Alex Vatanka

Alex Vatanka is the director of the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute. His most recent book is The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran: The United States, Foreign Policy, and Political Rivalry Since 1979.

Articles by Alex Vatanka

An Iranian woman walks past a mural in Tehran on Nov. 5. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)

Iran and the United States Can be Friends

Argument

November 28, 2018, 11:02 AM

Hassan Rouhani delivers a speech under portraits of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, on June 3, 2014. (Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images)

Rouhani’s Path to Becoming Supreme Leader

Argument

August 29, 2018, 12:15 PM

President Donald Trump takes questions from reporters at the White House on Oct. 13. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Donald Trump Needs a Good Cop on Iran

Argument

October 13, 2017, 2:16 PM

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Iran Is Not About to Fall for Trump’s Trap

Argument

August 18, 2017, 10:11 AM

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Iran’s Islamic State Problem Isn’t Going Away

Argument

June 19, 2017, 7:16 AM

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Rouhani Goes to War Against Iran’s Deep State

Argument

May 18, 2017, 9:02 AM

Iranian presidential hopeful Ebrahim Raisi speaks at Houri mosque in southern Tehran, Iran, Monday, April 10, 2017. Raisi, a hard-line cleric and close ally of Iran's supreme leader, has announced he will run in the May presidential election. Iranian hardliners had hope Raisi would challenge incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, who is eligible to run for a second term. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

The Supreme Leader’s Apprentice Is Running for President

Argument

April 12, 2017, 5:22 PM

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Mo’ Rials, Mo’ Problems

Argument

February 16, 2016, 10:48 AM

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