Is the Iran War Coming to an End?

The Iran war may be coming to an end, as Washington and Tehran prepare to sign a framework agreement later this week. That deal should reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the blockade of Iranian ports, even as it leaves unresolved the issues that brought both sides to war in the first place, including the fate of Iran’s nuclear program. But policymakers in Washington and other capitals are just starting to confront the ways in which the war has transformed Iran—and how it could transform the Middle East moving forward.

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In a recent essay for Foreign Affairs, Narges Bajoghli and Vali Nasr argue that members of a new, emboldened generation of Iranian leaders are forging an entirely new approach to their own society, to the United States, and to the region. Dan Kurtz-Phelan spoke to Bajoghli and Nasr on June 15 about the potential implications of a deal—and about how the last three and a half months of war will shape both the Middle East’s trajectory and the future of geopolitics more broadly.

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Sources:

“Iran’s New Grand Strategy” by Narges Bajoghli and Vali Nasr

Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History by Vali Nasr

This episode of The Foreign Affairs Interview was produced by Rachel Powell, Mary Kate Godfrey, and Kanishk Tharoor, with audio engineering by Christopher Koch and original music by Robin Hilton. Special thanks to Irina Hogan.

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