As talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany (P5+1) move to Baghdad, leaders and analysts alike are wondering whether diplomacy will be any more successful now than during previous negotiations involving the Obama administration. To answer that question, it is important to understand why the previous talks failed and what is -- or might be -- different now.

As Israel weighs how to respond to Iran’s attack, targeting its nuclear facilities might be strategically disadvantageous.

Iran's growing confidence and Israel's perceived threats create fertile ground for a potential direct confrontation, in which the nuclear issue would be central. It's time to change course.

A study of hawkish, anti-reformist accounts shows what President Rouhani is up against.

Recent incidents put the Iranian drone program on Western observers’ radar as a new potential threat associated with the Islamic Republic. But Iran’s drone program actually started decades ago and serves a number of military and civil purposes. As Tehran deploys its drones more regularly, for more purposes and in more locations, policy-makers will have understand the program’s nature, scope, strengths, and limitations, if they want to effectively respond to it.

A year after Iran and world powers signed a historic nuclear agreement, politicians in Washington and Tehran seek to derail it as the latter continues to struggle with economic challenges. 

A new rift between Saudi Arabia and Iran has deep roots and could empower hardliners who want to see a historic agreement derailed

The deal reached in Vienna is a tremendous success, but Tehran still faces economic and political problems at home

Why sanctions against Iran's missile program have turned into a major sticking point in the Vienna nuclear negotiations

A discussion of the state of play in the apparent final days of the Iranian nuclear negotiations and the stumbling blocks remaining on the path toward a final deal 

Negotiations with Iran are still on track despite US Republican senators’ best efforts.

The conflicting interests of Iran’s most notorious military body

Why the talks could well succeed

If a nuclear deal is reached, the Nuclear Security Summit should add another seat at the table

All options in Syria are bad, but some are worse than others—and may require boots on the ground.

We've been lucky. The avian influenza (H5N1) virus that first emerged in Hong Kong in 1997 -- which killed six and caused 18 serious illnesses -- has not acquired the ability to spread easily from person to person. Virtually all of the reported cases have involved contact with infected birds or bird products.

Just 50 years after the Roman Empire grew to its largest size, a mysterious and crippling pandemic known as the Antonine plague brought it to its knees. Research on climate change and in other areas is shedding light into how the plague, which preceded centuries of decline, emerged to pack such a devastating punch.

Few things have gone right since the 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference called for a 2012 meeting to discuss establishing a WMD-free zone in the Middle East. Evidence of nuclear weapons-related research in Iran has continued to mount, putting the world, and particularly Israel, on edge. By now, the enthusiasms of 2010 seem almost quaint.

Chemical warfare is still alive and well in Syria and Iraq, because of an enduring belief among regional actors that chemical weapons will get the job done.