Center for Middle East Policy

This may initiate a nuclear crisis...They can’t march to a bomb tomorrow, but this will dramatically change the dynamic and they can reduce the timeline.

We have moved from kind of a shadow war and an economic war to direct acts of war by the Trump administration

Over time, the Iranians have a way of making their feelings known...Don’t be surprised if it takes time for the other shoe to drop.

Soleimani himself has long been designated as a terrorist. He has been the foremost adversary for American efforts to try to promote stability, to try to ensure independent government rather than puppet government or other powers.

This is an intensely dangerous moment, but as always with Iran, we should be wary of hyperbolic predictions...Tehran is well practiced at calibrating retaliation around its real interests, which ultimately concern regime survival and targeting its reprisals with deliberation and precision.