Hamid Yazdan Panah, Aug. 12, 2015
The recent Iran deal has brought much fanfare and celebration, most of which conveniently overlooks the fundamental nature of the Iranian regime. Putting aside the details of the agreement, one claim in particular has consistently been made about the nuclear deal which simply holds no weight. The claim is that the nuclear deal will somehow improve human rights in Iran, and lead to an improvement in Iranian civil society.

Hamid Yazdan Panah, 1.22.2015
The Iran question has dominated policy discussions for nearly a decade. How to prevent the mullahs from obtaining nuclear weapons is no doubt a hot button issue. The general consensus remains that there is no viable military solution to this problem. What we are left with are sanctions and continual dialogue with an undemocratic and barbaric regime, with the hopes of getting them to “behave.” Yet even this is too harsh for some, who object to sanctions against Iran on humanitarian grounds. The question then becomes, what exactly is the humanitarian cost of doing business with Iran?