Iran

Policy Analysis on Iran

How to Prevent Militias from Disrupting Iraqi-Saudi Relations

As the dust settles from new attacks in both countries, Baghdad will need U.S. support to make progress against Iran-backed militias while assuaging Riyadh’s security concerns.

Jul 30, 2026

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Michael Knights

The sun sets behind U.S. and Kuwaiti flags at Ali Al Salem AFB in Kuwait - source: Department of Defense

Brief Analysis

Kuwait and the Future of U.S. Power Projection

Given the country’s difficult experience during the Iran war, Washington should offer sustained political attention, practical assistance, and an expanded vision for the partnership’s future.

Jul 28, 2026

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Elizabeth Dent

A dignitary lies in state with an honor guard at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda - source: Architect of the Capitol

Articles & Testimony

Lindsey Graham’s Last Gift to the U.S.-Israel Alliance

A White House meeting facilitated by the senator’s funeral could let Trump and Netanyahu avoid the appearance of a wartime rift.

Jul 25, 2026

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David Makovsky

Screen grab showing an Iranian warehouse where Shahed-136 drone airframes are being assembled.

Brief Analysis

Changing Iran’s Coercive Calculus Requires More Than Massing U.S. Forces

Regardless of where the current round of escalation goes, Tehran will continue using ceasefires, front-loaded sanctions waivers, and tit-for-tat attack cycles as opportunities to reconstitute its forces until Washington imposes hard, verifiable limits on its fastest-recovering asymmetric capabilities.

Jul 24, 2026

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Farzin Nadimi

Ships gather in waters off the Iranian island of Bandar Abbas along the Strait of Hormuz - source: Reuters

Articles & Testimony

How to Isolate Tehran

To reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the latest dip in the Iran roller coaster, the Trump administration will need to marry renewed blockade efforts with a more collective-minded diplomatic approach.

Jul 17, 2026

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Dennis Ross

Brief Analysis

Yemen’s Truce at Risk

High-profile funeral events in Iran provided an opportunity for the Houthis to pressure Saudi Arabia, and for Tehran to demonstrate support to its partner and signal it has cards to play at another maritime chokepoint.

Jul 16, 2026

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April Longley Alley

Montage: Presidents Sisi (Egypt) and Putin (Russia) at the 2024 BRICS summit; a woman holds a Russian flag in Istanbul; a Russia House cultural center in Syria; a map image superimposing Russian flag over Africa/Middle East.

Video

Brief Analysis

Russia, the Iran War, and the Middle East

Former senior U.S. defense officials join a Russia expert to discuss how the Iran crisis is shaping Moscow’s military, political, and economic ambitions in the region.

Jul 10, 2026

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Keith Kellogg
Anna Borshchevskaya
Matthew Tavares

Emergency personnel respond to a terrorist knife attack in London in 2026 - source: Reuters

Articles & Testimony

A Ceasefire Won’t End Iran’s Terror War on Europe

Even if Washington resumes negotiations, Tehran will keep sending its proxies to commit attacks, buy weapons, and establish sham charities on the continent, so European governments must crack down harder.

Jul 9, 2026

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Michael Jacobson

Brief Analysis

$300 Billion for Iran? Don’t Expect Much Impact

The heftiest portion of the theoretical financial windfall discussed in the U.S.-Iran agreement is unlikely to materialize, let alone have a big economic or political impact inside the Islamic Republic.

Jul 7, 2026

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Patrick Clawson

Screenshot of a map showing shipping routes through the Strait of Hormuz.

Maps & Graphics

Brief Analysis

Iran Is Still Intent on Preventing a Return to the Old Navigational Order

Constricted traffic patterns, escalating warnings, uncertain mine threats, and a new drone attack all suggest that Tehran has no intention of willingly going back to business as usual in the Strait of Hormuz, regardless of diplomatic breakthroughs.

