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Washington and the UAE Discuss Iran

Sheikh Muhammad's visit is an opportunity for the White House to clarify its views on Iran, which the Gulf Arab countries do not see as being subject to the standards of universal political freedoms otherwise espoused by Washington.

Simon Henderson

Iran's Continuing Power Struggles

The power struggle between Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad continues. Signs of deep fissures in the conservative camp are emerging just as the Islamic Republic prepares for parliamentary elections next year, the first countrywide polls since the disputed June 2009 presidential election. These divisions, rather than

Mehdi Khalaji

No Good Options for Iranian Dissidents in Iraq

In an April 8 confrontation at Camp Ashraf, Iraq -- home to some 3,400 members of the Iranian dissident organization Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) -- Iraqi army forces killed at least thirty-four people, according to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay. The clash highlighted an ongoing problem: what to

Patrick Clawson

Articles & Testimony

Influence Curtailed: Democracy in the Arab World Stands to Strip Iran of Its Power

If the recent political movements in the Arab world lead to more free and liberal societies, this will promise the decline of Iranian influence in the region. For the current Iranian regime, democracy is no longer threatening only at home, but also abroad.

Mehdi Khalaji

Iran's Shadow over Reform in Bahrain

On April 11, President Obama dispatched his national security advisor, Tom Donilon, on a three-day trip to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). During the trip, the United States will likely discuss the crises in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Syria, as well as the situation in Bahrain, where

Simon Henderson

In-Depth Reports

The New Silk Road:

China's Energy Strategy in the Greater Middle East

China has arrived in the Greater Middle East and appears determined to stay awhile. Over the past decade, deeming energy security too important to be left to market forces alone, Beijing has prioritized the issue as a matter of national security. From new pipeline and infrastructure projects to increased naval

Christina Lin

Implementing Obama's Message Supporting Iranian Human Rights

On March 20, during his annual speech marking the Iranian New Year, President Obama crystallized recent shifts in U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic. Tellingly, this year's message was addressed to "the people of Iran" rather than to the government, in sharp contrast to Obama's 2009 declaration "I would like

Patrick Clawson
Mehdi Khalaji

Iran's Political Super Bowl: Ahmadinezhad vs. Rafsanjani

On February 24, 2011, the two leaders of the Iranian opposition Green Movement, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi, were arrested and taken initially to Heshmatiyeh prison in Tehran. Meanwhile, within the ruling circle of the Islamic Republic, hardliners are trying to further consolidate their position. At least as important

Mehdi Khalaji

New Evidence of Iran's Nuclear Ambitions

On March 1, the Pentagon announced it was sending the USS Monterey -- a vessel equipped with the sophisticated Aegis radar system, capable of protecting Europe from a potential Iranian nuclear missile strike -- to the Mediterranean. The guided missile cruiser is the first part of a missile shield announced

Simon Henderson

Politics Threaten Iran's Mediterranean Naval Ambitions

The attempted passage through the Suez Canal of two Iranian warships en route to an unprecedented Mediterranean deployment demonstrates the potential constraints on Iranian efforts to realize its Great Power ambitions.

Michael Eisenstadt

Ideas for U.S. Middle East Policy in the Wake of the Egypt Crisis

On February 9, 2011, Washington Institute executive director Robert Satloff testified before the House Foreign Affairs Committee at a hearing titled "Recent Developments in Egypt and Lebanon: Implications for U.S. Policy and Allies in the Broader Middle East." The following is an excerpt from his prepared remarks. Read the complete

Robert Satloff

Iran in Iraq: The Role of Muqtada al-Sadr

On January 5, radical Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr entered Iraq after a three-year self-imposed exile in Iran, but then returned to Iran fifteen days later. According to Saudi-owned media outlets, he fled because of threats from Asaib Ahl al-Haqq (AAH), a militant offshoot of his own Sadrist movement. Whatever the

Michael Knights

Diplomacy, Sanctions, and Sabotage: Putting Pressure on Iran

On January 21-22, representatives of the United States, Britain, China, France, Germany, Iran, and Russia will meet in Istanbul for talks regarding the Islamic Republic's controversial nuclear program. The meetings -- a continuation of discussions held in Geneva in early December -- represent the diplomatic track toward a negotiated resolution

Simon Henderson

Articles & Testimony

Turkish-Iranian Ties Flourish in New Era

Although the AKP's Iran policy is guided by a core ideological stance, Iran's Turkey policy is at core shaped by national interests.

Soner Cagaptay
Alex Vatanka

Articles & Testimony

Iran's Supreme Power Struggle

Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has never been happy about the status of the Iranian presidency -- neither during his own tenure, from 1981-1989, nor during the terms of his three successors. Tension between the president and the Supreme Leader is built into the Islamic Republic's core. The Supreme

Mehdi Khalaji

Articles & Testimony

The Taiwan Calculus in China's Strategy Towards the North Korea-Iran Axis

Beijing's reaction to the November 2010 North Korean attack on the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong is a case study of how China's continuing support of the North Korea-Iran axis is intimately linked with its fears of a U.S.-Taiwan alignment, among other possible scenarios. This paper explores how that axis

Christina Lin

Articles & Testimony

Peering over Lady Ashton's Shoulder before the Iran Negotiations

Negotiations between Iran and the world's leading powers in Geneva wrapped up yesterday, with a pledge by the parties to resume talks in Istanbul at the end of January. Here's what Foreign Policy contributor Simon Henderson, who released a paper on the talks and traveled to Switzerland to see them

Back to the Table:

New P5+1 Talks with Iran

On December 6, representatives of the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, and Germany will meet with Iranian delegates in Geneva for two days of renewed talks on Tehran's nuclear program. The aspiration of the P5+1 -- the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany -- is to

Simon Henderson

2010 Los Angeles Symposium

On November 30, 2010, The Washington Institute celebrated its 25th anniversary and paid tribute to Founding President Barbi Weinberg with a presentation at the 2010 Los Angeles Symposium, featuring her grandsons, Ari Weinberg and Daniel Zakowski, and dinner chair Jonathan Mitchell. In her first public address on policy in many

Articles & Testimony

The Evolution of Iran's Special Groups in Iraq

For thirty years, Iran has sponsored Iraqi paramilitary proxies, demonstrating the Islamic Republic's ability to commission violence within Iraq. In this new article, Washington Institute Lafer fellow Michael Knights discusses the genesis of Iran's current support for "Special Groups" of militant Shia diehards, emphasizing their destabilizing effect on Iraq and

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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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