Djavad Salehi-Isfahani
U.S. sanctions have hobbled Iran’s response to the pandemic. The situation could change significantly if the Democrats win the White House in November and decide to return the U.S. to the JCPOA. 

Muhammad Sahimi
For many years Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has worked to bring Iran to heel, if not to destroy the Islamic Republic altogether. He would presumably prefer to accomplish those ends through economic and political warfare, but it is unlikely he would object to military attacks if that is what it takes. As a Congressman from Kansas as early as 2014, he was urging Washington to attack Tehran’s nuclear facilities, noting it would take “under 2,000 sorties,” or bombings, to do the job. “This is not an insurmountable task for the coalition forces,” he said.

The 19th Dhaka International Film Festival will hold a retrospective of Iranian filmmaker Puran Derakhshandeh in January 2021.  Three movies by Iranian filmmakers will be screened in the 25th It’s All True – International Documentary Film Festival, which will open on Thursday in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Iranian film “The Wasteland” directed by Ahmad Bahrami was awarded as the best film in the Venice International Film Festival's Orizzonti section. Ruhollah Zamani, the young actor of Iranian film “Sun Children” directed by Majid Majidi won the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best Young Actor at the 77th Venice Film Festival. Iran’s 16th Resistance International Film Festival announced the names of the documentary films in “Health Defenders” section. Iranian documentary 'Silent House' by Farnaz Jourabchinan and Mohammad Reza Jourabchian will compete at the 12th DMZ International Documentary Film Festival in South Korea. Iranian teenager Parnian Khosroabadi won an award at the sixth international exhibition of Asian children painting in China. A number of Iranian knowledge-based firms and startups will participate in GITEX, a technology exhibition in Dubai which will be held from 6 to 10 December in order to introduce their innovative products to the global market.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Iran has issued a statement in reaction to Washington’s futile efforts to reinstate the UN sanctions on Tehran.

Mitchell Plitnick
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in Washington. Brokered by the Trump administration, these deals represent two of the most broadly popular developments for both Trump and Netanyahu in many years.