September 18, 2023

Washington and Tehran have reached an accord bringing U.S. hostages home from Iran and unfreezing Iranian assets. The agreement has much to recommend it, despite what critics say.

The freed Americans include U.S.-Iranian dual citizens Siamak Namazi, 51, and Emad Sharqi, 59, both businessmen, Morad Tahbaz, 67, an environmentalist who also holds British nationality, and two others who have yet to be identified.

Five Americans imprisoned in Iran and five Iranian nationals detained in the U.S. will be released, the administration told Congress.

The state of Iran's nuclear program and international diplomacy after Trump's withdrawal.

Iran’s recent willingness to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to increase transparency on its nuclear program could help open diplomatic space for additional steps toward decreasing tensions and rolling back Iran’s nuclear advances.

By Joel Rubin

Five years after Trump quit the JCPOA, efforts to revive it have given way to obituaries. But it is not entirely clear yet what the United States sees as the path forward.

Following Trump's withdrawal from the agreement, Iran stopped adhering to the limits the deal had set and day-by-day its nuclear program crept forward.

The war hawks should stop playing with Israeli and US lives and give Joe Biden room to secure an agreement that prevents an Iranian bomb.

The deal has the potential to de-escalate tensions, reduce the risk of conflict and may lead to further peace and security breakthroughs in the region.

Pulling back from diplomacy won't help human-rights protesters, and pushing toward conflict does nothing to further Western interests.