The players - resources on key people and personalities in Iran.
Issues and ideas -a selection of articles covering key topics.
Perspectives: from the GSN archive - articles from GSN's extensive database.
Ahmadinejad faces new challenges from within
After seeing off popular protests and reformist opponents, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad now faces challenges from within the regime as hardliners attempt to rein in the president’s growing personal authority.
Issue 885, 17 September 2010. 
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Iran’s Green revolutionaries just won’t go away
The regime’s hardliners thought its critics were a disparate bunch who would melt away under assault from the Basij militia. The fact that protests continue has surprised President Ahmadinejad’s allies as much as outside observers, forcing the regime and other key players – including the United States – to reassess their options
Issue 871, 12 February 2010. more
Iran’s conservatives position themselves for Khamenei’s succession
With persistent rumours about the Supreme Leader’s health, key figures are jostling for power as they await the succession that many expect sooner rather than later. Meanwhile, with growing influence, the Rahbar’s son Mojtaba Khamenei waits in the wings
Issue 861, 25 September 2009. 
more
Also see Issue 861, 25 September 2009. How Iran’s supreme leaders are chosen
Divides deepen as Ahmadinejad is increasingly isolated
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad managed to add further complexity to the Iranian crisis with the appointment of Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as first vice president. Known to favour cultivating diplomatic relations with Israel, the move created a political storm among leading hardliners.
Issue 858, 24 July 2009. more
Ahmadinejad confronts an Iran looking for change within the continuity
Given half a chance, Iranians will vote against the establishment – not just in disaffected urban areas, but in the countryside (where incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is widely believed to have the edge), and even within the ruling elite, whose members may swap from faction to faction while maintaining staunch support for Iran’s velayat-e faqih system of clerical rule. Ahmadinejad has made a global career by presenting himself as an underdog – a status that tends to attract Iranian voters (as the reformist Mohammad Khatami found when he beat conservative rivals in 1997). But he has other elite ‘underdogs’ to compete with. So in a system where the intervention of religious authorities to stop otherwise well-qualified candidates from standing and to encourage support for a favoured few does not necessarily produce the expected results, there remains everything to play for when Iranians go to the polls on 12 June.
Issue 854, 29 May 2009. more
Mousavi’s emergence reorders the reformist pack
As Khatami steps aside to allow the new contender a clear run, reform supporters hope they may have found a candidate who can defuse conservative opposition. But President Ahmadinejad still holds a lot of powerful cards.
Issue 850, 27 March 2009. more
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Ahmadinejad faces new challenges from within
After seeing off popular protests and reformist opponents, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad now faces challenges from within the regime as hardliners attempt to rein in the president’s growing personal authority.
Issue 885, 17 September 2010. more
Government in industry shakeup
The government has proposed plans to revamp the organisational structure of Iran’s oil industry to grant the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) more autonomy.
Issue 885, 17 September 2010. more
Sanctions force rethink as BP shuts down North Sea venture
In the wake of US and EU sanctions imposed earlier in the year, Iranian oil companies are struggling for business internationally as well as domestically, highlighted by the recent closure of the BP-Iranian Oil Company joint venture-operated Rhum natural gas field in the UK’s North Sea.
Issue 889, 12 November 2010. more
Risk management report
Oil self-sufficiency achieved as energy reforms look to tackle economic challenges
Issue 886, 1 October 2010. more
Government in industry shakeup
The government has proposed plans to revamp the organisational structure of Iran’s oil industry to grant the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) more autonomy.
Issue 885, 17 September 2010. more
Japan removes new medium-term excred support
Aligning itself with international pressure over the nuclear issue, Tokyo has announced new sanctions against Iran, which include a ban upon any medium- to long-term (MLT) export credit cover from either Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (Nexi) and The Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC).
Issue 885, 17 September 2010. more
Fresh sanctions squeeze Iranian market, but specialist banks continue to service key customers
UN and US sanctions are targeting the financial sector, but the few bankers still doing business with Iran seem determined to maintain trade finance flows
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Bond issue for South Pars gas field
Iran appears to be making progress in funding its offshore South Pars gas field, after several major western players withdrew their expertise and financing from a number of project phases during 2010.
