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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

Jul 6, 2023

Hezbollah and Iran have opened a fourth battlefront: Inside Israel

By David Daoud

Critical as recent developments may prove, they obscure a more dangerous Hezbollah initiative to establish a proxy foothold inside Israel.

Iran
Israel

IranSource

Jun 29, 2023

Could the IRGC pull a Wagner Group move in Iran? That’s what some Iranians are hoping for. 

By Holly Dagres

Many Iranians wondered what it meant for the Islamic Republic’s future if Russian President Vladimir Putin was taken down.

Iran
Middle East

MENASource

Jun 28, 2023

The Wagner rebellion is over—for now. But how will the events reverberate in the Middle East and North Africa?

By Mark N. Katz

The June 23-24 rebellion led by Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin—aimed, he claimed, at replacing the Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov (not Russian President Vladimir Putin)—has ended. However, reverberations from it are likely to continue being felt beyond Russia, such as in the Middle East and North […]

Conflict
Europe & Eurasia

Defense Journal by Atlantic Council IN TURKEY

Jun 22, 2023

Can the US, Israel, and Turkey collaborate to contain Iran?

By Ron Tira

All three actors are, or at least should be, concerned about the challenges posed by Iran.

Iran
Israel

IranSource

Jun 7, 2023

Iran is playing musical chairs with leadership positions. None of these individuals have been sanctioned.

By Behnam Ben Taleblu

Playing musical chairs with leadership positions provides opportunities to recalibrate and update coercive economic measures on Iran.

Economic Sanctions
Iran

IranSource

May 24, 2023

Iran is using its cyber capabilities to kidnap its foes in the real world

By Borzou Daragahi

This new form of transnational repression by Iran has alarmed security professionals and governments worldwide. 

Cybersecurity
Iran

MENASource

May 24, 2023

The US needs to be proactive in order to break its escalatory cycle with Iran

By C. Anthony Pfaff

Here we go again. On March 23, Iran-backed Iraqi militias launched a drone attack that killed an American contractor and wounded another, as well as twenty-four US military personnel. The attack feels very much like a repeat of the one in December 2019, which also killed a US contractor and led to an escalatory cycle, […]

Conflict
Iran

UkraineAlert

May 23, 2023

China, Iran, Belarus, and Armenia all fear a Russian defeat in Ukraine

By Taras Kuzio

China, Iran, Belarus, and Armenia all have different motivations for backing the Kremlin, but they are united by a common fear of what a Russian defeat in Ukraine might mean for their own countries, writes Taras Kuzio.

Belarus
China

IranSource

May 22, 2023

The State Department is fumbling its approach to Iran. It’s time for an overhaul.

By Holly Dagres

The State Department's Iran social media account messages are innocuous, but they don’t resonate with Iranians, as the content doesn’t match with what’s happening on the ground.

Human Rights
Iran

MENASource

May 19, 2023

Regional cyber powers are banking on a wired future. Expanding the Abraham Accords to cybersecurity will help.

By Thomas S. Warrick

The Abraham Accord countries face threats from hostile actors, and defending their technology and their peoples is a challenge.

Cybersecurity
Iran

Experts