Iran

Upcoming elections offer an opportunity to turn Iraq around—and contain Iran in the process.

India’s tricky regional balance of power isn’t made any easier by sectarian tensions.

Why any new agreement would likely be worse than resuscitating the existing deal.

Law and precedent bar the new administration from diplomacy before Inauguration Day. But that doesn’t mean its hands are tied.

This week’s escalation of tensions by Tehran looks like blackmail to force Biden to abandon sanctions—and give up leverage over the regime.

The newest move could be negotiating leverage, but it’s set to worsen already strained U.S.-Iran relations in the final weeks of the Trump administration.

The world in 2021 will be haunted by the legacies of 2020: an ongoing pandemic, an economic crisis, Donald Trump’s divisive presidency—and new threats emanating from wars and climate change.

With much of the world in lockdown again, here are some of this year’s highlights to help you pass the time.

In 2020, the Trump administration sought to bury the Iran nuclear deal for good. Biden is poised to breathe new life into the pact. 

Insisting that Iran must abandon its missile program could fall into the hardliners’ trap and make a new agreement impossible.

Swedes can’t figure out their government’s coronavirus approach, a progressive push on U.S. foreign policy, and an honest assessment of the Arab Spring’s fallout.

Moving quickly to resurrect the JCPOA, as Biden seems set to do, would start his presidency with a hugely divisive controversy.

Despite reports of a major Chinese-Iranian trade deal, Beijing won’t jeopardize the possibility of better relations with Washington in order to cozy up to Tehran.

The president-elect’s picks have deep experience in the Washington establishment. It’s unclear whether the party’s left can make its voice heard in the new administration.

Moderates will lose the June 2021 presidential election in Iran unless there is a new agreement and sanctions relief—and the United States can forget diplomacy if hardliners win.

The killing of a top nuclear scientist has unsettled Tehran, but it’s still talking about a new deal with the United States.

The U.S. president-elect wants to reengage with Iran, but Israel has other plans.

The Saudis need to get on Biden’s good side. Obvious places to start include releasing women’s rights activists.

The killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, a top nuclear scientist, will complicate the incoming Biden administration’s efforts to renew the nuclear deal—and could lead to escalation.