President Trump and his administration have demanded that Iran agree to the full, verifiable, and permanent dismantlement of its atomic weapons program — including the regime’s ability to produce enriched...
Washington has restated its red lines on Iran. On May 7, President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance reiterated the administration’s demand that Iran peacefully dismantle its nuclear weapons program, including uranium enrichment as well as its plutonium reprocessing capabilities — key processes that make fuel for atomic arms — or face military action.
Trump has returned to office with a clear message: Iran will never possess nuclear weapons. But clarity on what that entails—and how to achieve it—is still lacking.
Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted about Russian civil nuclear work in Iran that runs afoul of U.S. law, but which the Biden administration failed to penalize, at a press conference in Moscow on...
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi told Russian state media that the 2015 Iran nuclear deal “exists only on paper and means nothing” in...
Russo-Iranian Cooperation and Threats to U.S. Interests
Congress is seeking an explanation from the Biden administration for its failure thus far to sanction Russia for assisting Iran’s nuclear program, as required by U.S. law. In February...
If Israel's rejection of allowing enrichment in Saudi Arabia means the derailment of normalization deals, so be it. Israel should seek a deal that overcomes the problematic Saudi demand for an independent fuel cycle on the one hand, and minimizes the damage from the nuclear understandings with Iran on the other hand.
On July 10, 2023, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) published a report for Congress about Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, as required by law.1 “Iran is not currently...
The Biden administration — which repeatedly asserts that it has adopted tough policies on Russia’s war of aggression in Ukraine — plans to allow Moscow to receive a major economic windfall under a...
The Biden administration has two goals that are at odds with each other. It wants to ratchet up economic pressure on Russia, and it wants to revive the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. The problem is the 2015...
The administration’s horror over Putin’s war is not merely performative, but functional—in the service of realigning with Iran
Since the announcement of the Abraham Accords in August 2020, ties between Bahrain and Israel have grown steadily, reaching a milestone last week when an Israeli military aircraft, carrying Defense Minister...
Ethnic Politics in the Islamic Republic
What if a nuclear reactor had been the target of last month’s accurate missile attack on Saudi Arabian oil facilities? We might now be mopping up a Middle East Chernobyl. The lesson should be clear: Don’t...
The arrest of the eight Christians was first reported on Friday by Article 18, an organization that promotes religious freedom and supports Iran's repressed Christians.
Wednesday’s decision by the Islamic Republic of Iran to break the restrictions of the Iran nuclear deal is a further reminder that neither Iran, nor for that matter Saudi Arabia, needs nuclear power...
Muscat’s Balancing Act Between Iran and America