Jun 26, 2026

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Noam Raydan

U.S. Vice President JD Vance speaks next to Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani at the start of a quadrilateral meeting between the United States, Iran, Pakistan and Qatar at the Burgenstock luxury hotel complex overlooking Lake Lucerne, Switzerland - source: Reuters

Articles & Testimony

Iran Didn’t Win the War: Tehran Is Still Losing the Long Game

The task now is not to achieve an unattainable final victory, but to consolidate allied gains, prevent bad outcomes on the nuclear and navigational files, and ensure that Iran remains weaker than when conflict first broke out in 2023.

Jun 25, 2026

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James Jeffrey

Brief Analysis

Making the Best of Iraqi Militia “Disarmament”

Although claimed compromises by some of Iran’s proxies are unlikely to result in actual disarmament anytime soon, Washington can still erode Tehran’s illicit financial networks by carefully exploiting the militias’ desire to be treated as normal political actors.

Jun 24, 2026

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Hamdi Malik

Pakistani and Iranian foreign ministers exchange documents relating to a U.S.-Iranian memorandum of understanding in Islamabad - source: Reuters

Video

Brief Analysis

A Postwar Middle East? The U.S.-Iran Negotiations and the Region’s Future

Three experts discuss the terms, gaps, and wider regional implications of the new MOU, including how it is being received inside the Gulf states and Iran.

Jun 22, 2026

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Richard Nephew
Dennis Ross
Holly Dagres

A photo illustration shows US and Iranian flags and an atomic symbol - source: Reuters

Articles & Testimony

This Is Not a Grand Bargain With Iran. Good.

Although the United States and the world needed shipping to resume through the Strait of Hormuz, negotiating a nuclear agreement is not a postwar priority.

Jun 18, 2026

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Michael Singh

A protester holds a #FreeIran banner in Berlin - source: Reuters

Articles & Testimony

Trump Told Iranians to Keep Protesting. Then He Abandoned Their Cause.

With the regime still in place, the war has left ordinary Iranians worse off, and U.S. policy has compounded their sense of abandonment.

Jun 16, 2026

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Holly Dagres

A US Navy F-18 lands on a carrier flight deck - source: Department of Defense

Articles & Testimony

The Middle East Power Paradox: How the Iran War Will Transform America’s Military Role

Although the U.S. military approach to the region has delivered many operational successes, the Iran war has exposed its serious shortcomings and created new challenges.

Jun 16, 2026

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Dana Stroul

A sailor directs the launch of an F-18 from the flight deck of the carrier USS Harry S Truman - source: Department of Defense

Video

Brief Analysis

Back to Bombs or Driving to a Deal? Assessing the U.S.-Iran State of Play

Three experts discuss the fallout from the latest military strikes, along with the potential contours and implications of a newly announced agreement to halt the fighting and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Jun 12, 2026

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Dana Stroul
Robert Satloff
Michael Singh

Articles & Testimony

How the Looming Houthi Threat Could Turn the Iran War

Whether the U.S. truce with Iran breaks down or winds up rewarding the regime, the previously restrained Houthis may take it as a signal to resume their own aggression.

Jun 9, 2026

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April Longley Alley

Ships and boats await passage in the Persian Gulf - source: Reuters

Articles & Testimony

A Deal Could Leave Iran Fatally Weakened

The Trump administration won’t achieve all of its war goals, but it could still notch a strategic win with time.

Jun 8, 2026

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Dennis Ross

A man manipulates cables on a bank of internet data servers - source: Reuters

Articles & Testimony

Iran’s Next Internet Blackout Is Inevitable

Flipping the kill switch is a potent exercise of authoritarian control, but expediting countermeasures like D2C can help prevent regimes from using this tactic in the future.

Jun 5, 2026

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Holly Dagres

Supported by the

Viterbi Program on Iran and U.S. Policy

Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran poses the most serious and urgent set of security challenges to the United States and its allies in the greater Middle East. Since the Khomeini revolution in 1979, Iran has sought to export its radical ideology through the use of terrorism, subversion, and support to ideological fellow-travelers throughout the Muslim world.

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Featured experts

Farzin Nadimi

Farzin Nadimi, a Senior Fellow with The Washington Institute, is a Washington-based analyst specializing in the security and defense affairs of Iran and the Persian Gulf region.