Covering topics ranging from security and politics to business and society, IranSource draws on written analysis and multimedia content to inform a broader public conversation about Iran from an array of angles and perspectives.

It aims to identify the challenges, opportunities, and policy conundrums facing the US-Iran relationship and present a range of options to address them.

Editor: Holly Dagres

The views expressed in IranSource are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Atlantic Council, its staff, or its supporters.

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Iran Leans on UN Security Council Legitimacy to Blunt US Pressure

IranSource
Nov 20, 2024

2025 will be a decisive year for Iran’s nuclear program

Diplomatic deadlines and regional factors will force Iran to decide soon whether to strike a deal or seek a nuclear weapon. Either choice will have major ripple effects.

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Iran Leans on UN Security Council Legitimacy to Blunt US Pressure

IranSource
Nov 20, 2024

How to wrestle with an ayatollah 

By
Khosro Sayeh Isfahani

If one looks closely, the ancient Persian sport of wrestling might have answers to understanding how to contain Iran

Civil Society
Freedom and Prosperity

Iran Leans on UN Security Council Legitimacy to Blunt US Pressure

IranSource
Nov 1, 2024

How the death of Abdul Malik al-Houthi could impact the Houthis and Iran

By
Emily Milliken and Caitlin Miller Hollingsworth

While Abdul Malik al-Houthi is still alive today, his death in the near term would impact the Houthi’s ability to operate and widen a leadership vacuum within Iran’s Resistance Axis.

Conflict
Iran

Content

IranSource

Dec 11, 2018

Iran Leans on UN Security Council Legitimacy to Blunt US Pressure

By Noah Annan

Former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad used to denigrate United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions as “worthless paper.” That is not the case anymore. In the aftermath of the US unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal codified by UNSC resolution 2231, Iranian diplomats are embracing this element of international legality to accuse the Trump administration of wrongdoing.

International Organizations Iran

IranSource

Dec 10, 2018

New Tehran Mayor Takes Office After Controversy

By Tahereh Hadian-Jazy

Pirouz Hanachi was narrowly elected mayor of Tehran last month by the capital’s city council, besting former roads and urban development minister Amir-Abbas Akhoundi by one vote—eleven to ten. Hanachi replaces Mohammad Ali Afshani as the third mayor of the capital in the council’s current term. However, the Interior Ministry delayed accepting his election and officially ratifying […]

Iran

IranSource

Dec 3, 2018

Iran’s Ballistic Missile Inventory

By Clara Belk

The Trump administration had major qualms with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) prompting the US withdrawal in May. These included the sunset provisions, which provide expiration dates for certain restrictions, and its narrow targeting of Iran’s nuclear program without addressing the continued enhancement of its ballistic missile arsenal, which enables the regime’s “malign […]

Iran

IranSource

Nov 30, 2018

After Iraq, Iran Chemical Weapons Allegation Met With Skepticism

By Borzou Daragahi

If there were any doubts that the United States under President Donald Trump was trying to pick a fight with Iran over anything—that Washington had no real agenda with its belligerent anti-Iran rhetoric and moves other than just flicking mud at the country and its rulers in hopes that something would stick—they were dispelled on […]

Iran

IranSource

Nov 29, 2018

Impeaching the Foreign Minister Won’t Solve Iran’s Woes

By Holly Dagres

Iran’s US-educated Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has always had enemies within the Iranian establishment. When Iranian-Canadian journalist Maziar Bahari was imprisoned during the 2009 post-election protests known as the Green Movement, his interrogators demanded not only that he admit to being a CIA agent but that Zarif—who had been sidelined by then hardline President […]

Iran

IranSource

Nov 26, 2018

Time is running short for Europe to save the Iran nuclear agreement

By Bijan Ahmadi and Younes Zangiabadi

“You cannot swim without getting wet,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told the annual International Mediterranean Dialogues Conference last week, signaling that Iran is losing patience with European leaders and expects the European Union (EU) to back up its political support for the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with concrete actions. Six months […]

European Union International Organizations

IranSource

Nov 20, 2018

How Rouhani Can Use the Industry Sector to Help Iran’s Economy

By Navid Kalhor

With four new ministers in President Hassan Rouhani’s cabinet to help salvage the Iranian economy, it’s too soon to see the genuine impact just yet. But what is evident is that the new economic measures, if any, should focus on improving the ease of doing business in the wake of reimposed US sanctions. Having that […]

Economy & Business Iran

IranSource

Nov 19, 2018

New Wave of Sanctions Spurs Iranian Political Repositioning

By Giorgia Perletta

While ordinary Iranians struggle to find imported medicine and buy basic foods due to re-imposed sanctions, the political debate inside the Islamic Republic is anything but static. As announced, the new wave of US secondary sanctions came into force on November 5. This came after unsuccessful efforts by Europe to dissuade President Donald Trump from […]

Iran

IranSource

Nov 19, 2018

Why Iran won’t succumb to Trump’s sanctions

By Amir Handjani

The Trump administration has put into place a punishing new wave of sanctions against Iran that targets critical components of the Iranian economy from banks to energy, shipping and insurance. From the start of his administration, President Donald Trump has insisted that he can coerce Iran into reaching a “better deal” than the 2015 Joint […]

Iran

IranSource

Nov 15, 2018

How Iran Will Cope With US Sanctions

By Aafreen Afzal

The Trump Administration’s second wave of sanctions against Iran went into effect earlier this month, directed against Iran’s vital oil and petrochemical sector, its Central Bank, and other financial institutions. However, Washington’s diplomatic isolation as a result of its unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and its desire to mitigate oil […]

Iran
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