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

New Atlanticist

May 21, 2018

The Regional Consequences of Trump’s Decision to Ditch the Iran Nuclear Deal

By Rachel Ansley

Though Iran has thus far remained in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal could be the first domino to fall, setting off a chain of escalatory events throughout the region. “This change is US policy is happening at a time when the region […]

Iran

IranSource

May 21, 2018

Can the European Union’s Sanctions Blocking Regulation Save the Iran Nuclear Deal?

By Brian O’Toole

The European Union (EU) on May 18 announced that it was beginning the process to activate its proposed blocking regulation, initially proposed in 1996 to try to counteract what the EU saw as the extraterritorial reach under the United States’ Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) and Cuba sanctions program. Those disagreements were settled politically with the […]

Iran

IranSource

May 21, 2018

Pompeo’s ‘Plan B’ on Iran: Accurate Diagnosis, Inadequate Cure

By Barbara Slavin

In an audacious speech before the Heritage Foundation on May 21, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo outlined a litany of complaints about the nuclear deal with Iran that accurately reflected some of its gaps, but offered no realistic remedies. Pompeo’s prescription to achieve his “Plan B”—“unprecedented financial pressure on the Iranian regime”—is unlikely to […]

Iran

IranSource

May 21, 2018

Dropping the Hammer

By Brian O’Toole

The Trump administration, acting through Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), has wasted no time in setting a harried pace of Iran-related designations to up the pressure after the president announced the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on May 8. In the seven business days following that fateful […]

Iran

IranSource

May 21, 2018

The Regional Consequences of Trump’s Decision to Ditch the Iran Nuclear Deal

By Rachel Ansley

Though Iran has thus far remained in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the US decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal could be the first domino to fall, setting off a chain of escalatory events throughout the region.  “This change is US policy is happening at a time when the region […]

Iran
Iraq

IranSource

May 18, 2018

The Iran Nuclear Deal’s Accidental Achievement

By Suzanne Kianpour

US President Donald J. Trump delivered on his campaign promise and finally withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal; a giant question mark looms. When the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was agreed in July 2015, the priority for the P5+1 was to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. The United […]

Iran

IranSource

May 18, 2018

The Iran Deal Without America

By Mehran Haghirian

In the aftermath of the US announcement that it was quitting the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the other signatories are struggling to convince Iran to remain within the agreement. European officials have been particularly outspoken, reflecting anger at a potentially fatal blow to a signature diplomatic achievement that touches their core security concerns. […]

European Union
International Organizations

New Atlanticist

May 17, 2018

Has The United States Jeopardized Its Prospects For ‘The Ultimate Deal’ In The Middle East?

By Rachel Brandenburg

Early in his presidency, Donald J. Trump set out to achieve “the ultimate deal”: Israeli-Palestinian peace. The US president deputized his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with the task, claiming the feat could be achieved within the first year of his administration. A little over a year later that “ultimate deal” is nowhere to be seen. Instead, […]

Israel
Middle East

IranSource

May 17, 2018

Iran’s Salafi Jihadis

By Scheherezade Faramarzi

Last year’s attacks in Tehran by Islamic State recruits reflect Shia Iran’s ambiguous, inconsistent and at times contradictory relationship with Sunni Salafists. While tough on extremist groups threatening its sovereignty or military presence in Syria, the Iranian government has often turned a blind eye to such groups to allow them to fight US forces in […]

Iran

Event Recap

May 15, 2018

Europe Faces Historic Test After US Quits Iran Nuclear Deal

By Future of Iran Initiative

One week after President Donald J. Trump’s announcement that the United States is withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and re-imposing sanctions, dismayed European parliamentarians spoke at the Atlantic Council with a clear voice: European sovereignty is at stake and Europe will take the necessary measures to defend it. “There was, until […]

European Union
France
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