change

by Stephen Kinzer June 1, 2019

Covert Regime Change: America’s Secret Cold War by Lindsey A. O’Rourke (Cornell University Press, 2018); 330 pages. For most of history, seizing another country or territory was a straightforward proposition. You assembled an army and ordered it to invade. Combat determined the victor. The toll in death and suffering was usually horrific, but it was all ...

Iraq-Iran Deja Vu: An Interview with Jacob Hornberger (audio)

by Jacob G. Hornberger May 16, 2019

FFF president Jacob G. Hornberger was a guest on A Neighbor's Choice radio show with host David Gornoski to discuss U.S. foreign policy concerning Iran.

Bill Clinton and the Bogus Iranian Threat

by Sheldon Richman May 8, 2014

Tragically, President George H.W. Bush passed up a chance for a rapprochement with Iran because, after the Soviet Union imploded, the national-security apparatus needed a new threat to stave off budget cutters in Congress. Iran became the “manufactured crisis,” according to author Gareth Porter’s new book by that title. Doubly tragic, Bush’s successor, Bill Clinton, compounded ...

Why the U.S. Blew a Chance to Reconcile with Iran

by Sheldon Richman May 1, 2014

In the late 1980s the U.S. government had an opportunity to change its relationship with Iran from hostile to nonadversarial. It had been hostile since 1979, when the Islamic revolution overthrew the brutal U.S.-backed Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and Iranians held 52 Americans hostage for more than a year. The relationship deteriorated further when the Reagan administration helped Iraq after ...

The Ayatollahs’ Overlooked Anti-WMD Fatwas

by Sheldon Richman April 16, 2014

When the Obama administration refused to grant a visa to Iran’s designated ambassador to the United Nations, Hamid Aboutalebi, it was continuing a long-running hostile U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic. After the 1979 Islamic revolution in Iran, a group of Iranians held 52 Americans hostage in the former U.S. embassy for more than a year. Aboutalebi served as ...

The Roots of Iran’s Nuclear Secrecy

by Sheldon Richman April 2, 2014

For years we’ve heard the steady drumbeat of news stories like this: Over 18 years, Iran secretly assembled uranium enrichment and conversion facilities that could be used for a nuclear energy program or to construct an atomic bomb. And this was among the least alarmist stories. The thrust of the sensational coverage, instigated by hawkish ...

The Iranian Threat That Never Was

by Sheldon Richman March 26, 2014

If you take politicians and the mainstream media seriously, you believe that Iran wants a nuclear weapon and has relentlessly engaged in covert efforts to build one. Even if you are aware that Iran signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and is subject to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections, you may believe that those who run the Islamic ...

Obama and Kerry Jeopardize Peace with Iran

by Sheldon Richman January 30, 2014

Barack Obama and John Kerry should make up their minds: Do they want war or peace with Iran? We should hope for peace, but Obama and Kerry make optimism difficult. Ideally, the Obama administration would simply exit the Middle East, taking all its military and economic aid with it. The U.S. government cannot micromanage events there, especially ...

Does Obama Want an Agreement with Iran or Not?

by Sheldon Richman December 18, 2013

What are President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry up to with Iran? First they boasted of a historic interim agreement with Iran regarding its civilian nuclear program — an agreement which demonstrates that the Islamic Republic won’t be making nuclear weapons — something it has shown no inclination to do anyway. Then they prevailed on the ...

The Libertarian Angle: Afghanistan and Iran

by Future of Freedom Foundation November 26, 2013

Jacob Hornberger and Sheldon Richman on recent events in Afghanistan and Iran. The Libertarian Angle airs weekly.