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2 weeks ago | 
fdd.org | Clifford D. May |Reuel Marc Gerecht |Ray Takeyh
Last week, Abbas Araghchi, the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, said that talks with the Trump administration appear to be going well. This tells host Cliff May that from an American perspective, the talks are going badly. President Trump has said that America’s goal is the “full dismantlement” of the regime’s nuclear weapons program, including its capacity to produce missiles that could deliver nuclear warheads to targets anywhere in the world.
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3 weeks ago | 
politico.com | Reuel Marc Gerecht |Ray Takeyh
For too long, U.S. officials have fooled themselves about the nuclear-deterrent capacity of economic sanctions. Now that the Trump administration has decided to reopen negotiations, it’s important that they understand their adversary better, particularly the limits of sanctions to affect Iran’s behavior. To be sure, sanctions (along with chronic mismanagement and systemic corruption) have depleted Iran’s treasury and spurred inflation and unemployment.
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4 weeks ago | 
foreignaffairs.com | Ray Takeyh |Alexander Cooley |Rose Gottemoeller |Michael A. McFaul
After Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, many Western analysts and scholars who study post-Soviet countries expected those countries’ governments and publics to express solidarity with Ukraine and denounce Russian attempts to reclaim territory and deny Ukraine’s sovereignty.
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4 weeks ago | 
foreignaffairs.com | Ray Takeyh |Elliott Abrams |Rose Gottemoeller |Lynn Kuok
Nearly every week since taking office in January, U.S. President Donald Trump has had something to say about controlling nuclear weapons. In comments to Fox News in March, for example, he referred to these weapons as “big monsters” and the world’s “greatest existential threat,” lamenting that the United States spends “all this money on something that, if it’s used, it’s probably the end of the world.” The president’s interest is fortuitous.
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4 weeks ago | 
foreignaffairs.com | Ray Takeyh |Elliott Abrams |Nikita Lalwani |Lynn Kuok
In October 2022, the United States imposed sweeping restrictions on the export of advanced chips and chip-making equipment.
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1 month ago | 
homelandsecuritynewswire.com | Ray Takeyh
IRAN’S NUKESWhere the U.S.-Iran Nuclear Talks Are HeadedPublished 14 April 2025The Iranian position remains that the talks should focus on the nuclear issue and sanctions relief, with Iran repeatedly stating that its nuclear program is only intended for peaceful purposes. Trump has said that he only wants assurances that Iran does not produce nuclear weapons. Thus, issues such as Iran’s support for regional proxies and its missile program could be off the table.
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1 month ago | 
cfr.org | Ray Takeyh
Ray Takeyh is Hasib J. Sabbagh senior fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. What do we make of this weekend’s nuclear talks in Oman? Are there prospects for further diplomacy on denuclearization? More From Our Experts The indirect talks between the United States and Iran in Oman have achieved their foremost objective: more diplomacy.
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1 month ago | 
wsj.com | Reuel Marc Gerecht |Ray Takeyh
If Mr. Trump is similarly fearful of conflict, then protracted talks seem inevitable. For now the president is deploying his usual escalate-to-de-escalate playbook: Tough-to-swallow demands, compressed timelines, and military menace, including the deployment of two aircraft-carrier groups and B-2 bombers to the region. But Mr. Khamenei doesn’t scare easily. He is a hardened revolutionary.
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1 month ago | 
fdd.org | Reagan Easter |Reuel Marc Gerecht |Ray Takeyh
President Trump announced Monday that Iran had agreed to begin direct nuclear negotiations with the U.S. on April 12. “If they don’t make a deal,” Mr. Trump said last month, “there will be bombing. It will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.” Soon after the president’s Monday remarks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denied his claims, saying instead that “indirect high-level talks” would take place in Oman. “It is as much an opportunity as it is a test.
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1 month ago | 
tandfonline.com | Ray Takeyh
Den of Spies: Reagan, Carter, and the Secret History of the Treason that Stole the White HouseCraig Unger. New York: Mariner Books, 2024. $29.99. 368 pp.
