Iran

Policy Analysis on Iran

Bennett Meets Biden: Resetting the Tone and Discussing Differences

The two leaders have been looking forward to an upbeat summit, but the test will be if they can establish trust and work through their differences on thorny regional issues.

Aug 25, 2021

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David Makovsky

Articles & Testimony

Biden Will Discover Bennett Is No Bibi

Given Bennett’s emphasis on bipartisanship and Biden’s desire for good news, Washington has ample room to avoid the public tensions seen during Netanyahu's tenure.

Aug 25, 2021

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David Makovsky

In-Depth Reports

A Strategy to Contain Hezbollah:

Ideas and Recommendations

Since securing a parliamentary majority, the group has consistently prioritized its own interests over those of the Lebanese people through practices such as illicit drug production, sex trafficking, and the buildup of its military arsenal.

Aug 24, 2021

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Hanin Ghaddar

Photo showing Taliban fighters outside Kabul Airport, August 2021.

Articles & Testimony

The Taliban Is Back, and the World’s Jihadis Are Coming

Much ink has been spilled about a potential al-Qaeda comeback, but the Taliban’s return could also send insurgents and refugees streaming toward China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan.

Aug 18, 2021

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Roy Gutman

Brief Analysis

Iran Is Poised to Exploit the Uncertainties of the Afghan Collapse

Since the fall of Kabul—and well beforehand—Iranian officials have signaled how they might use a Taliban victory to further their goals in the Middle East, though they remain concerned about the fate of Afghan Shia.

Aug 18, 2021

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Farzin Nadimi

Articles & Testimony

How Iran’s Deadly Tanker Attack Is Linked to the Nuclear Deal

If the United States does not respond to the drone strike off Oman, it could impair rather than facilitate progress on the JCPOA talks.

Aug 11, 2021

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Robert Satloff

Iranian sailors on board a naval vessel in the Strait of Hormuz

Brief Analysis

Iran-Israel Escalation at Sea: The Need for an International Coalition Response

Lethal targeting and other signs of escalation point to the necessity of a robust international maritime security force with a strong UN mandate.

Aug 9, 2021

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Farzin Nadimi

Maps & Graphics

Brief Analysis

Do Aircraft Carriers Deter Iran?

There are more effective, less costly, and more sustainable ways to deter Tehran and shape its behavior than back-to-back deployments of carrier strike groups to the Gulf.

Aug 6, 2021

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Michael Eisenstadt
Henry Mihm

Brief Analysis

Russia and Iran Are Supporting Assad’s Latest Attack on Deraa

The actions of Moscow and Tehran’s local forces say much about each country’s true intentions in the area, and the most immediate result could be more ethnic cleansing.

Aug 5, 2021

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Oula A. Alrifai

Brief Analysis

Iran’s Intelligence Organizations and Transnational Suppression

MOIS and other agencies have been surveilling, abducting, and murdering dissidents for nearly four decades now, brazenly conducting operations in foreign countries under hardline and “pragmatic” Iranian governments alike.

Aug 5, 2021

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Saeid Golkar

Maps & Graphics

Brief Analysis

Muqawama Struggle to Show Cohesion on "Withdrawal" of U.S. Forces

A pan-Shia forum and Lebanese Hezbollah prodded the Tansiqiya to grudgingly paper over cracks in solidarity among resistance groups.

Aug 3, 2021

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Hamdi Malik
Michael Knights

◆ Militia Spotlight

Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, gestures while speaking

Brief Analysis

What If It’s Not a Tactic? Khamenei’s Waning Faith in the JCPOA

The Supreme Leader’s rhetoric in recent months indicates that Iran's experience under the nuclear deal has made him gun-shy about returning to that framework.

Aug 3, 2021

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Omer Carmi

Iranian military drone aircraft on display.

Articles & Testimony

What’s Worse for the Price of Oil—a Belligerent Iran or a Resurgent COVID?

The latest price lurch was rooted in the pandemic’s impact on China’s economy, not the apparent Iranian strike on an Israeli tanker.

Aug 2, 2021

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Simon Henderson

Maps & Graphics

Brief Analysis

Profile: Al-Etejah Satellite Television

A closer look at the "resistance" television channel owned and operated by U.S.-designated terrorist movement Kataib Hezbollah.

Aug 1, 2021

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Hamdi Malik
Crispin Smith

◆ Militia Spotlight: Profiles

Articles & Testimony

Iran’s Gift to President Biden

Although Tehran’s specific JCPOA demand may not be feasible, it opens the door to negotiating a new nuclear deal.

Aug 1, 2021

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Michael Singh

Brief Analysis

Iran and Russia Are Exploiting America’s Absence in Northeast Syria

By redeploying their military and proxy forces, boosting Assad’s political campaigns, and resorting to various local intimidation tactics, the two countries are increasingly working together on establishing full control in Deir al-Zour.

Jul 29, 2021

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Oula A. Alrifai
Ali Alleile

Maps & Graphics

Brief Analysis

The Muqawama Are Focusing Attack Claims on U.S. Bases in Syria

Iraqi militias have said more about attacking such bases in the past six weeks than they did in preceding years.

Jul 28, 2021

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Crispin Smith
Hamdi Malik

◆ Militia Spotlight

Syrian flag over a ruined building destroyed by bombing

Articles & Testimony

The Search for a Syria Strategy: What Biden Can Learn From Trump’s Successes and Failures

Washington needs a special envoy to develop a coherent, intelligence-supported political strategy aimed at isolating Assad, limiting his facilitators, and enabling humanitarian NGOs.

Jul 27, 2021

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Andrew J. Tabler

Articles & Testimony

Hezbollah’s Regional Activities in Support of Iran’s Proxy Networks

Despite being a distinctly Lebanese actor, Hezbollah has been ideologically allied with Tehran from its founding, and this deep connection often dictates how it prioritizes competing goals.

Jul 26, 2021

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Matthew Levitt

Articles & Testimony

To Deter Iran, Give Israel a Big Bomb

In addition to renegotiating key parts of the JCPOA, expanding Israel’s arsenal is the best way to keep Tehran off the nuclear weapons threshold.

Jul 23, 2021

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Dennis Ross

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

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Policy Analysis on Iran

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