Mohammad Javad Zarif
Iran's foreign minister says if the US Congress imposes fresh sanctions on Tehran, the Iranian parliament will retaliate by adopting a bill to further expand the country's nuclear enrichment level.

John Bryson Chane
ISIS is not a religious group; they are terrorists and that’s what they need to be labeled at. They’re not representatives of Islam; Islam is a religion of peace just as Christianity is. And why they use religion is that it gives them a leg up on public relations and that also builds on the way in which the West too often sees Islam which is they don’t really know what it is about.

Mohammad Mehdi Mazaheri
It seems that current geopolitical conditions in the Middle East have changed the balance of regional power in favor of Syria, Iran and Russia. The new developments have also made regional and transregional states reach the conclusion that the overthrow of Assad’s government and, in parallel, undermining the regional standing of Iran and the resistance movement, is not practical anymore.

Abbas Maleki
We must not forget those parties that are working against the interests of Iran, and only focus on our neighboring states. As for the issue that we have been discussing here, we must try to find the country which quite recently put the names of several Iranian companies and individuals on the list of its sanctions. We must also seek out all those countries that implement sanctions against Iran. It would not be realistic to ignore all of them and just focus on Saudi Arabia because of the assumed hostility of Riyadh toward Tehran.

Seyed Mohammad Eslami
Nonetheless, the US congressmen also seem to be pursing specific goals through this bill. It seems they intend to dissuade Iran from taking part in further negotiations. They know that Mohammad Javad Zarif has clearly specified that imposition of any new sanctions against Iran would mean “the demise of the Geneva agreement.” Therefore, being aware of all the logical capacities created by the Geneva Joint Plan of Action, they are doing their best to bring it to a standstill.

Kaveh L. Afrasiabi
At a time when the US Congress is plotting further unilateral sanctions against Iran, both Iran and other NAM countries should seize the moment at the 2015 NPT Review Conference to campaign against unilateral sanctions, particularly those that are invoked in the name of strengthening the NPT yet in fact undercut the NPT-based approaches to counter-proliferation, e.g., by adding to the vulnerabilities of a target state that may resort to a 'nuclear shield' to defend itself.

Firouzeh Mirrazavi
Often overlooked in favor of the glorious tourist attractions of Isfahan, Shiraz and Persepolis, Tehran has numerous draws of its own to keep visitors busy. Its tourist spots are spread wide, from the edgy cafes and modern high-rises climbing the slopes of the Alborz in the north to the sprawling suburbs of the conservative south, and from the Old World atmosphere of its grand bazaar to the blinding gaudiness of Golestan Palace and the National Jewelry Museum. Tehran offers tourists a little bit of everything, including the best place in which to feel the pulse of modern Iran and also old houses and mansions which hide a lot of historical memories and events in them.

Ali Akbar Asadi
The reopening of Riyadh’s embassy in Baghdad may be a result of changing situation in Iraq, including changes in the political structure in the Arab country and may even be aimed at gaining new grounds in the face of Saudi Arabia’s regional rivals, including Iran. However, more than these factors, this measure is the beginning of a process of gradual reforms in Saudi policy to get more adapted to new conditions in the region in such a way as to reduce to minimum the existing threats to the national security of Saudi Arabia.

Hossein Sadeghi
Eliminating suspicions and tensions, making efforts to reach common positons, and adopting a common approach while avoiding further escalation of conflicts are among long strides that regional countries can take to get out of the current tense situation and move toward unity and convergence. In order to do this, Iran and Saudi Arabia, as two prominent and important countries in the Islamic world and the region, can and should play the most influential role among regional states.

Saeid Jafari
As two major regional powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia have been grappling with various challenges in different areas for years. The rivalries and challenges between these two powers have at times led to some sort of covert war between the two countries. However, this situation has usually not gone beyond the limit of speculations and there have been rare cases, if any, in which officials of each country have overtly described the other country as a problem and a regional threat to its national interests. Now, however, such allegations are in the open.