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The latest pieces from MENASource:

MENASource

Sep 19, 2025

How Israel’s strike on Doha is forcing a Gulf security reckoning

By Giorgio Cafiero

The Gulf monarchies have displayed strong unity at a time when rethinking twenty-first-century Gulf security is no longer optional.

Israel Middle East

MENASource

Sep 19, 2025

Snapback sanctions threaten to further derail Iran nuclear deal hopes

By Rob Macaire

Now would be the best time for the West to negotiate a deal with Iran—but snapback sanctions threaten a derailing into further confrontation.

Economic Sanctions Iran

MENASource

Sep 18, 2025

Libya’s stalled transition: When domestic spoilers meet foreign interests

By Luis Aleman and Karim Mezran

Libya’s stalled transition has not happened by chance; it has been deliberately engineered into paralysis by both domestic spoilers and foreign powers.

Libya Middle East
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Through our Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, the Atlantic Council works 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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Content

Issue Brief

Nov 5, 2018

How Iran will cope with US sanctions

By Holly Dagres, Barbara Slavin

As a second and more punishing wave of US sanctions hits Iran, the Islamic Republic is dusting off an old playbook for circumventing such penalties and maintaining a crucial level of oil exports and other trade. A new issue brief by Holly Dagres and Barbara Slavin—How Iran Will Cope with US Sanctions—discusses the myriad techniques […]

Economic Sanctions Iran

IranSource

Nov 5, 2018

A Marriage of Convenience Between Natural Gas Giants Iran and Russia

By Thang Q. Tran and Alan W. Lancaster

Iran’s substantial natural gas reserves provide Russia with a significant strategic opportunity to solidify its role in the international arena. Although US secondary sanctions against Iran’s petroleum sector resumed on November 5, Russia will most likely defy them by continuing to invest in Iran’s natural gas sector. Russia may also seek to influence the flow […]

Iran Russia

In the News

Nov 3, 2018

Dagres Joins BBC Radio 5 to Discuss Iran

By Holly Dagres

Listen to the full discussion here.

Iran

IranSource

Nov 2, 2018

A Look at the Implications of Reimposed US Sanctions on Iran

By Brian O'Toole

US President Donald J. Trump’s administration will reimpose sanctions on Iran’s central bank, oil sales, and shipping companies on November 5. These sanctions, the last of those the US lifted in 2016 as a consequence of the Iran nuclear deal, are likely to be coupled with new sanctions that are designed to achieve greater pressure than […]

Iran

In the News

Nov 2, 2018

Cohen in Newsweek: Will Trump Turn on Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman?

By Ariel Cohen

Read the full article here.

Saudi Arabia

In the News

Nov 2, 2018

Slavin Quoted by AFP on Iran Sanctions

By Barbara Slavin

Read the full article here.

Iran

In the News

Nov 2, 2018

Nimmo Quoted in Quartz on Iranian Influence Campaign Targeting Indians on Twitter

By Ben Nimmo

Read the full article here.

Iran

New Atlanticist

Nov 1, 2018

A look at the implications of reimposed US sanctions on Iran

By Brian O'Toole

The sanctions that snap back into place on November 5 largely mirror those that the Obama administration lifted in January 2016.

Economic Sanctions Iran

In the News

Nov 1, 2018

Slavin in Axios: Trump Administration Blinks on “Zero” Oil Exports from Iran

By Barbara Slavin

Read the full article here.

Iran

IranSource

Nov 1, 2018

Q&A: Ex-Mossad chiefs discuss the Iranian threat

By Holly Dagres

IranSource interviewed several ex-heads of Mossad, Israel’s foreign intelligence agency, to ask their thoughts on Iran.

Iran Israel
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Experts

Staff

Melanie Robbins 

Deputy Director, Realign for Palestine

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

Civil Society Extremism

Fellow

Brett McGurk

Rafik Hariri Center & Middle East programs

English Middle East

Fellow

Nathan Freier

Nonresident Senior Fellow

GeoStrategy Initiative Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

China Conflict

Millennium fellow

Saeed Al Nazari

Secretary General, Great Arab Minds

Millennium Leadership Program

Education Middle East

Fellow

Alan Pino

Nonresident Senior Fellow

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

Intelligence Iran

Fellow

Owen J. Daniels

Nonresident Senior Fellow

Forward Defense Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security

Defense Industry Defense Policy
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