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

IranSource

May 2, 2018

Can Russia Serve As An Honest Broker Between Israel And Iran?

By Stephen Blank

Victory in war often brings with it unforeseen challenges and obligations.  Russia is now learning that to sustain its victory in Syria’s civil war it must play a role as an arbiter or honest broker between Iran and Israel lest their rivalry explodes into large-scale combat, engulfs the entire region, and undermines Russia’s newly-acquired position […]

Iran

IranSource

May 1, 2018

Why Netanyahu’s revelations are significant

By Matthew Kroenig

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on April 30 provided a twenty-minute PowerPoint presentation of secret Iranian nuclear documents, acquired by Israeli intelligence. The information revealed will be unlikely to change many minds about the wisdom of the nuclear deal with Iran, but it is significant. It shows that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) […]

Iran
Israel

IranSource

May 1, 2018

Sunnis in Iran: Part III; the Debate Continues

By Scheherazade Faramarzi

As a journalist and researcher, I very much appreciate a spirited debate about controversial issues. So I welcome the article written recently by a PhD graduate student about my issue brief on Iran’s Sunnis. I agree with the student’s concerns about the map, with which I was not totally comfortable. However, on the more important […]

Iran

IranSource

Apr 30, 2018

Netanyahu: Iran Lied About Its Nuclear Weapons

By Rachel Ansley

Less than two weeks before US President Donald J. Trump is due to decide on the future of US participation in the Iran nuclear deal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that his country has found proof Iran lied about the extent of its nuclear program.  In a speech delivered on April 30, Netanyahu said Israel has […]

Iran
Israel

IranSource

Apr 27, 2018

The JCPOA Crisis and Israeli-Iranian Relations

By Ehud Eiran

Much of the discourse on the future of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear agreement between the P5+1 powers and Iran, has centered broadly on two issue sets. The first comprises the issues between Iran and the six powers; the second, perhaps more widely-discussed are dynamics between the United States and the […]

Iran
Israel

IranSource

Apr 27, 2018

British-based Environmentalist is Iran’s Latest Heartbroken ‘Outsider’

By Noah Annan

Appointed by President Hassan Rouhani as the new head of Iran’s Department of Environment (DOE), Isa Kalantari knew that this chronically mismanaged organization desperately needed new blood. Facing myriad environmental challenges including growing water shortages, Kalantari, who previously served as minister of agriculture and whose policies had been harshly criticized, decided to reach out for […]

Iran

IranSource

Apr 27, 2018

Mike Pompeo is the New Secretary of State. Now What?

By Rachel Ansley

The US Senate on April 26 confirmed former Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Mike Pompeo as the new US Secretary of State.  US President Donald J. Trump picked Pompeo, a known foreign policy hawk on issues from Russia to Iran to North Korea, to replace Rex Tillerson at the State Department on March 13. […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Apr 26, 2018

Macron Tried to Convince Trump to Stick to the Iran Deal. Will it Work?

By Barbara Slavin

French President Emmanuel Macron could not have been more explicit in his remarks to a joint session of the US Congress: France will not leave the Iran nuclear deal without something “more substantial” in its place. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the United States. Macron acknowledged the US administration’s reluctance to commit to […]

Iran

IranSource

Apr 26, 2018

A Way Forward for the Iran Deal

By Mehran Haghirian

As the May 12 deadline approaches for President Donald Trump to renew sanctions waivers in compliance with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), multiple European leaders, as well as the Chinese and Russians, are working to keep the agreement in place. President Emanuel Macron’s three-day State visit to Washington on April 23 was for the same […]

Iran

IranSource

Apr 26, 2018

Emmanuel Macron’s Balancing Act

By Rachel Brandenburg

French President Macron is performing a delicate balancing act addressing US President Trump’s dissatisfaction with the Iran nuclear deal while seeking to keep the multilateral agreement intact. Trump has been crystal clear since his presidential campaign that he views the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – the Iran nuclear agreement – as a “bad deal.” […]

France
Iran
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