Iran

Iran

The US-Iranian relationship has experienced significant challenges over the past forty years. The lack of diplomatic relations, changes in both the US and Iranian administrations, repeated US military interventions in the region as well as Iran’s support for militant groups and increasingly harsh rhetoric on both sides have further undermined chances for reconciliation. Through a balanced approach of engagement and containment, there is a need to push back against Iranian intervention while promoting US interests, regional conflict resolution, and the well-being of the Iranian people.

What Next for Syria – Breakdown, Breakthrough, or Botched Opportunity?

Dispatches
Mar 6, 2026

How would a Kurdish offensive change the war in Iran?

By
Atlantic Council experts

Our experts explain the goals of the various Kurdish groups the United States is reportedly backing for an attack against Iran and how their involvement could impact the wider war.

Conflict
Defense Policy

What Next for Syria – Breakdown, Breakthrough, or Botched Opportunity?

Dispatches
Mar 6, 2026

Washington’s limited levers to shape a post-Khamenei Iran

By
Nate Swanson, Ingrid Small

The United States and its allies do have some options to coax change that might result in a more Western-leaning Tehran.

Conflict
Iran

What Next for Syria – Breakdown, Breakthrough, or Botched Opportunity?

MENASource
Mar 3, 2026

Trump wants Iranians to ‘take back their country’ from the regime. Can they?

By
Alan Pino

To succeed in overthrowing the Iranian regime, an uprising would likely require a unifying leader, an effective organization, and the support of whatever remains of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Conflict
Democratic Transitions

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.

EXPLORE THE Atlantic Council’s Middle East PROGRAMs

Content

New Atlanticist

Oct 16, 2013

What Next for Syria – Breakdown, Breakthrough, or Botched Opportunity?

By Harlan Ullman

The Obama administration is on the verge of botching an unprecedented opportunity. Prior to the remarkable joint US-Russian initiative that established a process to dispose of Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal, the outlook for the region was grim. The only certainty was continuing violence that will kill tens of thousands and displace many more hundreds of […]

Iran Russia

New Atlanticist

Oct 11, 2013

Iran Nuclear Talks Return to Geneva with Better Prospects

By Barbara Slavin

There’s an element of déjà vu about next week’s planned talks in Geneva on Iran’s nuclear program.   Four years ago, the United States and Iran reached a tentative agreement on a confidence building measure that would have sent out most of Iran’s stockpile of lightly enriched uranium in return for fuel for a reactor […]

Iran
Obama and Kerry meet with Erdogan and Fidan, 2nd & 3rd from left.

NATOSource

Oct 10, 2013

Turkey’s Spymaster Plots Own Course on Syria

By Adam Entous and Joe Parkinson, Wall Street Journal

“Hakan Fidan [Turkey’s powerful spymaster] is the face of the new Middle East,” says James Jeffrey, who recently served as U.S. ambassador in Turkey and Iraq.

Iran Syria

MENASource

Oct 3, 2013

MENASource Discussions: Gulf Security and the US-Gulf Relationship

By MENASource

Ambassador Richard LeBaron, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, recently held an online conversation with Dr. Greg Gause, professor of political science at the University of Vermont and nonresident fellow with the Brookings Doha Center.

Iran Middle East
Five Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed since 2007

NATOSource

Oct 2, 2013

Iranian Cyber Warfare Commander Shot Dead in Suspected Assassination

By Damien McElroy and Ahmad Vahdat, Telegraph

Mojtaba Ahmadi, who served as commander of the Cyber War Headquarters, was found dead in a wooded area near the town of Karaj, north-west of the capital, Tehran.

Cybersecurity Iran
Five Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed since 2007

Uncategorized

Oct 2, 2013

Iranian Cyber Warfare Commander Shot Dead in Suspected Assassination

By Damien McElroy and Ahmad Vahdat, Telegraph

Mojtaba Ahmadi, who served as commander of the Cyber War Headquarters, was found dead in a wooded area near the town of Karaj, north-west of the capital, Tehran.

Cybersecurity Iran

New Atlanticist

Oct 1, 2013

Iran: Speak Softly BUT…Mr President

By Julian Lindley-French

On 26 January, 1900 US President Theodore Roosevelt sent a letter to Henry L. Sprague of the Union Club of New York in which he wrote, “Speak softly and carry a big stick and you will go far.” The US press seized on the phrase and a new foreign policy doctrine was born – ‘Big […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 26, 2013

An Opportunity for Breakthrough Diplomacy

By R. Nicholas Burns

Something important, rare, and very positive happened in the Middle East this week: Iran and the United States agreed to negotiate for the first time in three decades. Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani and Barack Obama signaled in back-to-back UN speeches that they are ready for diplomacy. This doesn’t mean they will succeed or even make […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 25, 2013

Rouhani Charts Cautious Course in UN Debut

By Barbara Slavin

Midway through Hassan Rouhani’s debut on the international stage, his American reviews are mixed. The Iranian president bypassed a chance to shake hands and chat with President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly despite anticipation in both Iran and the United States that such an encounter would happen. “Too complicated” for the […]

Iran

New Atlanticist

Sep 23, 2013

Could US, Iran Agree On Syria Without Assad?

By Barbara Slavin

More than two years after President Barack Obama said it was time for Syria’s president to go, Bashar al-Assad is still in power in Damascus. But new evidence from the United Nations pointing to his regime’s large-scale use of chemical weapons makes it more plausible that Assad could leave office as part of an international […]

Iran Syria
Load More

Experts

Fellow

Yesar Al-Maleki

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Iraq Initiative Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Geopolitics & Energy Security

Fellow

Carmiel Arbit

Nonresident Senior Fellow

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

Civil Society Extremism

Fellow

Colin Brooks

Nonresident Senior Fellow

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

Iran Middle East

Fellow

Hagar Hajjar Chemali

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Economic Statecraft Initiative GeoEconomics Center

Economy & Business Financial Sanctions and Economic Coercion

Fellow

Danny Citrinowicz  

Nonresident Fellow

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Arabic Cybersecurity

Fellow

Ariel Cohen

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Eurasia Center

Central Asia Politics & Diplomacy
Load More

Events

Public Event Mon, April 13, 2026 • 12:30 pm ET

The IEA’s Fatih Birol on global energy market resilience in a moment of crisis

AN AC FRONT PAGE EVENT—Fatih Birol discusses how the International Energy Agency is guiding governments and markets through a complex energy landscape.

Energy & Environment Geopolitics & Energy Security Iran