Hassan Rouhani

The poor who steal are brutally subjected to hadd punishment, while aghazadehs get let go for embezzling millions in Iran.

Both the US government and Christian groups should prioritize Iran’s treatment of Christian converts.

Sanctions and corruption have stunted Iran’s economic growth, and reforms will be difficult because of entrenched interests. This gives American policymakers a crucial diplomatic tool.

Since the 1980s, the MCIG has played a leading role in suppressing political and cultural speech that contradicts Tehran’s revolutionary creed. But while the Obama administration sanctioned the ministry in 2012 for engaging in censorship, its current leadership has escaped Washington’s attention. By sanctioning the ministry’s current head, Abbas Salehi, Washington can send the mullahs a message that their ideologically driven repression will carry a price.

The core problem with the Iran deal is not in its details, but rather in the nature of Iran.

Last week’s startling confession by White House operative Ben Rhodes—that the Obama administration lied to the American people about its dealings with Iran to secure a nuclear agreement—not only confirms the perception of a mendacious and arrogant presidency. It exposes a feverish and even delusional frame of mind: an uncompromising revulsion for war that has undermined American security and invited a cascade of extremism, violence, and human suffering.