Iran’s role in the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, a close ally of Tehran, continues to be contested, but there is no dispute that Iran set the stage for the Hamas attack by arming, training, and advising the group over several decades.| The Soufan Center
After a more than six-month hiatus in diplomatic talks to revive the 2015 multilateral Iran nuclear agreement (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA) that the Trump administration exited in 2018, U.S. and Iranian officials have reportedly been conducting indirect talks to de-escalate burgeoning tensions.| The Soufan Center
As of mid-August, international diplomats and proliferation experts have begun to consider Iran a “threshold nuclear state,” based on the significant advances its nuclear program has made since President Trump withdrew the United States from the multilateral Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018| The Soufan Center
In Vienna, Austria, the United States and three European partners (France, the United Kingdom, and Germany), joined by Russia and China, have been negotiating with Iran over the past year to restore full U.S. and Iranian compliance with the 2015 multilateral Iran nuclear agreement| The Soufan Center
The unexpected May 19 death of Iran’s President Ibrahim Raisi in the crash of the helicopter returning him and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian from an official visit to neighboring Azerbaijan will not produce any short-term changes in Iranian domestic or regional policies.| The Soufan Center
Conventional wisdom holds that Iran’s domestic and national security policies will not be altered by the sudden death of President Ibrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash on May 19 – either before the June 28 special election to replace Raisi, or during subsequent leadership competitions thereafter.| The Soufan Center
Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, U.S. and allied officials have used all available tools of national power to counter efforts by Iran and the regional armed factions it supports to help Hamas battle Israel.| The Soufan Center
The Sultanate of Oman, under the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said and led since early 2020 by Sultan Haythim bin Tariq Al Said, has historically sought to engage a wide range of leaders and factions to promote conflict resolution| The Soufan Center