Regime Change Without Nation Building
America and Israel are at war with Iran, a fact that should be neither shocking nor surprising. Both countries have been targeted by the Islamic Republic since its inception in 1979. Both countries...
Brian Hook
Trump will rue recklessly yanking security from Mike Pompeo, others in Iran’s crosshairs
Newly confirmed Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Tuesday canceled the personal security detail assigned to retired Gen. Mark Milley, following his boss President Trump’s decision to revoke...
Op-eds
‘Maximum Pressure 2.0’: Washington Seeks to Restore Deterrence Against Tehran
The Tehran regime is already bristling at the prospect of a much tougher U.S. policy toward the Islamic Republic of Iran. Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi warned on November 12 that if the Trump administration...
Policy Briefs
Donald Trump: Back to the Future on Iran Policy
Tehran’s theocrats must be terrified. That’s a good thing. Despite the limited and lackluster commentary on Donald Trump’s electoral victory in the Iranian press and by officials, regime elites must now face the fact that the candidate they sought to kill is set to re-assume the presidency on January 20, 2025.
Op-eds
‘You are Going to See the Sanctions Go Back On’: Trump Expected to Restore Maximum Pressure Against Iran
Maximum Pressure to Make a Comeback: President-elect Donald Trump plans to increase sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran as part of a return to his previous administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign, former Trump administration officials told The Wall Street Journal.
Flash Briefs
U.S. Charges Pakistani Man With Iran-Backed Plot to Assassinate Government Officials
The United States charged a Pakistani national with a thwarted Iran-backed plot to assassinate American government officials, the U.S. Justice Department disclosed on August 6. The...
Flash Briefs
Iran Plots Assassination of Trump
Latest Developments Iran plotted to assassinate former President Donald Trump in recent weeks, U.S. authorities told CNN in a July 16 report. Unrelated to the failed assassination attempt against Trump...
Flash Briefs
Iran Supporting and Funding Pro-Hamas Protests in the U.S.
Following several months of often violent pro-Hamas protests across the United States, the U.S. Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, stated on July 9 that the Islamic...
Flash Briefs
Maryland Court Issues Restraining Order Against U.S.-Based Iranian Diplomat
A Maryland court issued a temporary restraining order on May 28 against an employee of Iran’s Interests Section in Washington — the Islamic Republic’s de facto consular office...
Flash Briefs
Biden has a secret, illegal deal with Iran that gives mullahs everything they want
In the latest phase of an unacknowledged and unlawful nuclear deal between the United States and Iran, President Joe Biden this week formally approved giving the world’s leading state sponsor...
Op-eds
U.S. Sanctions Iranians for Plotting Assassinations
The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned five men affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on June 1 for their participation in international assassination plots. Three of the men...
Flash Briefs
Biden’s State Department ignores Iranian death plots inside America
It took quite a bit longer than it should have, but the State Department finally released its 2021 Country Reports on Terrorism. As ever, the document covers the countries that experienced attacks, those...
Op-eds
Iran Targets Salman Rushdie
An admirer of the regime in Iran attacked the author Salman Rushdie on August 12, stabbing him roughly 10 times minutes before his scheduled lecture in Chautauqua, New York. Rushdie faces a long “road to recovery,” stated his agent. He may even lose an eye. European and Middle Eastern intelligence officials said the assailant, 24-year-old Hadi Matar of Fairview, New Jersey, had contacts with members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). A U.S. law enforcement official said Matar’s posts on social media show his sympathies to Shia extremism and IRGC causes.
Flash Briefs
Five Minutes from Disaster
The U.S. is offering Iran the deal of the millennium, and yet the Islamic Republic—and Russia—want more concessions.
Op-eds
Should the United States Lift Sanctions on Iran to Address Its Coronavirus Outbreak?
Iran is the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the Middle East. The Islamic Republic’s leadership has engaged in a massive campaign aimed at lifting sanctions imposed on it for its malign activities,...
Memos
If Trump Hates Obama’s Nuclear Deal, Why Is He Letting Up on Iran?
Iran is stockpiling enriched uranium and may soon receive advanced weapons from Russia. Trump has an easy way to tighten the screws.
Op-eds
U.S. Sanctions Five Members of Iran’s Guardian Council
The Trump administration on Thursday sanctioned five officials who sit on Iran’s 12-member Guardian Council, which screens parliamentary and presidential candidates to ensure their fidelity to Iran’s...
Policy Briefs
U.S. Sanctions Iranian General for Role in Killing Protesters
The State Department on Friday sanctioned a key Iranian military official who presided over the killing of 148 protesters during the November demonstrations in the Iranian city of Mahshahr. The designation...
Policy Briefs
Trump’s Iran strategy is working. Here’s why
President Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy against Iran is working, despite warnings of a backlash against the U.S. for the economic sanctions he has imposed on the Islamic Republic. As protests...
Op-eds
Towards A Bipartisan Iran Protest Policy Playbook
Once again, Iranians have taken to the streets. Spurred initially by cuts in gas subsidies and an increase in petrol prices, up to 100 cities experienced protests, and over 100 people have been killed....