Iran’s nuclear program, despite the unprecedented June bombings by the United States, has likely been set back for months and not years, as two of the three targeted sites escaped destruction, according to news reports. Will the Trump administration choose a combat-based strategy or press for a new round of talks? Middle East Policy’s free special issue, The Israel-Iran War, examines the key issues and stakes of the next moves.
The Israel-Iran War draws on the journal’s vast archive to provide new analyses of the post-October 7 regional order alongside older articles that probe the key moments that set the stage for a conflict that has been churning since the 1980s. The 14 original articles and four book reviews feature veteran scholars and practitioners like Thomas Juneau, Trita Parsi, Chas W. Freeman Jr., Shibley Telhami, Mark N. Katz, Paul Pillar, and William J. Perry.
All articles are free to read this month!
The special issue kicks off with Thomas Juneau’s open-access article contending that Iran’s “annus horribilis” in 2024 has left the Islamic Republic as weak as it has been since the revolution. The analysis, published just before the June 2025 war, shows that Tehran’s effective loss of proxies like Hezbollah and the tit-for-tat exchanges with Israel last year “humiliatingly illustrated Iran’s relative conventional military inferiority” and created an asymmetry in Netanyahu’s favor. While there is some speculation that President Donald Trump is willing to re-enter negotiations with Iran, Juneau stresses that there are several obstacles, including the fact that Tehran does not trust Washington to live up to a deal.
From there, the special issue dives into the drivers of the war: the long-simmering conflict between Israel and Iran, from sharing common enemies to engaging in an arms race; the buildup of US-Iran enmity, which could have been derailed in the 1980s and persisted despite opportunities for diplomacy; and the nuclear program and Trump’s scuttling of the Obama-era deal.
The Israel-Iran War is available for free to all readers, even those without a subscription.
Middle East Policy has also released its Summer 2025 journal, the 164th in its history, featuring interviews with victorious Syrians; an explanation of how military reservists in Israel are challenging Netanyahu; deep dives into how middle powers like Saudi Arabia and Turkey are able to balance threats, as well as how the United Arab Emirates can flex its muscles despite US preferences; and much more.
Middle East Policy, The Israel-Iran War—special issue!
THE BREWING CONFLICT
Iran’s Annus Horribilis in 2024: Beaten, but Not Defeated
Thomas Juneau, 2025
The Impact of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Beliefs on Israel’s War against the Axis of Resistance
Emir Hadžikadunić | Marko Ćuže, 2025
Iran’s Ballistic-Missile and Space Program: An Assessment
Gawdat Bahgat, 2019
Iran and Israel: The Avoidable War
Trita Parsi, 2007
Israeli Foreign Policy After the Gulf War
Shibley Telhami, 1992
WASHINGTON TAKES ISRAEL’S SIDE
Conjuring an Enemy: US Discourse and Policy on Iran, 1979–88
Annie Tracy Samuel, 2025
Lessons from America’s Misadventures in the Middle East
Chas W. Freeman, 2015
Iran and America: Is Rapprochement Finally Possible?
Mark N. Katz, 2005
The Strategic Functions of US Aid to Israel
Stephen Zunes, 1996
Gulf Security and US Policy
William J. Perry, 1992
THE NUCLEAR CONFRONTATION
Negotiating the Restoration of the Iran Nuclear Deal
Wyn Rees | Hossein Salimian Rizi, 2024
Negotiating the Impossible? A WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East
Robert Mason, 2025
Israel’s Future and Iran’s Nuclear Program
Leonard Weiss, 2009
Iran and the Arab World: Implications of the Nuclear Negotiations
James N. Miller | Nabeel Khoury | Paul Pillar | Sara Vakhshouri, 2015
BOOK REVIEWS
The World Powers and Iran: Before, During, and After the Nuclear Deal, by Banafsheh Keynoush
Reviewed by Mahmood Monshipouri, 2025
A New U.S. Paradigm for the Middle East: Ending America’s Misguided Policy of Domination, by Paul Pillar, Andrew Bacevich, Annelle Sheline, and Trita Parsi
Reviewed by Ken Weisbrode, 2020
Europe and Iran: The Nuclear Deal and Beyond, by Cornelius Adebahr; Nuclear Multilateralism and Iran: Inside EU Negotiations, by Tarja Cronberg
Reviewed by Naysan Rafati, 2017
Reagan: His Life and Legend, by Max Boot
Reviewed by A.R. Joyce, 2025