Along with Iran’s heightened anti-American rhetoric and local naval deployments, the recent Houthi missile attacks against U.S. vessels raise fears that Tehran’s clients may take the war into a new and more dangerous phase. As the Yemen war enters its twentieth month, the fighting has escalated beyond the country’s confines, with Iranian-backed Houthi rebels firing… Keep reading →
The two countries appear to be compartmentalizing their shared and divergent interests in Syria and Iraq, but such an approach is highly vulnerable to unexpected military incidents and other factors. Turkish and Iranian officials have conducted a number of high-level bilateral visits recently, suggesting that the two countries are drawing closer after a period of… Keep reading →
Three experts discuss whether the contentious history of U.S.-Iranian relations stems more from unrealistic American expectations and missed opportunities, or from the Islamic Republic’s strategic decision to oppose Washington’s interests. On September 7, Jay Solomon, James Dobbins, and Dennis Ross addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Solomon is the chief foreign affairs correspondent… Keep reading →
The costly siege has spurred Iran to withdraw or relocate certain IRGC units, but this is unlikely to hurt the Assad coalition’s strategy in Aleppo so long as Hezbollah and other Shiite militias remain willing to fight there. The besieged city of Aleppo has come to symbolize the sufferings of a Syrian civilian population caught… Keep reading →
In deciding whether to formally prohibit plane sales that already seem commercially infeasible, Washington should consider one question: if the Islamic Republic is going to shoot itself in the foot, why refuse it the gun? In the continuing debate about the proposed Boeing and Airbus plane sales to Iran, the focus has been on whether… Keep reading →
Funeral notices indicate that Iran has increased its use of IRGC Ground Forces in Syria to offset mounting losses by the elite Qods Force, and this pattern could signal a wider transformation in how the IRGC operates abroad. On May 6, at least sixteen Iranian nationals and an undisclosed number of Shiite foreign fighters under… Keep reading →
Few people understand that Iranian banks do not live up to the standards U.S. agencies require of all foreign financial institutions, and that this shortcoming has nothing to do with the nuclear deal. On April 25, following the first post-Implementation Day meeting of the joint P5+1/Iranian committee in Vienna, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi stated… Keep reading →
The Supreme Leader used his Nowruz address to launch a strong attack on the United States and make Rouhani the scapegoat for continued American pressure, which augurs poorly for U.S.-Iranian cooperation. In his twenty-sixth Nowruz speech in Mashhad, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reiterated his radical anti-American position and implicitly criticized Iran’s nuclear negotiating team for violating… Keep reading →
The recent warning by the Financial Action Task Force to banks about dealings with Iran shows that the end of nuclear sanctions was only the start of a long process. In its first public statement on Iran since sanctions relief went into effect following implementation of the nuclear deal last month, the Financial Action Task… Keep reading →
Iran’s plan to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) within two years is what you call a market signal, one that should cause U.S. policymakers to reconsider the ponderous pace with which proposed U.S. LNG export projects are gaining federal approval. The Wall Street Journal reported: Iran is pushing to find new ways to extract and… Keep reading →
