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March 12, 2026
12:00 pm
EVENT: Between Ally and Adversary: Turkey’s Strategic Calculus in the Iran War
As the war involving Iran reshapes the strategic landscape of the Middle East, Turkey finds itself navigating one of the most complex geopolitical dilemmas in its modern history. Sharing a long border with Iran and balancing its role as a NATO member with its regional ambitions, Ankara is attempting to manage the fallout of a conflict that could dramatically alter the balance of power across the region. Turkish leaders have condemned U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran while simultaneously warning Tehran against expanding the conflict, reflecting a delicate strategy of hedging between competing interests.
Featured Experts
Mark Dubowitz
Chief Executive
- Iran Sanctions
- Iran Human Rights
- Syria
- Iran Missiles
- Iran
- Iran Global Threat Network
- Hezbollah
- Iran-backed Terrorism
- Sanctions and Illicit Finance
- Cyber
- Iran Nuclear
Jonathan Schanzer
Executive Director
- Palestinian Politics
- Iran
- Iran Sanctions
- Iran Global Threat Network
- Hezbollah
- Iran-backed Terrorism
- Turkey
- Jihadism
- Sanctions and Illicit Finance
Behnam Ben Taleblu
Iran Program Senior Director and Senior Fellow
- Iran
- Iran Sanctions
- Iran Missiles
- Iran Human Rights
- Iran Politics and Economy
- Iran Global Threat Network
- Sanctions and Illicit Finance
RADM (Ret.) Mark Montgomery
CCTI Senior Director and Senior Fellow
Richard Goldberg
Senior Advisor
- Iran
- Palestinian Politics
- Iran Sanctions
- Iran Global Threat Network
- Iran-backed Terrorism
- Gulf States
- Sanctions and Illicit Finance
- International Organizations
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Conricus
Senior Fellow
Reuel Marc Gerecht
Resident Scholar
- Iran
- Iran Politics and Economy
- Turkey
- Arab Politics
- Egypt
Janatan Sayeh
Research Analyst
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Marco Rubio
U.S. Secretary of State and Acting National Security Advisor
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Lai Ching-te
President of Taiwan
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Tsai Ing-wen
Former President of Taiwan
“Thank you for all of FDD’s work… it is so critical to our fight in the United States against terror and against those who seek to do us harm” … “[FDD has always] held Iran accountable for their continued nuclear activity and for their continued terror activity….which is key to America’s national security and our fight globally against terror, against Iran and its proxies, and against Hezbollah and Hamas and Palestinian Jihad.”
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Mike Waltz
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Jessica Lewis
Former Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs, U.S. Department of State
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Amb. Nikki R. Haley
Former US Ambassador to the United Nations
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Wall Street Journal
Weekend Interview
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Amb. Kate Marie Byrnes
Civilian Deputy and Foreign Policy Advisor, U.S. European Command
"A record low for the reach of petrodollars: CIA & FDD fake news w/ selective AlQaeda docs re: Iran can't whitewash role of US allies in 9/11"
Javad Zarif
Iran's Former Foreign Minister
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Michael Morell
former Acting and Deputy Director, Central Intelligence Agency
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George W. Bush
Former President
Overnight Brief: March 12, 2026
Read Full BriefToday In Issues:
FDD Research & Analysis
- Live at 12:00pm (ET): "Between Ally and Adversary: Turkey’s Strategic Calculus in the Iran War," FDD Event
- Live at 10:00am (ET): "Transparency and Trust: Exposing Malign Foreign Influence in Higher Education," Testimony for Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
- "Tucker Carlson ‘has lost his way’," The Washington Times
- "America is fighting a war that Iran chose," The Washington Post
- "Why is Washington going soft on the Turkish banks enabling Iran’s terrorism?" The Hill
- "Can Ukraine’s state-of-the-art drone tech come to US aid in Iran?" New York Post
- "Hungary, Slovakia, and Serbia chose Tehran over Trump," Washington Examiner
- "Russia the Arsonist Wants to Play Firefighter," Kyiv Post
- "Five Ways To Crack Down on Myanmar’s Military Junta," FDD Insight
- "Hezbollah Tests Israel’s Patience as Northern Front Escalates," FDD Policy Brief
- "Washington Intensifies Pressure on Muslim Brotherhood Networks," FDD Policy Brief
- "Iran Increasingly Employing Cluster Munitions Against Israeli Civilians," FDD Policy Brief
- "Trump Points to Iran’s Resumption of Nuclear Activities at a New, Deeper Site," FDD Policy Brief
- "Oil Price Whiplash Highlights America’s Enduring Preparedness Gap," FDD Policy Brief
- "Recipients of Federal Research Security Funding Partnered With Chinese Military Universities, China Committee Head Alleges," FDD Policy Brief
- "Iranian drone and missile barrages strike Arab states across the region (March 9-10 updates)," FDD's Long War Journal
- "Israel intensifies strikes on repression sites, expands outreach to Iranians as regime repression deepens (March 8-10 updates)," FDD's Long War Journal
- "US condemns Iranian and militia attacks in Iraq amid unclaimed airstrikes on Tehran-backed militias," FDD's Long War Journal
- "3 Ships Struck by Projectiles Near Strait of Hormuz," FDD Flash Brief
The Must-Reads
- Spain permanently withdraws ambassador as rift with Israel deepens
- Former JPost editor-in-chief Yaakov Katz and JPPI senior fellow Gil Troy: Khamenei cemented the U.S.-Israel alliance
- Escalating Hormuz crisis raises specter of prolonged closure
- Ending Iran war quickly carries big risks for the U.S. and allies
- Pentagon tells Congress first week of Iran war cost more than $11.3 billion
- Russia lures recruits from Africa to feed its Ukraine war machine
- AEI fellow Marc A. Thiessen: What is the definition of victory in Iran? There are three.
- Drone strikes near Dubai airport deepen Gulf aviation chaos
- Taiwan parties agree government can sign stalled agreements on U.S. arms deals
- Romania allows 'defensive' US refuelling, monitoring for Iran operations at its air bases
- U.S. seeks extradition of Maduro ally pardoned by Biden
- FBI said to warn California that Iran could launch drones from boat at West Coast