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Policy Analysis on Iran

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Khatami's Next Test:

The Trial of Thirteen Jews

On April 13, thirteen Iranian Jews are scheduled to come to trial in Shiraz to face espionage charges that carry the death penalty. The trial, more than a year after the thirteen were originally detained, comes at a critical time for Iran--less than two months after Iranian president Muhammad Khatami's

Advancing U.S. Interests and Better Relations with Iran

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright's March 17 speech to the Conference on American-Iranian Relations was a milestone in the slowly improving bilateral ties. Although a number of useful ideas were broached, on balance the speech missed a golden opportunity to make common cause with reformist supporters of Iranian president Muhammad

Patrick Clawson

Iran's Nuclear Weapons Program:

Status and Implications

Iran is pursuing a strategy of flexible acquisition, keeping multiple options open. It wants to take advantage of any opportunities to obtain required materials out of the former Soviet Union. At the same time, it aims to develop a nuclear infrastructure over the long term, pursuing the whole process of

Michael Eisenstadt

Let Iran Change on Its Own

The parliamentary elections in Iran produced a massive pro-reform vote. The obvious question is what can the United States expect and how should it respond. Paradoxically, the answers are, expect little change soon on the issues of most concern, and do little so as not to be counterproductive. Background. The

Patrick Clawson

Iran's Majlis Elections:

Prospects and Implications

On February 18, Iran will hold the first round of voting for a new Majlis (parliament). But the complex nature of Iranian parties with their different camps and factions, each with different tendencies, complicates any predictions about the election's outcome. It is by no means clear that the same trends

A Background to Iran's Forthcoming Majlis Elections

Speaking about Iran at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 30, U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright commented, "There is an attempt to probe a possibility of dialogue and we are waiting to see what happens in the Majlis [Parliament] election next month." What are the procedures

Articles & Testimony

Iran's Upheaval

The following is a sidebar to Dr. Satloff's article "The Next Turbulent Zone." Iran's great internal debate over its future, as evidenced in recent confrontations between demonstrating students and police, is likely to sharpen and deepen in the next five years. The two protagonists here are not, as often reported

Robert Satloff

The Middle East in Transition

Europe's Critical Dialogue with Iran:

Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharrazi arrived in London on Sunday to start a new initiative to break Iran further out of isolation. Europe has sought to engage Iran as the best way to promote Iranian moderation and reform. With Iran's parliamentary elections approaching next month, there will almost certainly be

In-Depth Reports

Who Rules Iran:

The Structure of Power in the Islamic Republic

A landmark study that offers clear and understandable answers to fundamental questions about the most complex facets of the Iranian regime, probing the lines between hardliners and reformers, revolutionary and national interests, theocracy and electoral politics, and more.

Wilfried Buchta

Iran and the Prospects for Syria-Israel Peace

Iran--Syria's closest ally since the fall of the Soviet Union--has perhaps the most to fear from the prospect of Syria-Israel peace. Indeed, Tehran seems to have been caught off guard by Syrian president Hafiz al-Asad's decision to reenter negotiations, and Tehran is accordingly viewing with great concern Syria's apparent readiness

The Power Struggle in Iran:

Is Peaceful Reform Possible?

On December 8, 1999, Wilfried Buchta—author of the forthcoming book Who Rules Iran?, to be published by The Washington Institute in conjunction with the Konrad Adenauer Foundation—addressed the Institute’s Special Policy Forum. The following is a rapporteur’s summary of his remarks. The Iranian revolution has endured years of internal turmoil

Khobar Towers and U.S.-Iranian Relations:

American Options and Interests

Although it did not receive much press coverage in the United States, State Department spokesman James P. Rubin's statement last week that military retaliation had not been excluded as a possible response to the Khobar Towers bombing made headlines in Tehran. Rubin's boilerplate response to a reporter's question--"when we judge

Michael Eisenstadt

Broadcasting to Iraq and Iran:

Reaching Out by Radio

Radio Free Iraq was established through legislation last October and operates in conjunction with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) as a nongovernmental organization funded wholly by the U.S. government. The goal of Radio Free Iraq is to broadcast accurate and balanced information focusing on human rights, democratization, free expression, and

The Long Shadow of Khobar Towers:

Dilemmas for the U.S. and Iran

The 1996 Khobar Towers bombing, in which nineteen U.S. airmen were killed and hundreds injured, continues to cast a shadow over U.S.-Iran relations. The decision last week by the United States to turn over bombing suspect Hani al-Sayegh to Saudi Arabia for trial, and the revelation this week by State

Michael Eisenstadt

Assessing Iranian Reportage on U.S.-Iran Contacts

For the last two weeks, the major Iranian newspapers have been full of reports about official contacts between the U.S. and Iranian governments. These reported contacts include a U.S. request that Tehran hand over individuals now in Iran whom the U.S. government believes are responsible for the deaths of nineteen

Patrick Clawson

Articles & Testimony

Living with a Nuclear Iran?

The nuclear status quo that has prevailed in the Middle East since the 1960s is eroding. Israel remains the sole (undeclared) nuclear-weapons state. But Iraq, having defied the United Nations for nearly a decade, retains its nuclear know-how, and has broken out of its IAEA and UNSCOM cage. And there

Michael Eisenstadt

Turkish-Iranian Tension:

A New Regional Flashpoint?

Buoyed by its recent antiterrorism successes in facing down Syria and capturing Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Turkey now turns its sights on Iran. A series of Turkish-Iranian security meetings tomorrow through Friday will focus on Tehran's allegedly growing support to anti-Turkish organizations. In trying to

Alan Makovsky

In-Depth Reports

Jewish 'Spies' on Trial:

A Window on Human Rights and Minority Treatment in Iran

Examines the Islamic Republic's history of dealing with religious minorities in order to shed light on the June 1999 indictments of thirteen Iranian Jews on charges of spying for Israel and the United States. The paper also reviews the international response to the indictments and the Iranian leadership's past reactions

Student Demonstrations in Iran:

Iran's complexities often lead it to surprise observers. The most recent surprise came not from the hardliners of the regime, but from the most active part of Iran's nascent civil society-students. Who Are These Students? Because of a quota system designed to purge the student body after the Islamic revolution

Patrick Clawson

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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.

Patrick Clawson

Patrick Clawson

Patrick Clawson is the Morningstar Senior Fellow and Research Counselor at The Washington Institute.

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