Five Reasons Why the Iran Nuclear Deal is Still a Really Bad Idea
Most Republicans in the House and Senate seem to have accepted that President Obama has won in his quest to enact the nuclear agreement between the P5+1 and Iran. Indeed, earlier efforts to block the deal on Capitol Hill have failed. Even Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu seems resigned to the deal’s inevitability. But not everyone …
With Iran Nuclear Deal, US Avoids Dangerous Collision with Timing of Afghan Withdrawal
In response to a renewed offer by Vice President Joe Biden at the Munich Security Conference in February for direct U.S.-Iran talks, then Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi promised that, “We are the golden key to the region.” That assertion is yet to be tested through the many pitfalls ahead as the United States …
Iran, Terrorism, and Nonproliferation After the Nuclear Deal
After years of tough negotiations and raucous debate, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) entered the implementation phase on Jan. 16. In addition to marking Tehran’s verified action to dismantle central components of its nuclear program, Implementation Day signaled the beginning of sanctions relief for Iran. Assuming implementation of the agreement continues to move …
U.S.–Iranian Relations after the Nuclear Deal: From Détente to Rapprochement?
Now that a nuclear deal has been negotiated and is likely to be implemented, what’s next for Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s foreign policy? His “World Against Violence and Extremism” (WAVE) initiative may give us some clues. On one level, this initiative seeks to recast Iran as a victim of and global partner against terrorism. On …
How the Iran Deal Could Complicate U.S. Efforts to Prevent a Nuclear Breakout
President Obama has often stated, regarding Iran’s potential nuclear weapons ambitions, that “all options are and will remain on the table” and that the United States would be able to deal with such an eventuality because “we preserve all our capabilities … our military superiority stays in place.” Administration officials have likewise claimed that the …
To Stem the Tide: Nuclear History, American Interests, and the Iran Deal
The current debate in Washington over the Iran nuclear deal is both polarizing and highly politicized, making it difficult to rationally discuss the most important question — how does the agreement fit into the long-term grand strategic interests of the United States? To better explore this issue, the deal must be removed from the day-to-day …
Down and Dirty on the Iranian Nuclear Deal
Today, the P5+1 and Iran reached agreement on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The agreement’s provisions expand upon the U.S. fact sheet, released after the previous round of nuclear negotiations with Iran concluded last April. The strength of this agreement centers on its robust monitoring of the full front end of the Iranian …
Javad’s Saga: Epic Poetry and the Iranian Nuclear Deal
Editor’s Note: This piece on the War on the Rocks Hasty Ambush blog is published in partnership with the Hoover Institution’s new Military History in the News, a weekly column from the Hoover Institution that reflects on how the study of the past alone allows us to make sense of the often baffling daily violence, not by …
Iran is Cutting its Losses with a Nuclear Deal
This week will likely — and finally — witness the dénouement of the longstanding nuclear dispute between Iran and the P5+1 (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany). Now that we’ve reached the July 7 deadline, there appears to be a strong chance that the negotiations will result in an agreement. …
International Law vs the Iranian Nuclear Negotiations: Setting a Dangerous Precedent
If any institution is representative of the international community and international law, it is the United Nations (UN). One foundational value of the UN is its ability to hold member states accountable for their actions through establishing international norms, international agreements, and the mandates of the UN Security Council. Surprisingly, no one is discussing the …
Remaining Hurdles to a Nuclear Agreement with Iran
The announcement last week of an agreement between Iran and the P5+1 on the parameters that would form the basis of a final nuclear agreement was a historic breakthrough. If the details outlined by the Obama administration hold, the final deal that is due to be negotiated by June 30, will have achieved the objective …
The Iranian Nuclear Program and its Bureaucrat-in-Chief
During negotiations with Iran over its nuclear program, President Obama repeatedly pressed the intelligence community to make a determinative judgment on the real intentions of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader. The intelligence community remained divided, however, and failed to come to a consensus on Khamenei’s policy goals. Writing in 2009, Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie …
The Key to a Nuclear Agreement with Iran? The Window of Vulnerability
For the past year, the debate on Iran’s nuclear program has focused far too much on the various technical components without examining the sum of its parts. The objective for the United States in the negotiations should not be focused on any one component (e.g. centrifuge numbers), but instead on obtaining an agreement that creates …
Three Minutes to Midnight: Closer to Nuclear Conflict Than We Think
While at Stanford last month, we had a long conversation with former Secretary of Defense William Perry about the nuclear dangers facing the world. We were struck by his provocative and frightening outlook: that the possibility of a nuclear catastrophe today is greater than it was during the Cold War. North Korea’s recent bluster only …
Rethinking the Apocalypse: Time for Bold Thinking About the Second Nuclear Age
For much of the 46-year Cold War, many of the West’s most gifted strategists focused their talents on how to prevent the two nuclear superpowers from engaging in a war that could destroy them both — and perhaps the rest of the human race along with them. With the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, the …
