Iran

Policy Analysis on Iran

How Iran Outmaneuvered the U.S. in Nuclear Talks

If Washington and its negotiating partners do not adjust their approach, the talks could be remembered not as a signature foreign policy accomplishment, but as a case study of a powerful country playing a strong hand poorly.

Apr 6, 2015

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Michael Singh

Video

Iran Nuclear Agreement: Not Necessarily a Game Changer

In this video,Institute Managing Director and Lane-Swig Senior Fellow Michael Singh notes that the nuclear framework agreement announced on April 2 between Iran and the P5+1 presents impediments to Iran's ability to create a weapon, but does not completely eliminate its nuclear program. President Obama must now reassure U.S. allies

Apr 3, 2015

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Michael Singh

Brief Analysis

Israel Believes Washington Did Not Maximize Its Leverage with Iran

Israel's concerns about the framework nuclear deal center on how the United States will prevent Iran from getting away with violations, increasing its destabilizing actions in the Middle East, and triggering a regional arms race, all while Tehran gets to retain much of its industrial-size nuclear infrastructure.

Apr 3, 2015

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David Makovsky

Brief Analysis

U.S. Policy Toward the Dual Threats to the Arab State

With ISIS and Iran both threatening to upset the state system in the Middle East, Washington needs to adjust its approach accordingly.

Apr 3, 2015

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Robert Satloff

Brief Analysis

Khamenei's Silence: Iranian Reactions to the Nuclear Framework

Initial public statements by Iranian officials emphasize that the United States and its partners have accepted an outcome in which Tehran need not change course.

Apr 3, 2015

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Mehdi Khalaji
Patrick Clawson

Articles & Testimony

Gulf Fears of Iranian Subversion

The Yemen intervention and other recent actions show how concerned the Gulf states are about the Iranian threat, though an even greater challenge may emerge from their severe tactics against domestic dissent.

Apr 2, 2015

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Lori Plotkin Boghardt

Articles & Testimony

What's Still Missing from the Iran Nuclear Framework

Although the newly released terms cover more ground than skeptics had feared, significant questions linger on almost every major issue, particularly with regard to enforcement.

Apr 2, 2015

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Michael Singh

Articles & Testimony

We've Reached a 'Nuclear Framework' with Iran. So Now What?

No negotiations with the Iranians are easy. The difficulty in producing the framework understanding is a reminder that filling in the details will also prove to be an ordeal. While the framework includes important limitations on the Iranian program, the Iranians will resist the scope of the verification that the

Apr 2, 2015

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Dennis Ross

Articles & Testimony

Iran Negotiation Isn't Over Until It's Over

If we want to keep the Iranians from cheating, the issue of responses and consequences needs to be clear.

Apr 2, 2015

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Dennis Ross

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

Brief Analysis

Iran's Internal Messaging on the Nuclear Talks

By issuing blanket calls for the lifting of all sanctions, Tehran may undermine efforts to forge, implement, and enforce a viable nuclear deal.

Apr 1, 2015

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Mehdi Khalaji

Articles & Testimony

Deal or No, Iran Will Remain a Nuclear Threat

Rather than questioning the motivations of skeptics, the Obama administration should demonstrate that it has compelling answers to their concerns about a nuclear deal's potential vulnerabilities, including on breakout time, verification, and response to violations.

Mar 31, 2015

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Dennis Ross

Video

To Understand Iranian Centrifuges, Look to a Top

A key element, if not the key element, in the nuclear negotiations with Iran, appears to be the number and type of centrifuges which Iran will be able to retain. Curiously, part of the discussion can be illustrated using a children's top. High-speed centrifuges are used to enrich uranium. "Enriching"

Mar 28, 2015

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Simon Henderson

Brief Analysis

Iran's Nuclear Breakout Time: A Fact Sheet

With reports that Washington and its partners may reach a nuclear accord with Iran in the coming days, a former senior IAEA safeguards official answers the most pressing questions about Tehran's program and how the agreement might affect its capabilities.

Mar 28, 2015

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Olli Heinonen

Brief Analysis

Dual Crises May Intensify Obama-Netanyahu Tensions

To avoid a full-blown diplomatic collision, Obama will have to urgently address concerns about the Iranian nuclear deal, while Netanyahu will need to publicly declare a two-state-minded policy on Israeli settlements.

Mar 23, 2015

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David Makovsky

Articles & Testimony

Assad Plays America the Fool...Again

Although the regime does not publicly boast about its crimes, it is just as vicious as ISIS.

Mar 23, 2015

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Aaron Y. Zelin
Oula A. Alrifai

Articles & Testimony

Rouhani Feels The Pressure, Too

Failure to reach a nuclear agreement would have grim consequences for Iran's president and the wider reformist movement, but even a successful deal would leave him open to further conservative challenges on the resultant concessions.

Mar 20, 2015

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Mehdi Khalaji

United Nations headquarters building in New York - source: Reuters

Brief Analysis

How a UN Resolution Can Generate Confidence in an Iran Nuclear Deal

A tough UNSC resolution could help boost the long-term viability and strength of a nuclear agreement, but only if said resolution avoids some of the errors seemingly present in the current negotiations with Iran.

Mar 17, 2015

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James Jeffrey

In-Depth Reports

Nuclear Iran: A Glossary

Understand the details of debates over Iran's nuclear program and the international response with this interactive glossary that translates technical jargon into language comprehensible even to the layperson.

Mar 16, 2015

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Simon Henderson
Olli Heinonen

Articles & Testimony

Iraq's Bekaa Valley

The PMUs active in the area embody a classic security dilemma: the armed force best able to protect a country from external enemies that also poses the greatest potential risk to the civilian leadership.

Mar 16, 2015

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Michael Knights

Brief Analysis

How Russia Views the Iran Nuclear Talks

As negotiations intensify this month, Moscow will continue pursuing its own agenda.

Mar 12, 2015

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Anna Borshchevskaya

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

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Policy Analysis on Iran

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