Homepage

Iran’s Drone Strategy (Part 1): Wartime Performance and Adaptations

Michael Singh

A Shahed-136 drone in a military parade in Tehran - source: Reuters

The war has shown that Iran’s one-way attack drones are highly adaptable tools of coercion and military effect, able to continue imposing costs across the Gulf region and beyond even after heavy losses.

May 22, 2026

Turkey’s Limited Role in the Iran War

Farzin Nadimi

Turkish president Erdogan at NATO headquarters in Brussels

Power parity informs the view from Ankara, which has a strong interest in preventing Iran from going nuclear or alternatively falling into chaos—even as the war’s outcome will be largely outside Turkish control.

Shifting from Diplomatic Urgency to Strategic Patience on Iran

Soner Cagaptay

For decades, Tehran has repeatedly exploited Western diplomatic urgency to extract concessions, buy time, and refill its coffers; the answer is to turn time itself against the increasingly vulnerable regime.

May 19, 2026

◆

Zohar Palti

Iran’s Drone Strategy (Part 2): Preventing Postwar Rebuilding and Advancements

Tehran’s drone ecosystem has been hit hard, but not at its roots—with help from Russia and China, the regime could restore many of the program’s capabilities within months while steadily working toward more dangerous next-generation models.

May 22, 2026

◆

Farzin Nadimi

Is Egypt the Biggest Loser of the Iran War?

Cairo’s economic mismanagement has increased the country’s reliance on Gulf largesse, but that spigot may soon run dry for diplomatic and financial reasons.

May 18, 2026

◆

David Schenker

How to Accomplish U.S. Objectives in Iran

An agreement to open the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for lifting the U.S. blockade could make it easier to ultimately address more complex issues such as Iran’s uranium stockpile, missile program, and support for proxies.

May 14, 2026

◆

Michael Singh

Webcast: The Pentagon Takes a Seat in Round 4 of Israel-Lebanon Talks

Watch an expert conversation exploring the next round of U.S.-brokered talks between Israel and Lebanon as the Pentagon hosts new security negotiations.

Learn more about this event.

Interactive Map: Maritime Attacks in the MENA Region

Explore this new interactive tool to shed light on the actions of actors such as Iran and Yemen's Houthis that have threatened and attacked commercial shipping in the waters off the Middle East and North Africa.

Access the map.

Subscribe to receive the latest Washington Institute policy analysis in your email inbox.

Institute Expertise on the Iran War and Its Aftermath

Holly Dagres

A widely cited scholar, Institute Libitzky Family Senior Fellow Holly Dagres has published groundbreaking scholarship on social media use by young Iranians. Curator of The Iranist Substack newsletter, she has been featured in interviews across radio, television, and print, including the Associated Press, BBC News, CNN, NPR, Fox News, and The New York Times.

Noam Raydan

Noam Raydan, The Washington Institute's William Sudhaus Senior Fellow, studies topics related to energy and maritime risk in the Middle East. She is a co-creator of the Institute's interactive map of maritime attacks in the Middle East since 2017.

Dennis Ross

Ambassador Dennis Ross, the Institute's Counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow, played a leading role shaping U.S. Middle East policy in the George H.W. Bush, Clinton, and Obama administrations.

Dana Stroul

Formerly the top civilian official responsible for the Middle East at the Pentagon under President Biden, Dana Stroul is Director of Research and Michael Kassen Senior Fellow at the Institute.

Recent Institute Analysis

Haibat al-Halbousi (R), Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, welcomes Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi (L) at the parliament building ahead of a parliamentary session for a confidence vote on the cabinet formed by al-Zaidi - source: Reuters

Tempering U.S. Expectations About Iraq’s New Government

Tehran seems just as enthusiastic about the new prime minister as Washington—a telling sign that the militia-dominated status quo in Baghdad will be difficult and slow to change, if it changes at all.

May 28, 2026

The Politics Blocking Syria’s Energy Recovery

David Schenker

Oil wells sit idle in Syria - source: Syrian Petroleum Company

Washington’s message to Syrian officials should be simple: foreign energy capital is unlikely to flow quickly as long as the outside world sees their government as an opaque regime with unclear authority, factional infighting, uncertain legal protections, and unresolved military tensions with powerful neighbors.

May 27, 2026

A Counterterrorism Strategy Disconnected from the Terrorist Landscape

Andrew J. Tabler

Photo of an Islamic State car bomb attack in Mayadin, Syria, May 2025.

