Iranian prisoners left behind amid COVID chaos

New Atlanticist Jul 1, 2025

The US must enforce sanctions to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear program

By Kimberly Donovan

To ensure that Tehran cannot get its hands on the financial resources it would need to rebuild its nuclear program, Iran sanctions enforcement should start with China.
Economic Sanctions Iran
Iranian prisoners left behind amid COVID chaos

New Atlanticist Jun 26, 2025

What really happened to Fordow? Three possible futures for Iran’s nuclear program after US strikes.

By Amir Asmar

The condition of Fordow will have a direct impact on the likelihood of Iran giving up its nuclear program versus resuming its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Iran Middle East
Iranian prisoners left behind amid COVID chaos

Fast Thinking Jun 24, 2025

The big lessons from 12 days of war with Iran

By Atlantic Council

A tentative cease-fire is underway in the war between Iran and Israel. But where did the conflict leave Iran, Israel, and the United States?
Conflict Iran

In-depth research & reports

Report

Oct 8, 2024

A bipartisan Iran strategy for the next US administration—and the next two decades

As tensions spike in the Middle East, how should the next US president approach Iran and its network of proxies including Hezbollah and Hamas? With a strategy that can be maintained for decades, by administrations of either party. A bipartisan, expert working group lays out the details.

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IranSource

Apr 7, 2020

Iranian prisoners left behind amid COVID chaos

By Mehrnaz Samimi

Even before the current crisis, the situation in prisons was becoming difficult to manage due to a poor economy and crippling US sanctions. Prisoners, regardless of their crimes or location of incarceration, are terrified of being forgotten or left without medical care. Overcrowding makes them susceptible to contracting COVID-19 and other diseases.

Coronavirus Iran

IranSource

Apr 6, 2020

Why a new nuclear deal with Iran is needed now

By Pierre Goldschmidt

There is thus no alternative to behind the scenes good faith negotiations with all the parties to hammer out a new agreement. The best guarantee that Iran's nuclear program is and will remain exclusively peaceful would be for Iran to adopt the so-called "nuclear gold standard”—a legally binding obligation to forswear enrichment and reprocessing technology. Iran, however, has repeatedly stated that it will never give up what it considers its right under the NPT to enrich uranium.

Coronavirus Iran

New Atlanticist

Apr 6, 2020

Lift Iran sanctions, but hit back hard if necessary

By Frederic C. Hof

Only by suspending sanctions explicitly and across-the-board can the United States make a critical point directly to the people of Iran: Americans care about your health and well-being, even as your rulers suffocate you with breathtaking incompetence, bottomless corruption, and an appetite for violent aggression that wastes vital resources for the benefit of the lowest political lifeforms in the Arab world.

Coronavirus Economic Sanctions

IranSource

Apr 3, 2020

Pressure mounts on Trump to ease sanctions on Iran amid COVID-19 outbreak

By Negar Mortazavi

Members of Congress, world leaders, international organizations, editorial boards, and civil society activists are calling on the Trump administration to lift sanctions on Iran, at least temporarily, while the country fights the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus Iran

In the News

Apr 2, 2020

Slavin quoted in Al Jazeera on coronavirus in Iran

By Atlantic Council

Coronavirus Economic Sanctions

IranSource

Apr 2, 2020

Separating fact from fiction and fate: Assessing Iran’s response to COVID-19

By Borzou Daragahi

Iran has one of the best medical and public health infrastructures in the Middle East, exporting its cadre of physicians abroad for decades. But the crisis has revealed a nation where politics and appearances trump public safety.

Coronavirus Iran

New Atlanticist

Apr 1, 2020

Reconciling sanctions and humanitarian need during COVID-19

By Brian O’Toole

As the world economy shuts down to try to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, the humanitarian collateral effects of sanctions become more pronounced and potentially deadly. But the argument that the United States should unilaterally roll back sanctions draws a false dichotomy; sanctions do not have to be suspended or rolled back for the United States to better address humanitarian concerns.

Cuba Economic Sanctions

IranSource

Apr 1, 2020

Iranian New Year in the time of coronavirus

By Tahereh Hadian-Jazy

The high number of deaths in Iran compared to the number of those infected reflects poorly on the level of treatment.

Coronavirus Iran

New Atlanticist

Mar 31, 2020

Gulf partners could give Iran and the US a way out of their collision course

By Kirsten Fontenrose

With interests on both sides of the conflict and much to lose if it worsens, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is the one organization that could be a hero here, kickstarting a chain reaction that arrives at de-escalation without any party losing face.

Conflict Iran

Elections 2020

Mar 26, 2020

US strategy in Iraq and the coronavirus plot twist

By Kirsten Fontenrose

Tehran is betting that the world is too consumed with managing a pandemic to hold them accountable—and that the US administration is unwilling to stay the course in Iraq because it is too gun shy in an election year and too financially strapped by the coming burden of US unemployment. The implications of a global pandemic make that a risky bet.

Conflict Coronavirus
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Experts

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Alan Pino

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Intelligence Iran

Expert bio

Nicholas Hopton

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia Iran

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Britt Gronemeyer

Assistant Director, Strategic Litigation Project

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Human Rights International Organizations

Fellow

Khosro Sayeh Isfahani

Former Researcher

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arms Control Civil Society

Fellow

Carmiel Arbit

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Civil Society Extremism

Fellow

Hagar Hajjar Chemali

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Economic Statecraft Initiative GeoEconomics Center

Economic Sanctions Economy & Business
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