Simon Henderson is the Baker Senior Fellow and director of the Bernstein Program on Gulf and Energy Policy at The Washington Institute, specializing in energy matters and the conservative Arab states of the Persian Gulf.
Articles & Testimony
The ball has bounced mostly in the regime’s direction since 1979, though Tehran may now be approaching the revolutionary equivalent of imperial overstretch.
Much of the news this week could be about Iran—past, present and future. Forty years ago, the Islamic revolution was at its height. This week, there will be a U.S.-organized ministerial meeting in Warsaw to discuss the Middle East. To the extent Secretary of State Mike Pompeo can manage, Iran will dominate the agenda. From the perhaps unlikely location of the Polish capital, he will be wanting to change the course of Middle Eastern history, which has seen Iran emerge as an increasingly threatening force to American allies in the region. I speak from the experience of being in Tehran 40 years ago, reporting for the BBC and the Financial Times...