Find all the latest Iran Group Statements, Policy Interventions & Briefs, Commentary and Analysis below.
In 2018, the European Leadership Network (ELN) launched an official project on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Our plan is to build on existing analytical and advocacy work to protect the JCPOA. This includes working with partners across Europe and in Washington and engaging the ELN’s senior network of political, military and diplomatic figures. Our focus is to ensure that Europe plays the fullest and most effective role possible by helping E3 governments and Brussels to better understand and address key challenges in sustaining what remains of the nuclear agreement and productively engage on peripheral issues.
The good news is that the JCPOA, although under immense stress after the US withdrawal, still survives and has entered its fourth year of implementation. The remaining JCPOA participants are working to honour their original commitments, and the ELN is proud to have played a role in supporting European – and by extension global – efforts. The bad news is that in spite of our efforts, it is likely that in 2019 pressure on Iran will grow, increasing the chances of the JCPOA’s collapse.
The ELN and The Iran Project release a joint, high-level transatlantic statement on US sanctions and the need to ease humanitarian trade with Iran in the wake of the global COVID-19 outbreak.
European think tank directors and founders from Rome to Riga issue a joint call to the US to reconsider its approach to the Iran nuclear deal.
Over 100 European political, diplomatic and military leadership figures are appealing to President Trump not to take unilateral action that would jeopardise the deal and trigger a crisis in US-Europe relations.
In October, the ELN and Hanns Seidel Foundation partnered on a track 1.5 meeting in London which brought together a range of European and Iranian participants both to assess how the JCPOA could still be revived and to consider alternative scenarios in more detail. The ELN’s Policy and Impact Director, Jane Kinninmont, captures the key highlights from the meeting.
On the eve of the seventh round of negotiations on the restoration of the JCPOA – or Iran nuclear deal – the ELN and the Bourse & Bazaar Foundation publish a set of creative ideas to help bridge gaps related to guarantees and sanctions relief.
To lead during this global crisis, Europe must boost production of medical supplies not just to meet demand at home, but also to sustain commercial exports so the developing world isn’t solely dependent on aid.
Ahead of the European Parliament’s exchange of views on the implementation of Iran’s NPT Safeguard Agreement and other nuclear obligations, this policy brief outlines growing differences on the topic between Russia and the West.
The European Leadership Network releases recommendations ahead of the 10 January meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union on Iran and the Middle East.
New analysis by Bourse & Bazaar and the European Leadership Network evaluates INSTEX’s design and operationalization.
One year on from the death of Jina Mahsa Amini at the hands of Iran’s morality police, which sparked unprecedented protests across the country in support of women’s rights, Dr. Azadeh Zamirirad calls for European decision-makers to take a feminist approach to their foreign policy with Iran and in their response to Iran’s feminist uprising.
Hamidreza Azizi examines reactions in Iran to the Wagner groups rebellion. He writes that the wide range of responses to the mutiny, from government statements and state media to independent analysts, illustrates a broader trend of polarisation in Iranian foreign policy that has been increasingly visible in recent years in a multitude of areas, from nuclear negotiations to geopolitical alliances.
It is simply unrealistic of Biden’s critics to think the US can obtain a “better deal” in which Iran makes sweeping concessions without gaining anything in return. But if the JCPOA is restored, new channels will open for multilateral diplomacy with Iran, write Esfandyar Batmanghelidj and Sahil Shah
US President Biden and his team have stated their interest in restoring alliances with Europe. Sahil Shah argues that there is no better place to start than announcing bold action on Iran and the JCPOA at this year’s Munich Security Conference, a topic that did more damage to transatlantic trust and security relations under Trump than any other issue.
The incoming US administration has said they will focus first on restoring the Iran nuclear deal before discussing Iran’s ballistic missiles during follow-on talks. What could realistically be achieved?
This week, Iran recorded its highest number of deaths from COVID-19 within a 24-hour period, pointing to a resurgence of the virus while its healthcare system tries to cope under US “maximum pressure”
The European Leadership Network can provide journalists with expert advice and commentary on key developments on Iran. For media advice or to speak to one of our experts or network members, call +44 (0)203 176 2550 or email [email protected].