President Donald Trump’s decision to delay strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure to allow space for indirect talks initially eased market fears. Yet Tehran has firmly denied that any negotiations with the United States are underway. As uncertainty over the talks persists and the conflict’s economic fallout continues to spread globally, questions are mounting about whether hostilities can end anytime soon. Meanwhile, regional US allies remain uneasy about what might be negotiated behind closed doors—and how any potential deal with Iran could affect them. What can we infer about the direction of US–Iran diplomacy? Where do Washington and its allies diverge? How realistic is a near-term end to the conflict?
To answer those questions and more, the Middle East Institute will be joined by MEI’s Distinguished Diplomatic Fellows, Ambassador Barbara Leaf and Alan Eyre. This discussion will be moderated by MEI Vice President for Policy, Dr. Ken Pollack.
Speakers
Ambassador Barbara A. Leaf is a Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow at the Middle East Institute and a Senior International Policy Advisor at Arnold & Porter. She served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from May 2022 to January 2025. Her previous assignments include Senior Director for the Middle East and North Africa and Special Assistant to the President (2021-2022), US Ambassador to the UAE (2014-2018), and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Arabian Peninsula (2013-2014).
Alan Eyre is a Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow at the Middle East Institute and the founder and president of EyreAnalytics LLC. He retired from the US Foreign Service in September 2023 after a 40-year government career. He was the sole US career diplomat to be a core member of the US nuclear negotiating team from its 2010 start to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement with Iran, serving as the team’s Iran subject matter expert and also as the State Department’s first Persian Language Spokesperson.
Dr. Kenneth M. Pollack (Moderator) is Vice President for Policy at the Middle East Institute. Dr. Pollack began his career as a Persian Gulf military analyst at the CIA and served twice on the National Security Council, first as Director for Near East and South Asian affairs and then as Director for Persian Gulf affairs.
