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 incident might convince Khamenei and his advisors that their meddling in the Middle East is jeopardizing the regime’s domestic stability.
Iran’s Supreme Leader has promised “hard revenge” for the killing of commander Qassem Soleimani. We don’t know whether, in Shia Islam, revenge is a dish best served cold—but it would be foolish not to expect an early response. The oil market signaled fears of interruption, with Brent crude hitting a six-month high of $69 per barrel and U.S. crude climbing marginally less in percentage terms. Last September’s devastating attack on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq processing plant is an indication of what Iran can do. The response, so far, of the Gulf states has been understandably cautious...