Issue 880, 2 July 2010. more
Kuwait imposes UN sanctions on Iran
On 11 November, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) issued a circular to all local banks, investment companies and money exchanges, ordering them to freeze assets and cease dealing with Iranian financial institutions that contribute to the country’s nuclear activities.
Issue 890, 26 November 2010. more
China lined up after Russian deal collapses
Tehran will turn to Beijing to provide air defence systems for its nuclear facilities after an $800m deal struck with Russia in 2005 for S-300 surface-to-air missiles collapsed, Russian media have reported.
Issue 887, 15 October 2010. more
Fake surface-to-air missiles at Army Day parade point to growing paranoia in Tehran
Iran appears to be ramping up its campaign to convince western observers of its new level of air defence amid growing fears that a military strike – most likely from Israel – is not far off
Issue 876, 7 May 2010. more
Iran runs out of allies as nuclear tensions heighten
The shortfalls in Tehran’s proposal of a new deal on uranium enrichment, even while it intensifies its nuclear programme, has forced long-standing allies like Russia, as well as the Obama administration, to consider taking a much harder line against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his friends
Issue 871, 12 February 2010. more
Also see Issue 870, 29 January 2010. US running out of options on Iran; Risk management report: Issue 862, 9 October 2009. Sanctions avoided over nuclear compromise – for now; Issue 848, 27 February 2009. US mulls the lessons of 30 years of containing Iran as it readies sticks and carrot; Issue 841, 21 November 2008. What to do about Iran: key appointments will point the way; Issue 840, 7 November 2008. GSN view: ‘Military action’ against Iran; Issue 800, 2 March 2007: Energy crises highlight policy chaos, need for nuclear power
| Perspectives: from the GSN archive |
UN report reveals North Korean meddling
North Korea is involved in the continuous support of nuclear and ballistic missile-related activity in Iran and Syria, according to a United Nations Security Council (UNSC) report.
Issue 890, 26 November 2010. more
Kuwait imposes UN sanctions on Iran
On 11 November, the Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) issued a circular to all local banks, investment companies and money exchanges, ordering them to freeze assets and cease dealing with Iranian financial institutions that contribute to the country’s nuclear activities.
Issue 890, 26 November 2010. more
Search for security underpins Iran’s economic co-operation with Iraq
The confusion of a post-Saddam Iraq has presented Iran with countless opportunities to extend its tentacles of influence. GSN outlines the Islamic Republic’s strategy for keeping its rival at bay
Issue 889, 12 November 2010. more
US strike plans revealed
The US Defence Department was ordered to draw up detailed contingency plans for launching military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, former president George W Bush has revealed in his memoirs.
Issue 889, 12 November 2010. more
Air force to test homemade S-300
The Iranian Air Force is set to conduct hot-fire tests of a domestic version of the S-300 ground-to-air missile following the collapse of a deal with Russia for a similar system (GSN 886/14).
Issue 889, 12 November 2010. more
Sanctions force rethink as BP shuts down North Sea venture
In the wake of US and EU sanctions imposed earlier in the year, Iranian oil companies are struggling for business internationally as well as domestically, highlighted by the recent closure of the BP-Iranian Oil Company joint venture-operated Rhum natural gas field in the UK’s North Sea.
Issue 889, 12 November 2010. more
China and Venezuela woo Tehran
Not all countries are discouraged by the international sanctions imposed on Iran. Despite being a signatory to the UN sanctions, China continues to show an interest in the Iranian oil sector.
Issue 889, 12 November 2010. more
China lined up after Russian deal collapses
Tehran will turn to Beijing to provide air defence systems for its nuclear facilities after an $800m deal struck with Russia in 2005 for S-300 surface-to-air missiles collapsed, Russian media have reported.
Issue 887, 15 October 2010. more
Risk management report
Oil self-sufficiency achieved as energy reforms look to tackle economic challenges
Issue 886, 1 October 2010. more
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