Frank Brodhead's blog

Iran War Weekly - July 21, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 13:02:33 +0000

Iran War Weekly

July 21, 2013

Hello All – Iran’s newly elected president will take office on August 3, and negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program are expected to begin in early September. In the interim, intense and possibly important debates are taking place within the US policy-making elite about whether developments in Syria and Iran should prompt the United States to make more positive and creative diplomatic approaches toward Tehran.

Iran War Weekly - July 7, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Wed, 10 Jul 2013 15:27:44 +0000

Iran War Weekly

July 7, 2013

Hello All – The few reporters and writers who remained at their posts over this sweltering July 4^th weekend have been focused primarily on the events in Egypt, and there is relatively little new news about Iran, its nuclear program, and/or the prospects for war or peace. The events in Egypt, of course, have some bearing on events in Syria and thus with Iran, and I will address them below.

Iran War Weekly - July 1, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 20:55:43 +0000

Iran War Weekly

July 1, 2013

Hello All – Will the election of Iranian president Hassan Rowhani encourage Washington and its European allies to abandon thoughts of regime change and move towards a resolution of their dispute with Iran over the latter’s nuclear program? While Rowhani will not take office until August, he has already indicated that he welcomes renewed engagement with “the West.” At the same time, he has made it clear that Iran will not be deflected from pursuing what it sees as its right to develop a civilian nuclear energy program. The ball is thus in President Obama’s court; and the options under consideration now in Washington are reflected in some of the essays linked below that assess the meaning of the Iranian election.

Iran War Weekly - June 23, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 20:43:23 +0000

Iran War Weekly

June 23, 2013

Hello All – Iran’s presidential election offers “the West” an opportunity to extricate itself from the dangerous political and military logjam it has created with its opposition to Iran’s nuclear program. The question, therefore, is whether the Obama administration and its allies will grasp this chance for a diplomatic outcome that recognizes Iran’s right to enrich uranium, albeit under a rigorous regime of safeguards and inspections, or will it hew to the alternative path of using the dispute over Iran’s nuclear program as a wedge to push for regime change?

Iran War Weekly - June 4, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Sat, 06 Jul 2013 20:32:42 +0000

Iran War Weekly

June 4, 2013

Iran War Weekly - May 26, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Mon, 27 May 2013 00:36:09 +0000

Iran War Weekly

May 26, 2013

Hello All – While huge majorities of the US public oppose war with Iran or US intervention in Syria, Congress and the mainstream US media have stepped up the pressure for a more aggressive stance on both fronts. With these factors in mind, we might ask whether President Obama’s speech this week at the National Defense University – in which he tried to dispose of liberal pressures on his policies re: drones, Guantanamo, and “the war on terror” – should be read as a move away from a confrontation in the Middle East, or as an attempt to secure his liberal base before more intense confrontations with Iran and Syria.

Iran War Weekly - May 20, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Mon, 20 May 2013 23:32:28 +0000

Iran War Weekly

May 20, 2013

Hello All – It’s official. After almost a year of no progress in negotiations between “the West” and Iran about Iran’s nuclear program, last week’s meetings in Istanbul confirmed that there would be, indeed, no progress until at least after Iran’s presidential election, which will take place on June 14^th. Whatever the outcome of the election, it is likely that the post-election resumption of talks (if any) will take place in an international landscape greatly altered by the fighting in Syria.

Iran War Weekly May 12, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Mon, 13 May 2013 11:40:30 +0000

Iran War Weekly

May 12, 2013

Hello All – While nuclear negotiators will meet Wednesday in Istanbul, little progress is expected in the diplomatic standoff about Iran’s nuclear program before Iran’s presidential election, which will take place on June 14^th. With Iran’s reform movement still not recovered from its crushing defeat in 2009, until now the presidential election appeared to be a mere jockeying for power within conservative leadership circles, but it took on a more volatile character on Saturday, when both former president Rafsanjani and a protégé of current president Ahmadinejad registered their candidacies at the last minute. There are some very good articles about the election – both candidates and electoral procedures – linked below.

Iran War Weekly - May 5, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Mon, 06 May 2013 12:00:06 +0000

Iran War Weekly

May 5, 2013

Hello All – It is too soon to tell whether Israel’s weekend bombing of Syria will irrevocably change the course of the war and engulf the region in death and fire. Israel has intimated that further attacks are on the way, and the Obama administration has stated that US strikes against Syria’s air defenses and air fields are under discussion. Syria (via the Arab League) seems about to take the issue to the UN Security Council, where we can expect the United States to defend Israel by blocking discussion. What will Syria then do after further Israeli aggression?

Iran War Weekly - April 21, 2013

Frank Brodhead — Mon, 06 May 2013 11:51:29 +0000

Iran War Weekly

April 21, 2013

Hello All -- Following on the failure of the talks in Kazakhstan about Iran’s nuclear program, the United States and its allies renewed their non-diplomatic offensive against Iran this week. Secretary of Defense Hagel was in the Middle East, most especially in Israel, to push a $10 billion program introducing more advanced offensive weapons into the Israel, Saudi, and UAE arsenals. Like the trips of President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry made two weeks earlier, Hagel’s mission is both to reassure Israel and other regional allies that the United States still considers “all options on the table,” while at the same time pressuring Israel to defer military action against Iran and to give sanctions and negotiations more time.