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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Three Scenarios for the Iran Agreement

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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Three Scenarios for the Iran Agreement

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

Three Scenarios for the Iran Agreement

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

Jun 7, 2017

Three Scenarios for the Iran Agreement

By Ellen Laipson

The nuclear agreement between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany was one of the more significant international achievements of the past few years.  It was a victory for diplomacy that prevented conflict and produced a politically acceptable outcome for each signatory related to Iran’s nuclear activities.  It was […]

IranSource

Jun 7, 2017

Building on the Iran Deal to Enhance Nuclear Security

By Kelsey Davenport

While implementation of the July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is critical for restoring international confidence in the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program, Tehran can do far more to provide additional assurances that its activities meet international nuclear security standards.

IranSource

Jun 7, 2017

Expanding the Application of JCPOA Verification Measures

By Laura Holgate

In agreeing to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran accepted extensive and intrusive verification measures that go beyond those made by other countries in either Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or in the Additional Protocol (AP) of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

IranSource

Jun 7, 2017

Bringing Iran Back into the Global Economy Will Bolster the JCPOA

By Matthew F. Calabria, Shavonnia Corbin-Johnson, Kimberly Zangardi Heyne and Winwit Li

Since the 1979 hostage crisis and the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran, US-Iran relations have been largely hostile and stagnant. The exception is the period during the negotiations that led to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Sanctions played a role in convincing Iran to accept stringent curbs on its nuclear […]

IranSource

Jun 7, 2017

The Saudi ‘Alliance’ Against Iran Faces New Challenges

By Shahir Shahidsaless

An alliance of Persian Gulf Arab states, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, announced on June 5 that it severed ties and closed borders with Qatar, a fellow member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Qatar has a population of 2.6 million and is the world’s richest country per capita — $138,480, […]

IranSource

Jun 5, 2017

Rouhani’s Electoral Victory and Political Challenges

By Farhad Rezaei

By any measure, President Hassan Rouhani reelection with 57 percent of the vote compared to the 37 percent for his opponent, Ebrahim Raisi, was a major triumph. More to the point, the ballot represented a clear choice between two visions of Iran. Rouhani and his moderate followers want Iran to normalize relations with the United […]

IranSource

Jun 1, 2017

Afghanistan’s Long Ignored Second Front in Balochistan

By Adam Weinstein

Washington has doubled down on fighting the Islamic State (ISIS) offshoot in Afghanistan’s Nangarhar Province. Experts have warned that the Islamic State threat remains secondary to a Taliban resurgence. Washington is repeating the mistake of obsessively routing al-Qaeda while ignoring the overall conditions that allowed al-Qaeda to thrive, this time with ISIS.

IranSource

May 31, 2017

Rouhani Faces New Foreign Policy Challenges in Second Term

By Sina Azodi

Hassan Rouhani, Iran’s newly reelected president, is known for a pragmatic approach on foreign policy. However, his second term will be more challenging as a new alliance against the Islamic Republic is being shaped in the region.

IranSource

May 23, 2017

Iranians Vote for Competence over Ideology

By Barbara Slavin

Iranians celebrated in the streets of their cities this weekend in the aftermath of presidential elections out of relief that the most capable candidate on offer won.

IranSource

May 16, 2017

Rouhani Plays Reformist to Defeat Hardliner Raisi

By Shahir Shahidsaless

In a fight for his political life in May 19 elections, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is donning a reformist mantle in an effort to attract the votes of disillusioned youth and to defeat conservatives who have coalesced around a single candidate.

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