Whether or not a deal will be made concerning Iran’s nuclear program is again uncertain, as last-minute issues have emerged over the last few days. With the deadline of tomorrow looming, the two sides have seemingly failed to agree on how Iran’s existing nuclear stockpile will be reprocessed, if at all. Reports have varied –…
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and lead negotiator Abbas Araqchi have dismissed the likelihood for a signed deal this week, citing more issues to be hammered out before all necessary signatories will be gathered to formalize the deal. The key item to look for, according to Zarif, was when all foreign ministers of the P5+1…
A letter sent by 47 US senators to Iranian negotiators has been openly decried by Iran’s chief foreign policy representative. Javad Zarif, the Iranian foreign minister, lambasted the letter as lacking in any legal value and as a “propaganda ploy.” Zarif went on to note that the letter is unprecedented in diplomatic history, and a…
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Bryan Early, founding Director of the Project on International Security, Commerce, and Economic Statecraft (PISCES) at the State University of New York at Albany. Dr. Early is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Public Administration, as well as an expert on economic sanctions, proliferation issues and…
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani recently paid visits to the country’s leading political and judiciary figures to gauge their reactions to perceived advances in the country’s nuclear talks with the West. The reaction, perhaps surprisingly, has been positive, albeit cautious, and one of the country’s leading hardliners, Ali Larijani, has declared himself “not pessimistic” about the…
The Iranian oil ministry has declared itself ready and able to cope with oil prices should they reach $25/barrel. Tehran had previously allied itself with countries such as Venezuela whose economies depend heavily on hydrocarbons profit to function, though the most recent diplomatic offensive appears to have failed to have the desired effect. Bijan Namdur…
Iranian and Russian officials inked a new cooperation deal this past Tuesday. The agreement has a two-tier focus, the first of which is military, whilst the other is technological. The military aspect was signed off on by the two countries’ respective defense ministers, and was seemingly engineered to counter a perceived threat posed by the…
In December, we had the chance to talk with Eric Lorber, an attorney based in Washington, DC at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP who assists multinational companies in compliance with US economic sanctions. He was formerly a member of the Iran Sanctions Team at the Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crime (OFAC) in the…
With oil production continuing at mostly normal rates despite the dramatic fall in prices to $49, Iran has launched a diplomatic front aimed at persuading other OPEC states to reduce their own production of hydrocarbons. The effort, which includes support from Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has thus far fallen upon deaf ears. The…
The 114th US Congress convened for the first time last week, casting a new series of doubts on the potential for an Iranian nuclear deal. Republicans have come under control of both houses of Congress, and the tough-on-Iran, (mostly) pro-Israel group of representatives have started eyeing fresh rounds of sanctions should the talks fail and…
STEPPE DISPATCHES 