Alawite Fears Ignite Syria’s Coastal Chaos
Violence is spreading in Syria’s Mediterranean coastal region, home to the country’s largest concentration of Alawites, the religious minority whose members include the ousted dictator Bashar al-Assad....
Mohsen Rezaee
Mohammad Mokhber: Khamenei’s Confidant
On May 19, 2024, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi died in a helicopter crash. Mohammad Mokhber, the first deputy president, will serve as interim president until Iran holds elections for a new president. Iran...
Policy Briefs
Hamas Takes Israelis and Foreign Nationals Hostage
Hamas has reportedly seized as many as 100 people as hostages, including Israelis, Americans, and other foreign nationals, since its war with Israel began on October 7. Secretary...
Flash Briefs
U.S. to Release $6 Billion to Iran in Exchange for Hostages
The United States and Iran reached a deal on August 10 for Tehran’s release of five Iranian-American dual nationals to house arrest in exchange for Washington’s release of several jailed Iranians...
Flash Briefs
Lifting Human Rights Sanctions on Iran Would Be a Mistake
Lifting pressure on human rights abusers is not necessary to negotiate effective arms control agreements.
Op-eds
Don’t Bury Alberto Nisman Again
Those with the legal duty to seek the truth have done just the opposite. They are seeking to bury Alberto Nisman and his investigation once again.
Op-eds
Iran’s Mohsen Rezaee Should Face Justice
If Rezaee travels with impunity, Iran will seek to further push the limits, and legitimize the accused in the same way that it has done with near impunity in the nuclear file.
Op-eds
Does Israel Lie America Into Wars?
A top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has acknowledged the 2018 Israeli operation that seized Iran’s nuclear archive. “The country has been widely exposed to security violations, and...
Op-eds
Iran, Terrorism Finance, and Money Laundering: A Status Update Before FATF Meets Next Week
When the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) convenes its plenary next week, while not formally on the agenda, buzz on the sidelines will concern Tehran’s constant push to be removed from the FATF blacklist....
Insights
Adviser to Iran’s Khamenei is looking to ‘raze Tel Aviv to the ground’
In a recent interview, Mohsen Rezaei said that Iran would use any US activity as a pretext to attack Israel.
Op-eds
The Case for Designating Iran’s State Media
During the recent protests in Iran, dissidents both inside and outside the country asked the U.S. government to enforce sanctions against Tehran’s state-run media enterprise, the Islamic Re...
Policy Briefs
Iranian Kurds Join the Fight
Co-written by Jonathan Spyer The instability that has swept over the Middle East over the past half-decade has its winners and its losers. For the most part, the much-...
Op-eds
Saudi Arabia Strikes Back
For those concerned about the fallout from President Barack Obama and his administration’s nuclear deal with Iran — the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Actio...
Op-eds
Obama Can’t Let Iran Get Away With Murder
The Obama administration has long said it will hold Iran accountable for acts of terrorism. It now has a chance to prove it: Interpol red notices for five former Iranian officials found culpable in...
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
Transformational Diplomacy
Many supporters of an Iranian nuclear agreement believe that a deal could help to moderate, even democratize, Iranian society. Barack Obama’s constant allusions to the transformative potent...
Op-eds
Admiral Shamkhani, Rohani’s Iron Fist in an Iron Glove
President Hassan Rohani’s appointment of Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) in September 2013 was initially seen as a...
Op-eds
The 1994 Argentina Bombing Perpetrators: Where Are They Now?
One year ago today, on January 27, 2013, Argentina announced a memorandum of understanding with Iran for a “tr...
Policy Briefs
Iran’s Latin America Strategy
Speaking in Washington at the annual dinner of the American Jewish Committee in May 2007, Argentina’s then-senator Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner publicly reiterated her unwavering commitme...
Op-eds
Terror and Foreign Policy
Co-authored by Douglas Farah Earlier this month, Alberto Nisman of Argentina, the special prosecutor responsible for investigating the Iranian-planned 1994 bombing of a Jewish c...