Conflict or Compromise: U.S. and Iran on a Knife’s Edge

by Hussein Ibish The simmering confrontation between the United States and Iran is delicately poised on a knife’s edge between an emerging bargain and steadily mounting potential for direct armed conflict. The ongoing de facto war of attrition with a… Continue Reading

Trump Has Strengthened Hardliners in Iran

by Jalil Bayat Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign against Iran—including his decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA)—has empowered the position of hardliners in Iran’s foreign and security policy establishments. Europe’s inability… Continue Reading

Prime mover: Boris Johnson and the UK-Iran Crisis

by Julien Barnes-Dacey and Ellie Geranmayeh As Boris Johnson becomes UK prime minister, his first foreign policy test is not Brexit but managing an unexpected crisis with Iran. The Iranian seizure of a UK-flagged tanker in the Strait of Hormuz… Continue Reading