Iran

Too Many Archdukes, Too Many Bullets

By Harlan Ullman

Ninety-nine years ago this Friday, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his pregnant wife Sofia were gunned down in Sarajevo by a 19-year old Bosnian Serb nationalist named Gavrilo Princip. The assassinations quickly provoked a crisis that more quickly erupted into world war. Ironically, many of the elites in Europe believed that an early 20th-century version of […]

US-Iran cultural engagement: A cost effective boon to US national security

By Ramin Asgard and Barbara Slavin

This issue brief of the Atlantic Council’s Iran Task Force outlines the 179-year history of US contacts with Iran, which have experienced periods of breakdown but currently are continuing at a low level despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties. It also recommends actions to advance these exchanges as a national security imperative—especially as the […]

Rowhani’s Iran

By R. Nicholas Burns

Hassan Rowhani’s surprise victory in Iran’s presidential election last week carries important implications for the country’s future as well as for its tortured relationship with the United States. Rowhani overturned nearly all predictions and the carefully laid plans of Iran’s leadership by defeating a group of much more conservative candidates. In a field of gray […]

The New Prince of Persia

By Julian Lindley-French

Democritus wrote, “I would rather discover one true cause than gain the Kingdom of Persia”. With the election of the maybe vaguely reform-minded Hassan Rouhani many in the West are again hoping that this new Prince of Persia will also mark a new beginning for Iran. Much of this can be put down to the […]

The political kaleidoscope turns again in crisis-challenged Iran: 2013 elections

By Yasmin Alem and Barbara Slavin

In the latest Iran Task Force issue brief, authors Yasmin Alem and Barbara Slavin analyze the political climate leading up to the June elections in Iran.

Report Launch: Time to Move from Tactics to Strategy on Iran

Please join the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center on April 4 for the release of a new report entitled Time to Move from Tactics to Strategy on Iran.

Time to move from tactics to strategy on Iran

By Iran Task Force

The Atlantic Council’s Iran Task Force has launched a new report, Time to Move from Tactics to Strategy on Iran, reflecting more than two years of research on a wide range of issues related to this pivotal country. The Task Force, led by Ambassador Stuart Eizenstat, recommends a long-term strategy that offers the Iranian government […]