Korean Peninsula: From Fire and Fury to Freeze-for-Freeze

by the International Crisis Group The risk of catastrophic war on the Korean peninsula is higher than at any time in recent history. The “maximum pressure” strategy the U.S. has pursued in response to North Korea’s weapons tests could badly… Continue Reading

Keeping Iran’s Ballistic Missiles in Perspective

by Greg Thielmann The Trump administration’s 120-day “stay of execution” for the Iran nuclear deal has temporarily sidelined arguments over the absence of constraints on ballistic missiles as one of the agreement’s principal flaws. But if this “flaw” is not… Continue Reading

The Logic Behind Iran’s Regional Posture

by Adnan Tabatabai On December 3, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei convened Iran’s top military brass. Iranian media circulated one key sentence of his remarks on the front pages of newspapers: “Today, the armed forces are in need of the best… Continue Reading

Europe and Iran’s Threat Perception

by Eldar Mamedov At the end of November, a delegation of senior European lawmakers visited Iran. The delegation was chaired by Janusz Lewandowski from Poland, a former EU commissioner, representing the center-right European People´s Party, the largest bloc in the… Continue Reading

Is Riyadh Finally Buying Russian Air Defense Missiles?

by Mark N. Katz Among the many other Saudi-Russian agreements that have been announced during King Salman’s visit to Moscow, Saudi-owned al-Arabiya TV declared that Riyadh is buying Russian S-400 air defense missiles. This is a highly significant move because, though… Continue Reading