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Articles, Publications

Obama Needs to Protect the Iran Deal

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The United States, along with France, Germany, Britain, China and Russia, reached a historic deal with Iran last July that lifts most sanctions in return for curbs on Iran’s nuclear program. The deal, codified in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action and endorsed by the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231, specifically includes allowing non-American banks to operate in Iran.

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“Obama Needs to Protect the Iran Deal,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian and Reza Nasri, The New York Times, June 20, 2016.

Articles, Publications

Saudi Arabia Is Iran’s New National Security Threat

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The relationship between Iran and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries — a political and economic union consisting of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates — is on a dangerous trajectory and risks leading to direct confrontation. During a recent seminar in Europe, a European diplomat who has made the case to officials in Riyadh for Saudi-Iran rapprochement starkly told me that the regional situation was even comparable to pre-World War I Europe.

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“Saudi Arabia Is Iran’s New National Security Threat,” Seyed Hossein Mousavian, The Huffington Post, June 3, 2016.

Articles, Publications

U.S. Torpedoing the Nuclear Deal Will Reaffirm Iran’s Distrust

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The nuclear deal reached between Iran and the P5+1 world powers last summer, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, was predicated on a basic give-and-take. In exchange for Iran agreeing to intrusive international inspections and monitoring and limits on its enrichment and heavy water capacity for a confidence-building period, the P5+1 would respect Iran’s right to nuclear enrichment and remove all nuclear-related sanctions. Today, the future of this quid pro quo is under threat — and not from the Iranian side.

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“U.S. Torpedoing the Nuclear Deal Will Reaffirm Iran’s Distrust,” Hossein Mousavian and Sina Toossi, The Huffington Post, April 29, 2016.

Articles, Publications

How Obama can push the Saudis to talk to Iran

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Following the signing of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action last year, the United States has been attempting to assure its Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) allies that this will not open the way to Iranian-US rapprochement. “My view has never been that we should throw our traditional allies overboard in favor of Iran,” President Barack Obama has publicly declared. In this vein, Obama is scheduled to soon arrive in Saudi Arabia, which is set to host a GCC summit, gathering the organization’s other member states, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

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“How Obama can push the Saudis to talk to Iran,” Hossein Mousavian, Al Monitor, April 19, 2016.

 

Articles, Publications

Saudi-Arabien und Iran sollten zusammenarbeiten (In German)

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The Middle East is facing a total collapse. An ideology of terror is spreading, and dysfunctional Arab governments do not offer their people dignified alternatives to extremism. The decay is embedded in two smoldering crises: the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, which has made millions refugees and contributed to regional instability for decades; and the conflict between Saudi Arabia, a leading Sunni power, and Iran, a leading Shia power, which has entangled civil war and sectarianism in the region.

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“Saudi-Arabien und Iran sollten zusammenarbeiten,” Hossein Mousavian, Frankfurter Allgemeine, April 4, 2016.

 

Articles, Publications

How to Resolve the Syrian Crisis and Alleviate the ISIS Threat

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On March 27, the Syrian army liberated Palmyra from the barbarians. No doubt it was a very important day for Syria. Moreover, after nearly two weeks, representatives of the Syrian government and opposition have paused peace talks in Geneva. The negotiations wrapped up at the end of a tumultuous week, revealing how far-reaching the consequences of the Syrian conflict are and the urgent need to find political resolution. The terrorist attack in Brussels, which leftover 30 dead and more than 300 injured, demonstrates the need for a unified Syrian front against the so-called Islamic State.

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“How to Resolve the Syrian Crisis and Alleviate the ISIS Threat,” Hossein Mousavian, The Huffington Post, March 29, 2016.

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The New Iranian Parliament Is Loyal to Khamenei but Advocating for Rouhani

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On Feb. 26, Iran held its 10th parliamentary election since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and fifth election for its Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that appoints the supreme leader. Members of parliament serve four-year terms, while members of the assembly serve 8-year terms. The elections were relatively competitive; nearly 5,000 candidates vied for 290 seats in parliament and 161 for 88 seats in the Assembly of Experts.

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“The New Iranian Parliament Is Loyal to Khamenei but Advocating for Rouhani,” Hossein Mousavian, The Huffington Post, March 2, 2016.

Articles, Publications

The Iran-Saudi Conflict and the End Game

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“Iran has to choose whether it wants to live by the rules of the international system, or remain a revolutionary state committed to expansion and to defiance of international law,” Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Adel al Jubeir stated recently in an op-ed in the New York Times.

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“The Iran-Saudi Conflict and the End Game,” Ambassador Seyed Hossein Mousavian and Mehrdad Saberi, Harvard Belfer Center, February 18, 2016.