On Wednesday, the Middle East Institute hosted a discussion on the impact of the elections on the future of Iran's nuclear program, and the outlook for the forthcoming negotiations aimed at de-escalating U.S.-Iranian tensions. The speakers were Seyed Aliakbar Mousavi, a visiting fellow at the University of Maryland and former Member of Parliament in the 6th Parliament of Iran, and Geneive Abdo, the director of the Iran Program at The ...

On Wednesday, the Reserve Officers Association, in conjunction with the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), hosted an event examining Iran, Syria, and the ramifications that their relationship has for U.S. regional strategy. The event featured Jay Solomon, foreign affairs correspondent of the Wall Street Journal, and Daniel Brumberg, USIP’s senior adviser in the Center for Conflict Management. The event was moderated by Steven Heydeman, the senior adviser for Middle East ...

On Monday, the Iran Task Force of the Atlantic Council hosted a round table discussion on the implications of the recent parliamentarian elections held on March 2nd for Iranian domestic and foreign policy. The panelists questioned the apparent consolidation of power by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his will to negotiate over the nuclear issue. The panel featured Yasmin Alem, independent scholar, Alireza Nader, senior international policy analyst, RAND Corporation ...

The U.N. Human Rights Council released the "Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Islamic Republic of Iran." The document highlights the recent trends in the human rights situation in Iran, and though it does not cover all the violations entirely, "it provides a picture of the prevailing situation in that regard." The six recommendations the Rapporteur makes call on the government of Iran to reform ...

According to The Guardian, as many as six global powers have agreed to return to the negotiating table with Iran in order to “restore international trust in Tehran’s stated intentions." E.U. Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton sent a letter to Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili stating that negotiations should commence as soon as possible. Speaking for the Western bloc comprised of the U.S., U.K., France, Russia, China, and Germany, ...

In the recent parliamentary elections, Iranian media reported that 64 percent of the 48 million Iranians eligible to vote participated in the polls on Friday. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was able to consolidate his power:  Khamenei loyalists won over 75 percent of seats, with widespread defeats for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's supporters - including his sister Parvin Ahmadinejad. Analyst Hamid Farahvashian believes "the vote showed that there is a deepening rift between the ruling elites... it might ...

On Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the Mujahidin-e Khalq’s (MEK) removal from the U.S. terrorism blacklist would be contingent on the group helping close its camp in Ashraf. Also known as the People’s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), the MEK’s activities surfaced in the 1970’s as they carried out military operations against the U.S. –backed Shah of Iran and U.S. targets.  According to Reuters, the groups “is no longer welcome,” as ...

On Tuesday, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee heard testimony from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about national security and the foreign policy priorities in the $51.6 billion fiscal year 2013 International Affairs budget. Senator John Kerry (D – MA) presided over the committee, which was co-chaired by Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN). To read the full text of the event notes, continue reading below or click here for the PDF   Senator John Kerry began by ...

On Wednesday, the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs within the House Appropriations Committee held a Budget Hearing for which Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was the witness. Chairwoman of the Subcommittee Kay Granger (R-TX) and ranking member Nita Lowey (D-NY) presided; Chairman of the Appropriations Committee Hal Rogers (R-KY) also gave an opening statement. For the full text of the hearing, continue reading below or click here ...

In a report released today, Amnesty International stated, "there were around four times as many public executions in 2011 as in 2010, a practice that Amnesty International said was used by the authorities to strike fear into society." The 71-page report, We Are Ordered to Crush You": Expanding Repression of Dissent in Iran, details the Iranian authorities' increased repression of dissent in the wake of protests called by opposition leaders Mir Hossein ...

Today, Amnesty International released a 71-page report documenting the escalating crackdown occurring in Iran in the run up to this week's parliamentary election entitled"We are ordered to crush you': Expanding Repression of Dissent in Iran. According to the report, regional protests of people demanding their rights and freedoms have not skipped over Iran, but however have continually arose only to face brutal repression at the hand of the Iranian regime. Iran’s ...

On March 2, Iranians will have their first chance to vote since 2009 elections, which resulted in nation-wide protests and a sweeping wave of detentions. This round of elections Iranians will choose their representation in the 290-seat parliament. A large portion of Iran’s population “see it as a meaningless exercise” seeing as the regime prevents dissidents from standing in the election. The number of registered candidates fell by nearly a third ...