Ali Vaez Senior Adviser to the President & Project Director, Iran Please submit all media inquiries to avaez@crisisgroup.org or call +32 (0) 2 536 00 71 Crisis Group Role Ali Vaez is Crisis Group's Iran Project Director and Senior Adviser to the President. He led Crisis Group’s efforts in helping to bridge the gaps between Iran and the P5+1 that led to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal. Previously, he served as a Senior Political Affairs Officer at the United Nations Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and was the Iran Project Director at the Federation of American Scientists. He is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service and a Fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Professional Background Trained as a scientist, Vaez has more than a decade of experience in journalism. He has written widely on Iranian affairs and is a regular contributor to mainstream media outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs. He is a frequent guest on CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and NPR. Vaez was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University from 2008 to 2010 and holds a Ph.D. from the University of Geneva and a master's degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. Languages Persian French English In The News 29 Apr 2020 Depriving Tehran from having access to the arms market will compel Iran to double down on its support for proxies and its ballistic missiles program. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Ali Vaez Senior Adviser to the President & Project Director, Iran 15 Apr 2020 The Iranians are keen on demonstrating to the U.S. that the COVID crisis has neither debilitated them nor has altered their strategic calculus. Time Ali Vaez Senior Adviser to the President & Project Director, Iran 1 Apr 2020 [The Trump administration] think[s] that the timeline for bringing Iran to its knees has shortened because of the coronavirus. New York Times Ali Vaez Senior Adviser to the President & Project Director, Iran 18 Mar 2020 [The sanctions] are a testament to this administration's doctrinal belief in the effectiveness of sanctions to bring Iran to its knees. Middle East Eye Ali Vaez Senior Adviser to the President & Project Director, Iran 12 Mar 2020 The Iranian leadership knows that if it curbs the [International Atomic Energy Agency’s] inspections, it will lose the support of all the remaining parties to the JCPOA. Bloomberg Ali Vaez Senior Adviser to the President & Project Director, Iran 5 Mar 2020 The coronavirus has basically done what the Trump administration’s sanctions failed to do: effectively completely isolated Iran. South China Morning Post Ali Vaez Senior Adviser to the President & Project Director, Iran Latest Updates Commentary / Middle East & North Africa 18 February 2021 Biden Should Cap, Freeze and Roll Back Iran’s Nuclear Program Iranian and U.S. leaders face domestic pressure to further harden their positions in negotiations to revive the faltering 2015 nuclear accord. Both parties should start a three-phase synchronised process to bring them back into compliance with their nuclear deal obligations before Iran’s June presidential elections. Op-Ed / The Covid-19 Pandemic and Deadly Conflict 18 March 2020 The Coronavirus Crisis is a Diplomatic Opportunity for the United States and Iran Washington and Tehran could use the public health emergency to show goodwill, dial down tensions while saving face, and avoid a dangerous confrontation. Originally published in Foreign Policy Commentary / Gender and Conflict 6 March 2020 U.S. “Maximum Pressure” on Iran Hurts the Women It Claims to Help To help justify its coercive measures against the Islamic Republic, Washington often evokes Iranian women’s struggles for inclusion and equality. But evidence from today’s Iran shows that U.S. policies are instead contributing to holding women back. Commentary / Middle East & North Africa 5 November 2019 U.S. Maximum Pressure Meets Iranian Maximum Pressure Eighteen months after Washington quit the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement, Tehran is proceeding with staggered steps away from its own compliance. The deal is unravelling against the backdrop of high regional tensions. A de-escalation along the lines developed by France provides an off-ramp. Commentary / Middle East & North Africa 20 September 2019 After the Aramco Attack: A Middle East One Step Closer to Its “1914 Moment” On 14 September, strikes of uncertain provenance hit Saudi Arabia’s largest oil facilities, taking some 50 per cent of the kingdom’s oil production temporarily offline. Crisis Group offers a 360-degree view of the attacks and their implications for Middle Eastern and international peace and security. Load more