President Trump and his foreign policy aides are divided over how to address Iran’s advancing nuclear program. The issue has become progressively more acute – for the United States and particularly for Israel, which identifies Iran’s nuclear program as an “existential threat” – as Iran assembles the fissile material and knowledge it would need to […]| The Soufan Center
Tensions in the Persian Gulf and broader Middle East escalated dramatically on Thursday when Israel undertook what it said was a “preemptive” attack on Iranian nuclear facilities. Israeli leaders stated more such attacks would follow. According to reports and Iranian state media late Thursday night, Brigadier General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the Iranian […]| 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
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
Since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, Iran’s advancing nuclear program has been somewhat eclipsed as a strategic challenge by Tehran’s backing of a broad “Axis of Resistance” attacking Israel, U.S. forces in the region, and commercial shipping in the Red Sea.| The Soufan Center