Author

Ray Takeyh

RAY TAKEYH is Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle East Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. A Senior Adviser on Iran at the State Department in the Obama administration, he is the author of The Last Shah: America, Iran, and the Fall of the Pahlavi Dynasty.

By this author

Trump’s Middle East Order

The President’s Transactional Style Is Well Suited to the Region

December 4, 2025

The Right Path to Regime Change in Iran

How America and Israel Can Create the Conditions for the Toppling of the Islamic Republic

Eric S. Edelman, Reuel Marc Gerecht, and Ray Takeyh

June 20, 2025

Iran’s New Patrons

Why China and Russia Are Stepping Up Their Support

Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh

September 7, 2023

Iran’s Protesters Want Regime Change

America Should Lend Them a Hand

Eric S. Edelman and Ray Takeyh

January 2, 2023

The Bomb Will Backfire on Iran

Tehran Will Go Nuclear—and Regret It

October 18, 2021

The Other Carter Doctrine

Jimmy Carter’s Secret Program for Regime Change in Iran—and What It Means for U.S. Policy Today

February 26, 2021

The Next Iranian Revolution

Why Washington Should Seek Regime Change in Tehran

Eric Edelman and Ray Takeyh

Labeling Iran’s Revolutionary Guard

Why Trump Should Designate It a Terrorist Group

Mark Dubowitz and Ray Takeyh

March 6, 2017

How Trump Should Contain Iran

Beyond the Nuclear Deal

Robert Joseph and Ray Takeyh

December 15, 2016

Can’t Have It Both Ways in Iran

Between Accommodation and Confrontation

Reuel Marc Gerecht and Ray Takeyh

July 13, 2016

The Death of Iran’s Islamic Left

How the Elections Hurt the Reformers

Ray Takeyh and Reuel Marc Gerecht

March 8, 2016

Time to Get Tough on Tehran

Iran Policy After the Deal

Eliot A. Cohen, Eric S. Edelman, and Ray Takeyh

Iran’s ISIS Trap

How Tehran Uses the Terrorist Group to Get Ahead

Ray Takeyh and Reuel Marc Gerecht

November 15, 2015

What Really Happened in Iran

The CIA, the Ouster of Mosaddeq, and the Restoration of the Shah

Near Eastern Promises

Why Washington Should Focus on the Middle East

Kenneth M. Pollack and Ray Takeyh

Don’t Get Suckered by Iran

Fix the Problems With the Interim Accord

Mitchell B. Reiss and Ray Takeyh

January 2, 2014

The Containment Conundrum

How Dangerous Is a Nuclear Iran?

Barry R. Posen, Barry Rubin, James M. Lindsay, and Ray Takeyh

Response July/Aug 2010

After Iran Gets the Bomb

Containment and Its Complications

James M. Lindsay and Ray Takeyh

The Costs of Containing Iran

Washington’s Misguided New Middle East Policy

Vali Nasr and Ray Takeyh

Time for Détente With Iran

Changing the Guard, Keeping the Nuclear Card

June 22, 2005

Taking on Tehran

Kenneth Pollack and Ray Takeyh

Warming Up to Libya

September 2, 2003

The Rogue Who Came in From the Cold