The Trump administration is seemingly reversing decades-long US policy on Russia and adopting a conciliatory tone toward Moscow while reimposing a “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran. In recent years, Iran and Russia had grown increasingly close on a variety of issues, including the current war in Ukraine, driven by their shared opposition to US and Western pressure. Could warming US-Russia ties threaten Tehran’s ostensible strategic alliance with Moscow?
This on-the-record briefing featured Alex Vatanka, MEI Senior Fellow and author of the book The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran: The United States, Foreign Policy, and Political Rivalry since 1979. The briefing also featured Iulia-Sabina Joja, Senior Fellow at MEI and European security expert with experience at the NATO Allied Command Transformation in Virginia.
Our experts discussed Washington’s overture toward Moscow and what it might mean for Iran-Russia ties, the impact of Moscow and Tehran's apparent miscalculation on Syria, Russia’s potential role in US-Iran nuclear negotiations, and the future of US-imposed sanctions on both countries.