iran
"The contents of the MoU include broadening of scientific and cultural relations, preparing the grounds for cooperation between the two countries' scientific and cultural bodies and holding joint scientific, literary and research conferences," the Iranian cultural attaché told reporters in Dushanbe on Wednesday.
Dear Iranian Negotiators: Some of you may remember me from the time I served on the American delegation to the nuclear talks. Although I left the U.S. Government over a year ago, I try to follow the negotiations closely, and I have been impressed by the determination and professionalism that you – as well as the Americans and indeed all the parties – have brought to the table.
The Middle East is in turmoil and increasingly there is a need for the two regional powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, to mend their differences in an effort to address urgent regional security matters. There is no denying that the Arab-Persian rivalry and sectarian divide is deep-rooted and will require serious dialogue and engagement to be rectified.
Besides centrifuges, uranium enrichment, and sanctions, this month the State Department turned to sets, digs, and spikes in diplomatic efforts with Iran. Samuel Werberg, a press and public diplomacy officer in the U.S. State Department, invoked the spirit of Jesse Owens to tout the Obama administration's latest installment of sports diplomacy...
The diplomatic impasse between the United States and Iran is officially broken after thirty-four years of mutual recriminations and mistrust. The need for a reinvigorated U.S. public diplomacy is essential to forge a new relationship based on respect, understanding, and shared political, social, and economic interests. “Gangnam Style” public diplomacy is a simultaneous multiplatform approach to information sharing and engagement that utilizes various programs to stimulate people-to-people connections based on culture, education, and business.
The same diplomatic maneuvering is practiced in any series of international negotiations, but in this case, the fog of diplomacy was more dense than usual. One reason is that the Obama administration felt that it had to manage the public discourse about the negotiations in the United States to avoid losing control of public opinion to the pro-Israeli right in Congress.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani promised greater media freedom. So, why are so many journalists in prison and the overall rights situation deteriorating? One year after President Hassan Rouhani took office, on August 4, 2013, with a popular mandate to bring change, journalism and media freedoms are in a state of disarray.
Down a dirt road in a back corner of a vast Tehran sports complex, several dozen young men recently took part in tryouts for Iran’s national baseball team. These ballplayers, some of them fasting for the holy month of Ramadan in the scorching July heat, are part of a small but growing number of Iranians taking up America’s pastime despite long odds.