via Lobe Log
by Wayne White
Continuing extremist attacks in northern Mali are a reminder that this vast Saharan region, given to raiding and smuggling for more than a millennium, could remain an attractive haven even for a much weakened al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM). Now that sweeping French and allied African military [...]
via Lobe Log
If an international agreement is violated and no one makes a sound, did it really happen?
by Samuel Cutler
A few weeks ago, the State Department imposed sanctions on Greek businessman Dimitris Cambis and his company, Impire Shipping Ltd., pursuant to the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996 (ISA), for his [...]
via Lobe Log
by Jasmin Ramsey
Ahead of the technical-level nuclear talks that will take place in Istanbul on March 18 and the top-level talks that will be held in early April, Farideh Farhi, an Independent Scholar at the University of Hawaii and Lobe Log contributor, offers context and insight [...]
via Lobe Log
by Wayne White
Amidst rumors that Washington finally decided to provide arms at least to selected Syrian opposition fighters, Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the US would do little more than increase its non-lethal aid to the opposition. Rebel disappointment has been intense, and such limited assistance will not [...]
via Lobe Log
by Robert E. Hunter
The stakes in President Barak Obama’s impending visit to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan have risen steadily in recent days. It is taking take place, after all, almost immediately following Secretary of State John Kerry’s trip around the region — but not to the same stops [...]
via Lobe Log
A new report released by the International Crisis Group this week examines the efficacy and unintended consequences of sanctions on Iran and suggests steps that can be taken during the diplomatic process to unwind them and mitigate their humanitarian consequences while addressing the nuclear issue more effectively. “The [...]
By Kevan Harris
via USIP
What is the state of Iran’s economy in 2013 compared to a year ago?
Iran’s economy enters 2013 significantly worse than a year ago, particularly with higher inflation and unemployment than at the beginning of 2012. The rial also plunged from around 11,000 to the dollar at [...]
via Lobe Log
For Iran, 2012 will go down as the year of economic woes. The mantra of the “enemy’s psychological war against Iran” will no longer be blamed more than internal mismanagement even by the most ardent supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Leader, Ali Khamenei. The “resistance economy” against the “economic war [...]
via Lobe Log
The whole world needs to know about Nasrin Sotoudeh, the Iranian rights lawyer who was ultimately sentenced to 6 years in prison after the Islamic Republic convicted her of spreading propaganda and conspiring to harm state security in 2011.
Sotoudeh’s husband Reza Khandan told PBS Newshour [...]
By Erich Ferrari
via Sanctions Law
This was a big year for sanctions. Although 2012 isn’t over yet and there is some pending legislation threatening to impose more sanctions against Iran and a forthcoming set of regulations from OFAC on some of the additional Iran sanctions we saw in the late summer/early fall, [...]
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