The Hidden Message of Iran’s Syria Strikes: A View From Israel

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

The Hidden Message of Iran’s Syria Strikes: A View From Israel

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

The Hidden Message of Iran’s Syria Strikes: A View From Israel

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.

Iran
Middle East

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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.

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IranSource

Oct 4, 2018

The Hidden Message of Iran’s Syria Strikes: A View From Israel

By Shemuel Meir

An unusual strategic event took place this week in the Middle East. For the second time in over a year, Iran fired ballistic missiles on targets in Syria, a country that borders Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who never misses an opportunity to respond in the strongest terms—usually within hours—to any Iranian testing of […]

Iran Israel

In the News

Oct 4, 2018

Slavin Quoted by Washington Post on New Sanctions

By Barbara Slavin

Read the full article here.

Iran

New Atlanticist

Oct 3, 2018

So much for US-Iran amity

By Ashish Kumar Sen

“Theater is part of diplomacy... In this case, we have a largely symbolic US action regarding a mainly obsolete treaty in response to another largely symbolic Iranian action regarding a generally ineffectual court,” said William F. Wechsler, interim director of the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East.“

Iran Politics & Diplomacy

IranSource

Oct 3, 2018

China: Iran’s Lifeline to Overcome Oil Sanctions

By Brendon Hong

If the relationship between Iran and China is not severed, US sanctions on the Tehran will never be fully effective, and the Trump administration’s dream of forcing a new deal will never come to fruition.

China Iran

IranSource

Oct 1, 2018

Netanyahu’s UNGA Accusations Give Iranians a Rare Good Laugh

By Holly Dagres

“I really, really think someone set him up,” Iran’s deputy foreign minister said in an initial reaction to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly on September 27. In an interview with state media, Abbas Araghchi and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is seated next to Araghchi, are […]

Iran Israel

IranSource

Oct 1, 2018

Iran-Israel Animus Exacerbates the US-Iran Divide

By Barbara Slavin

NEW YORK — Iran’s mellifluous foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, was in characteristic form Saturday afternoon as he sparred with a small group of journalists and US-Iran hands and fulminated against the policies of the Trump administration. Iran would survive the latest barrage of US sanctions, Zarif insisted, noting President Donald Trump’s relative isolation at […]

International Organizations Iran

In the News

Sep 30, 2018

Itani Quoted in Washington Post on Syria and Iran

By Faysal Itani

Read the full article here.

Iran Syria

IranSource

Sep 28, 2018

Europe Unlikely to Avoid Trump’s Iran Sanctions

By SAMANTHA SULTOON

Prompted by the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear deal with Iran (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA), the remaining signatories are urgently seeking ways to maintain the agreement—both for strategic reasons and to preserve its trade benefits. A British, French, and German proposal to launch an independent channel for maintaining trade […]

Iran
The 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade during a drill held in the Golan Heights in northern Israel. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Issue Brief

Sep 27, 2018

The evolving Iranian strategy in Syria: A looming conflict with Israel

By Nader Uskowi

Iran began its military involvement in Syria in 2011, at the outbreak of the civil war. Tehran’s immediate objective was to defeat the Syrian opposition militarily to save Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The maintenance of the Shia-Alawi-dominated regime in Damascus was key to the Islamic Republic’s long-term regional strategy, the creation of a contiguous Shia […]

Iran Security & Defense

In the News

Sep 27, 2018

Dagres Quoted in the Guardian on Netanyahu Speech

By Holly Dagres

Read the full article here.

Iran
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Experts

Expert bio

Nicholas Hopton

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative

Europe & Eurasia Iran

Fellow

Alan Pino

Nonresident Senior Fellow

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

Intelligence Iran

Staff

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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