In focusing on cartels and gangs in the Western Hemisphere as well as left-wing extremists, the administration's “radical shift” elides

May 15, 2026

A police officer loyal to the Palestinian Authority stands guard on a wall at PA headquarters in Ramallah in 2007 - source: Reuters

Fatah Meets in Ramallah

The first gathering in a decade by the Palestinian Authority’s dominant party will cast light on a post-Abbas future and

May 14, 2026

Video: America and the Middle East at 250 with Dr. Martin Kramer

Historian Martin Kramer, the Walter P. Stern Fellow at The Washington Institute, explains how America's early leaders navigated the republic's first encounters with the Middle East—and hears some echoes of today's policy dilemmas.

Interactive Maps

Screen shot of the Maritime Attacks in the MENA Region interactive map

Maritime Attacks in the MENA Region (Since 2017)

Shed light on the actions of actors such as Iran and Yemen's Houthis that have threatened and attacked commercial shipping in the waters off the Middle East and North Africa.

Screenshot of the Hezbollah External Operations Interactive Map

Lebanese Hezbollah Select Worldwide Activity

Access this interactive map to explore an open-source database of Hezbollah global operations and break through the terrorist organization's "Golden Rule" of secrecy.

Screenshot of the Islamic State Worldwide Activity interactive map

The Islamic State Select Worldwide Activity

Explore the most comprehensive public archive of Islamic State attack data, media output, government designations, and legal cases to understand the organization’s global reach,

Screenshot of the Iran External Operations interactive map

Iran External Operations 1979-present

Access this powerful interactive tool, which maps over forty-five years of Iranian clandestine operations around the globe.

Video: Expert Conversations on the Iran War

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi greets Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi in Beijing in March 2025 - source: Reuters

Wartime Support to Iran: Implications for the Middle East and Beyond

Three experts explore the regional and global implications of Russian and Chinese support for Tehran, including how much this assistance actually affects U.S. efforts to weaken the regime’s capabilities and bring the crisis to an end.

Apr 24, 2026

Hasan Alhasan
Nicole Grajewski
Matthew Tavares

Vice President Vance arrives in Pakistan for talks with Iranian counterparts in April 2026 - source: Reuters

Moving from War to Diplomacy: What’s Next for Iran, Lebanon, and Gaza?

Amid major diplomatic milestones and major international security threats, three experts explore what it will take to achieve success on multiple negotiating tracks at once.

Apr 16, 2026

Michael Herzog
Robert Satloff
Hanin Ghaddar

An Iranian woman walks by the scene of a U.S. airstrike in Tehran - source: Reuters

In the Dark and in Danger: Iran’s Internet Shutdown and Wartime Repression

Human rights experts diagnose the current public mood in Iran and discuss how foreign governments can help counter the regime’s growing use of internet blackouts and other digital repression tools.

Apr 10, 2026

Mahsa Alimardani
Nazanin Boniadi
Roya Boroumand

A photo illustration depicts chess pieces and the Iranian and U.S. flags - source: Reuters

Diplomacy During War: Priorities for the Trump Administration

Three former U.S. policy practitioners experienced in negotiating with Iran discuss what kind of agreement is possible, what each side may require to make it happen, and how officials in Washington, Israel, the Gulf states, and Europe should address emerging differences in their objectives.

Apr 3, 2026

Sanctions and Sudan’s Muslim Brotherhood: Decoupling Burhan from Sudan’s Islamists and Iran

Emily Harding
Richard Nephew
Michael Singh
Nancy A. Youssef

Recently in Fikra Forum

Fikra Forum

Sanctioning Sudan's Muslim Brotherhood will likely have an impact on Burhan's approach to the group, but a true decoupling will likely require additional pressure given their political influence and role in the current conflict.

Apr 17, 2026

In Syria, an Amnesty Decree Without Justice?

Areig Elhag

Fikra Forum

The debates sparked by Decree No. 39 raise questions about how the country will bridge the troubling gaps between official government discourse and victims’ rights.

Apr 8, 2026

Iran’s Western Frontier: Iranian Kurds Navigate Risk and Opportunity

Hanadi al-Khatib

For the estimated 7 to 15 million Kurds in Iran, the current war represents a narrow window for change, albeit one

Mar 23, 2026

A Sudanese army soldier stands near a bombed-out vehicle outside Khartoum - source: Reuters

Pakistan Steps In: Sudan and the Transformation of Regional Security

A $1.5 billion Pakistani arms deal with Sudan signals a regional shift from diplomacy toward military escalation, which may prolong

Jan 22, 2026

Arab Public Opinion 2014 to Today

Fikra Interactive Public Polling Platform Thumbnail

Maps & Graphics

TWI Interactive Polling Platform

Interactive datasets, from 2014 to today

Jun 30, 2022

In Focus: Iran

Is Iran America’s Suez Crisis? Not to Xi Jinping

Some may read Xi’s approach as a strategy to make America expend its strength far from Chinese shores, but Beijing increasingly looks more like a regional power than a global superpower.

Turkey’s Limited Role in the Iran War

Michael Singh