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Policy Analysis on Iran

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Articles & Testimony

The Iranian Clergy's Silence

Repeated incidents demonstrate that Iran's clerical establishment has been unwilling to defend reform-minded clerics against the regime's attacks. Mehdi Khalaji posits that the Shiite clergy's silence does not stem from indifference but, instead, points to a fundamental tension between Iran's clerical establishment and its theocratic government whose roots date back

U.S. Policy on Hizballah:

The Question of Engagement

Four years ago this week, Israel launched a military campaign in Lebanon in retaliation for a brazen Hizballah attack on its soldiers. The goal, according to an Israeli official, was "to put Hizballah out of business." But neither war nor subsequent U.S. diplomatic efforts aimed at weakening the group have

Inside Iran's Revolutionary Guard: A Defector Speaks

On July 9, 2010, Reza Kahlili addressed a special Policy Forum luncheon at The Washington Institute. Mr. Kahlili is the author of A Time To Betray: The Astonishing Double Life of a CIA Agent inside the Revolutionary Guards of Iran, a memoir that describes his career as a spy for

David B. Crist

The Obama-Netanyahu Meeting:

Assessment and Implications

With smiles, compliments, and a strong dose of hospitality, President Obama did his best to provide a dramatically improved backdrop for U.S.-Israeli relations during Binyamin Netanyahu's July 6 visit to the White House, compared to the climate that greeted the Israeli prime minister upon his strained April visit. This included

Robert Satloff

Netanyahu Comes to Washington:

Assessing U.S.-Israel Relations

On July 1, 2010, Stephen Hadley and

Stephen Hadley
Michael Herzog

Articles & Testimony

I Don't Want to Hold Your Hand

What will be the image that frames the news reporting of June 29's White House meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia? Surely not another bow toward the desert monarch, as caught on video at the London G-20 meeting in April 2009. Or what hypercritics

Giving Teeth to the Iran Sanctions:

Targeting Re-Export Loopholes

Testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week, Undersecretary of State William Burns and Undersecretary of the Treasury Stuart Levey laid out the administration's game plan for leveraging the sanctions mandate created by UN Security Council Resolution 1929, adopted earlier this month. Central to this strategy is "vigorous" implementation

Matthew Levitt

Three Critical Weeks in the Middle East:

Insights into U.S. Policy

The following summary is part one of Robert Satloff's presentation to a June 18, 2010, Washington Institute Policy Forum on the impact of the Gaza flotilla incident. Part two, issued as PolicyWatch #1671, addresses the reverberations of the Gaza episode on Arab actors. For full audio of the event, which

Robert Satloff

Articles & Testimony

Why the Iran Sanctions Matter

Wednesday's U.N. Security Council resolution sanctioning Iran marks a critical turning point in the U.S.-led efforts to target Iran's illicit activities. The resolution focuses on Iran's nuclear-weapons and ballistic-missile programs; the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is responsible for these programs as well as the regime's support for terrorism

Articles & Testimony

Remember When Iran Won?

This is an eventful week for Iran. On June 9, the country was hit with a fourth sanctions resolution by the U.N. Security Council. June 12 will mark the first anniversary of a disputed presidential election that plunged Iran into turmoil and galvanized the opposition "Green Movement." But the event

One Year after a Rigged Election:

Iran's Introverted Politics

Although the United Nations Security Council has now voted for new sanctions against Tehran, the Iranian regime and opposition -- preoccupied this week with the anniversary of last year's fraudulent presidential election -- seem more concerned about domestic political struggles. To outsiders, it is an often-confusing contest, with Supreme Leader

Mehdi Khalaji

Articles & Testimony

Does Turkey's Iran Policy Serve Turkey?

The central problem with the recent nuclear deal brokered by Turkey and Brazil with Iran is that it does not quite tackle Iran's ability to weaponize its uranium stockpile. According to the arrangement, Iran is to deposit 1,200 kilos of enriched uranium in Turkey. Yet, according to the International Atomic

In-Depth Reports

Proceedings of the 2010 Soref Symposium and 25th Anniversary Celebration

FEATURING Gen. James L. Jones, Thomas Friedman, William Kristol, Martin Kramer, and David Makovsky THE PROCEEDINGS In 1985, a small group of visionary Americans committed to advancing U.S. interests in the Middle East established the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Twenty-five years later, a special Soref Symposium celebrated the

Analyzing the New UN Sanctions Proposal on Iran

The May 18 draft resolution proposing additional sanctions to curb Iran's nuclear program is backed by all five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Although this unanimity is the proposal's principal strength, it comes at the cost of making the draft weaker in some sections than ideas discussed previously

Patrick Clawson
Michael Singh
Jeffrey White

Lessons from the Iran Nuclear Developments

In the fluid situation surrounding Iran's nuclear program, perhaps the safest bet is to expect more surprises. Despite the promising draft circulated on May 19, it is not clear how meaningful a sanctions resolution adopted by the UN Security Council will be, even if it is adopted soon. Nor is

Patrick Clawson

Iran Gets Negative Reviews in Iraq, Even from Shiites

Two months after nationwide elections, Iraq's government formation process is still on hold. The final voting results have yet to be announced as disputes over recounts and candidate disqualifications linger. Nor is it clear how a governing majority will be formed, and power shared, among the four major party alliances

David Pollock
Ahmed Ali

Articles & Testimony

Challenging Tehran on Human Rights

The rise of the Green Movement following the fraudulent June 12 presidential election, and all that has transpired since, has demonstrated clearly to the Iranian people that the foundational elements of the Islamic Revolution -- the system of velayat-i-faqih (rule of the jurisprudent) and its main implementer, the Supreme Leader

Getting the Message Across:

Better Broadcasting to Iran

Persian-language radio and television broadcasts are among the main tools of U.S. public diplomacy toward Iran. Yet both of Washington's primary outlets for such broadcasting -- Radio Farda (RF) and the Persian News Network (PNN), an arm of Voice of America (VOA) television -- have been harshly criticized since their

Mehdi Khalaji

In-Depth Reports

The Obama Administration and the Middle East: Setting Priorities, Taking Action

Thomas Friedman, William Kristol, Martin Kramer, and David Makovsky joined in a keynote discussion at The Washington Institute's 2010 Soref Symposium on April 22, 2010. The event honored the Institute's 25th anniversary. Thomas Friedman is chief foreign affairs columnist for the New York Times. He has won three Pulitzer Prizes

Martin Kramer
David Makovsky

Disrupting Iran's Illicit Activities

A top Justice Department official shares a briefing on his agency's efforts to counter Iran's global illicit activity.

◆ Counterterrorism Lecture Series

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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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