Hassan Rouhani, ‘Moderates’ and Iran’s Post-Election Path
The recent elections in Iran sparked intense debat...
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
Khamenei’s Latest Moves to Solidify Hardline Gains
The legendary cleric Abbas Vaez Tabasi died this month after thirty-seven years supe...
Op-eds
The search for elusive Iranian moderates
Ruhollah Khomeini was a man of religious faith and revolutionary fervor, committed to waging jihad until, in his words, “the writ of Islam is obeyed in every country in the world.” Bu...
Op-eds
The Death of Iran’s Islamic Left
Co-written by Ray Takeyh Democracy in the Islamic Republic is a peculiar institution: it is designed to reinforce the legitimacy of the theoc...
Op-eds
Hassan Rouhani, ‘Moderates’ and Iran’s Post-Election Path
The recent elections in Iran sparked intense debat...
Op-eds
Iran’s Make-Believe Moderates
Barack Obama and his tireless secretary of state sold the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in part as a means to reinforce Iranian “reformers," "moderates," and "pragmatists."...
Op-eds
Iran’s False Choice: Rebranding Hard-Liners as ‘Moderates’
Iranians went to the ballot box last Friday to cast their votes for the Assembly of Experts and the Majles, Iran’s parliament. Reading ...
Op-eds
Iran’s Assembly of Experts Election: A Foregone Conclusion
Iranians go to the ballot box today to cast votes in two elections: one for the Assembly of Experts and the other for parliament. The former is charged with choosing and supervising the supreme l...
Policy Briefs
Propitiating Iran
Co-authored by Ray Takeyh American presidents are always emotionally and politically drawn to the plight of American hostages overseas. In his sympathy and paternalism, Barack O...
Op-eds
Rouhani’s Pyrrhic Victory
“Today is a historical day,” Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad-Javad Zarif said as the Islamic Republic and the P5+1 nations – the UN Security Council and Germany – agreed...
Op-eds
Iran’s ISIS Trap
Co-written with Ray Takeyh The choice seems simple. On one side are regally attired mullahs, the type that have protected Persia’s pre-Islamic treasures and even tweet in...
Op-eds
Witch-Hunt for ‘Spies’ in Tehran
A veritable witch-hunt has followed the July 14th nuclear agreement between the Islamic Republic and US-led global powers in which lobbyists instrumental in the success of President Has...
Op-eds
Netanyahu, Palestinian Terrorism and the Holocaust
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked a long-overdue debate about the role of Haj Amin al-Husseini—the mufti of Jerusalem from 1921 to 1937—in carrying out the Holo...
Op-eds
Analysis: Why the German Foreign Minister’s Iran Trip Flopped
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s trip to Iran on Saturday turned the clock back to the Federal Republic’s pre-sanctions pro-Iran policies by showing an indifferent po...
Op-eds
Victory Without Soldiers?
With the war in Syria becoming ever more complex and murderous, it’s worthwhile to revisit a guiding principle of Barack Obama: The use of American military power is likely to do more harm...
Op-eds
Khomeini’s Grandson Tests Iran’s Political Waters
As Iran’s fractious political elites prepare for the February 25, 2016, elections for parliament and the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body that selects the supreme leader, th...
Op-eds
Rohani Deal With IRGC Could Torpedo Nuclear Agreement
Iranian President Hassan Rohani’s diplomacy and the landmark nuclear bargain may have reduced the gaps between Tehran and the global powers, but the agreement is widening dif...
Op-eds
Our Iranian Interlocutor
Antisemitism has never been an easy subject for America’s foreign-policy establishment. Read through State Department telegrams and Central Intelligence Agency operational and intelligence...
Op-eds
In Iran, A Father And Son Vie For Nation’s Future
Ahmad Jannati and his son Ali Jannati are symbols of the growing generational gap within the political elite of Iran. Jannati the elder perceives him...
Op-eds
Rohani Under Fire as Iran Power Struggle Sharpens
Iranian President Hassan Rohani won the war, so to speak, but risks losing the peace. He managed to reach an international diplomatic solution in the confrontation over Iran’s nu&...