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.

Iran Middle East

Programs

Middle East Programs

Working 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.

Content

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

IranSource

Mar 26, 2020

New tensions between Iran and the IAEA threaten the JCPOA

By Sina Azodi

Amid the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus, concerns are being expressed by some experts that the disease could hamper the ability of the IAEA to monitor Iran’s nuclear program.

Coronavirus
Iran

In the News

Mar 25, 2020

Aman in Responsible Statecraft: Without international aid, the coronavirus crisis in Iran will spread throughout South Asia

By Atlantic Council

Afghanistan
Bangladesh

In the News

Mar 24, 2020

Slavin quoted in Middle East Eye on how sanctions hinder Iran’s ability to address coronavirus

By Atlantic Council

Coronavirus
Economic Sanctions

Press Release

Mar 24, 2020

Sina Azodi joins the Middle East Programs as Nonresident Fellow

WASHINGTON, DC – March 24, 2020 – The Atlantic Council is pleased to welcome Sina Azodi as a nonresident fellow with the Middle East Programs at the Atlantic Council where he will focus on a range of issues including Iran’s foreign policy, Iran’s nuclear program, nuclear non-proliferation, nuclear weapons, and regional security issues. Mr. Azodi is a PhD […]

Iran
Politics & Diplomacy

IranSource

Mar 24, 2020

The Islamic Republic is preparing for a second Trump term

By Maysam Behravesh

The Iranian leadership is bracing itself for a second Trump victory in the US presidential elections, in which case his administration’s “maximum pressure” policy against the Islamic Republic will probably continue in one way or another for the foreseeable future.

Iran
Middle East

Experts