Through our Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East and Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, the Atlantic Council works with allies and partners in Europe and the wider Middle East to protect US interests, build peace and security, and unlock the human potential of the region.

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Meet our blogs

MENASource

MENASource follows movements across the region and provides news and analysis on current events, including a platform for Middle Eastern perspectives, among others, on major issues—economic, political, security, cultural—that are at stake in the post-Arab Spring era.  

IranSource

IranSource provides a holistic look at Iran’s internal dynamics, global and regional policies, and posture through unique analysis of current events and long-term, strategic issues related to Iran.

All commentary & analysis

Event Recap

Jun 27, 2018

Iran’s Environmental Impasse

By Masoud Mostajabi

Iran’s environmental challenges are reaching a crisis point. Severe water and air pollution, deforestation, land degradation, desertification, climate change, and biodiversity loss are only a few of the increasing number of major environmental issues faced by Iran. These calamities have become a source of social and economic hardship, a threat to public health and a […]

Climate Change & Climate Action
Energy & Environment

IranSource

Jun 26, 2018

Iran’s National Soccer Team Unites an Otherwise Divided Nation

By David Shams

The one thing, besides Nowruz, that unites Iranians across the globe is Team Melli, the national soccer team. If social media is any indication, Team Melli is an obsession for Iranians everywhere. Iran qualified for this summer’s World Cup on June 17, 2017, the first time the country has punched its ticket for two consecutive […]

Iran

IranSource

Jun 25, 2018

EU-OFAC: A New Mechanism to Help Salvage the Iran Deal

By Axel Hellman

The US decision to withdraw unilaterally from the Iran nuclear deal and pursue a “maximum pressure” campaign against Tehran is pushing Europe to find creative new ways to preserve economic relations with Iran and thus salvage the agreement. One idea, floated by the French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire, is the establishment of a European version […]

European Union
International Organizations

IranSource

Jun 20, 2018

Iran Postpones Key Bank Reforms Over Fate of the Iran Deal

By Farhad Rezaei

A priority for those in Iran seeking re-integration into the international economy has been banking reforms that conform to globally accepted standards. But hardline factions oppose the reforms as surrender to US-led financial institutions and their views have been reinforced by the US decision to unilaterally leave the Iran nuclear deal. On June 10, the […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Jun 18, 2018

Yemen’s Never-Ending War

By Borzou Daragahi

The assault by the United Arab Emirates’ forces and their local allies in a Saudi-led coalition on the Yemeni port city of Hudaydah that began last week and remains underway rightly raised concerns once again about the potential humanitarian consequences of Yemen’s ongoing war. Hudaydah is one of the impoverished country’s most important ports, the […]

Saudi Arabia
The Gulf

IranSource

Jun 18, 2018

How Recent Protests Could Revive Ahmadinejad’s Fortunes in Iran

By Giorgia Perletta

Until recently, few observers inside or outside Iran gave much weight to the notion of a comeback for discredited former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The disqualification of Ahmadinejad and his former top aide, Esfandiyar Rahim Mashaei, for the presidency in 2017, followed by the arrests of Mashaei and former vice president Hamid Baghaei on charges of […]

Iran
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin at Netanyahu's residence in Jerusalem on June 25, 2012.

IranSource

Jun 15, 2018

The Art of the (Russian-Israeli) Deal

By Ehud Eiran

On June 1, Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya told the press that he “believes” that his country and Israel reached an agreement regarding “certain disengagement in the southwest of Syria.” Other sources reported that the agreement will include the withdrawal of Iranian and Iranian-backed forces from the Syrian-Israeli border in return for implicit […]

Iran
Israel

New Atlanticist

Jun 14, 2018

Political Football: The World Cup’s Middle East Challengers

By Owen Daniels

The author and political thinker George Orwell was many things, but a soccer fan he was not. In an essay titled “The Sporting Spirit,” written in 1945 during then-Soviet soccer club Dynamo Moscow’s Cold War British tour, Orwell called soccer “a game in which everyone gets hurt and every nation has its own style of […]

Russia

IranSource

Jun 14, 2018

Trump’s Iran Policy: From the Art of the Deal to the Mirage of Regime Change

By Manochehr Dorraj and Mahmood Monshipouri

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used his first speech in his new position on May 21, 2018, to send a message to the Iranian leadership and people. Pompeo laid out twelve demands including ending Iran’s ballistic missiles development, halting support for Lebanese Hezbollah and Palestinian groups including Hamas, allowing nuclear inspectors “unqualified access to […]

European Union
International Organizations

IranSource

Jun 13, 2018

Cracks in Iran-Russia Alliance in Syria Widen as War Winds Down

By Farhad Rezaei

As the Syrian government increasingly consolidates control over its territory after seven years of civil strife, cracks are widening between its key external supporters, Iran and Russia. The issue of Syria’s future has generated a heated debate among political elites in Tehran and in Farsi media over Iran’s continued military presence and how it can […]

Iran
Russia
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