U.S. SETS UP A PERCH IN DUBAI TO KEEP AN EYE ON IRAN


High atop a 1970s-style high-rise building in the heart of this desert city, a group of State Department officials has been setting up offices as part of an ambitious effort by the United States to better monitor Iran and encourage political change there.

The State Department announced early this year that it would open the office in Dubai and set up an Iran desk in Washington to make contact with Iranians and improve its institutional knowledge of the country at a time when tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions are high.

American officials decided to locate an Iran office here because of the city’s large community of Iranian businesspeople, many of whom maintain relationships in Iran and return there often. Dubai, which is about 100 miles from Iran, has also long been popular among Iranians seeking to ...

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