Fred Kaplan advocates a meeting between President Obama and Iran's president Rouhani over the course of this week's meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

The UN Security Council's Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea submitted this report on July 12, 2013, pursuant to resolutions 751 (1992) and 1907 (2009) concerning Somalia and Eritrea and in accordance with paragraph 13 (m) of Security Council resolution 2060 (2012). These resolutions address how the UN Security Council will monitor peace and security efforts in the region and report on violations such as trading arms and charcoal or funding terrorist organizations.

Cuba has entered a new era of economic reform that defies easy comparison to post-Communist transitions elsewhere. Washington should take the initiative and establish a new diplomatic and economic modus vivendi with Havana.

The newly elected moderate Iranian president may lead the United States to loosen economic sanctions on the country, according to Carla Robbins.

The United States and a growing number of countries have intensified sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program, weakening its economy, but debate persists over their impact.

Carla Robbins discusses the use and limits of sanctions as a foreign policy tool.

The Russian Foreign Ministry released this list on April 13, 2013, in response to the U.S. Treasury April 12 sanctions barring certain Russian citizens barred from entering the United States under the Magnitsky Act.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei gave his annual message on the occasion of the Persian New Year, or Norouz, on March 20, 2013. He calls this "The Year of Political and Economic Valor" and encourages Iranians to buy products made in Iran because of current economic sanctions.

The UN Security Council passed this resolution including economic sanctions on North Korea on March 7, 2013, after North Korea's nuclear test on February 12, 2013. North Korea said it will end its armistice agreement with South Korea if the resolution passed.

The UN Security Council passed this resolution regarding North Korea and ballistic missile technology on January 22, 2013.

An end to Syria's conflict seems unlikely in the near term, as a number of obstacles on and off the battlefield have stymied international diplomatic efforts, explains this Backgrounder.

Sanctions historically work to subject a country's people, rather than its government, to poverty and undermine the populations welfare, as is ocurring in Iran right now.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave these remarks with Burmese president Thein Sein in New York on September 26, 2012.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton gave this statement regarding Iran on September 14, 2012.

Meghan L. O'Sullivan says sanctions may help, but economic pain can't be the sole pressure point on Iran.

Talks in Baghdad reflect Iran's new willingness to discuss its nuclear program, but sanctions may not sting enough to make it change course, says expert Hassan Hakimian.

A Pew Research Center report reveals growing opposition to the possibility of a nuclear armed Iran, but finds that nations still support imposing tougher economic sanctions versus military intervention.

In his testimony before the U.S. House of Representatives, Ray Takeyh discusses the conflicting priorities of Iran's Supreme Leader. Khamenei needs America as an enemy and a robust nuclear infrastructure to legitimize his rule. Yet, these enmities only further erode his economy and potentially threaten his hold on power.

Sanctions have been a major part of the U.S. policy toward Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. This Congressional Research Service report looks at the history and effects of some of the overlapping U.S. and international sanctioning efforts toward Iran's nuclear program.

The White House released this fact sheet on April 23, 2012, accompanying the signing of President Obama's executive order concerning sanctions against those involved in human rights abuses in Syria and Iran.