Iran

Iran: It’s Not about Nuclear Weapons

by Sheldon Richman November 26, 2013

If you want to understand the U.S.-Iran controversy, know this: It is not about nuclear weapons. You’re thinking: Of course it’s about nuclear weapons. Everyone says so. Well, not everyone does. But it isn’t a numbers game. As William O. Beeman points out in the Huffington Post, There is a strange irony in President ...

Preventing War with Iran Is Top Priority

by Sheldon Richman November 13, 2013

The best way to keep Iran from building a nuclear bomb is for the Obama administration and its nuclear client Israel to stop threatening the Islamic Republic. Look at recent history. In 2003 Iraq’s government had no nuclear weapons (or other WMD). The U.S. government invaded, and before long Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was hanging from a rope. In 2011 Libya’s ...

Does Obama Have the Courage to Pursue Peace with Iran?

by Sheldon Richman October 23, 2013

Settling the nuclear controversy with Iran peacefully will require courage on President Obama’s part. Does he have what it will take to resist those who prefer war? While Obama has yet to stake out a promising unequivocal position, if he does, the obstacles would remain formidable. The two biggest are the U.S. Congress and the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu. Even ...

Stop Demonizing Iran

by Sheldon Richman October 9, 2013

Not everyone wants the United States to improve relations with Iran. Some prefer war instead. Not because Iran is a threat to the American people, or the Israelis, but because a friendly Iran would no longer furnish the convenient enemy the hawks in the United States and Israel need. So, despite overtures from the new Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani, ...

Can Iran Trust the United States?

by Sheldon Richman October 2, 2013

People ask whether the United States can trust Iran. The better question is whether Iran can trust the United States. Since 1979 the U.S. government has prosecuted a covert and proxy war against Iran. The objective has been regime change and installation of a government that will loyally serve U.S. state objectives. This war began after the popular overthrow of ...

The Glaring Contradiction in Anti-Iran Policy

by Sheldon Richman October 10, 2012

President Barack Obama, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have at least one thing in common when it comes to Iran. All are guilty of flagrant self-contradiction. Each says that a nuclear-armed Iran could not be effectively contained the way the U.S. government contained the nuclear-armed Soviet Union and Communist China. Yet each also says ...

Obama, Romney Are Reckless on Iran

by Sheldon Richman August 6, 2012

You will strain your eyes looking for a significant difference between President Obama’s and Mitt Romney’s positions on Iran and the prospects of an Israeli attack on the Islamic republic. Both say “all options are on the table.” All. That includes a full-scale military attack with even nuclear weapons. This isn’t alarmism. Iran’s facilities are undoubtedly well protected. No ...

Defusing the Middle East Would Lower Gas Prices

by Sheldon Richman March 23, 2012

Republicans see rising oil and gasoline prices as an opportunity to score political points on President Obama. To be sure, Obama is partly responsible for the rise in world prices and could do something about it. The irony is that Republicans would emphatically oppose the one measure that would be most effective in easing the pressure on prices right ...

Obama’s Iran Policy Commits Him to War

by Sheldon Richman March 16, 2012

Despite the alleged difference between President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran, both embrace a position that logically commits them to war. If war is to be avoided, as Obama says he wishes, he will have to abandon his current stance. The difference between Obama and Netanyahu is more apparent than real. Both ...

No to AIPAC, No to Israel, and No to War

by Sheldon Richman March 5, 2012

Those who hoped President Obama might bring a new approach to foreign policy have been repeatedly disappointed. On Sunday, Obama had a chance to partially redeem himself. He failed. Speaking at the conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), he declared, “I have said that when it comes to preventing Iran from obtaining ...

Iran: Scapegoat for a Bankrupt Empire

by Tim Kelly March 1, 2012

Over the last few years the United States has been obsessed with preventing Iran from developing its own nuclear weapon. This obsession has been made even more curious by the fact that American politicians appear to be at odds with their own intelligence services on the issue. President Obama said in his State of the Union address, ...

Nuclear Hypocrisy

by Laurence M. Vance February 22, 2012

Republican presidential candidates and officials in the U.S. government from the president on down have turned up the rhetoric against Iran. In his State of the Union address, Barack Obama stated, “America is determined to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and I will take no options off the table to achieve that goal.” Secretary ...