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US-Iran: the Limits of Escalation. An Expert Discussion

On January 14, at 10.00, the Valdai Discussion Club hosted an expert discussion titled “US-Iran: the Limits of Escalation.”

Iranian attacks on US bases in Iraq in retaliation for the assassination of Major General Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds Force, an elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), marked another watershed in Iran-US escalation. However, since the United States did not strike back, the overall situation didn’t spiral out of control. On the day Iran attacked the US bases, US President Donald Trump called for a tightening of sanctions against the Islamic Republic, a revision or end to the JCPOA, and a reduction of tensions in the Middle East.

In both countries, some forces pushed their leadership to pursue military measures, but the realisation prevailed that there is no need for a direct military confrontation at this stage. Although both the United States and Iran have justified their actions with the well-known Article 51 of the UN Charter on Self-Defense, their actions violated international law and make the beginning of war possible.

What next steps will the United States and Iran take in this conflict? What consequences will this escalation have for the region? How will this situation affect regional and global politics? Should Russia mediate in an attempt to resolve it, and will it? The experts at the discussion addressed these and other questions. 

Speakers:

  • Vitaly Naumkin, Full Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Academic Director of the Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences;
  • Maxim Suchkov, Senior Research Fellow at the MGIMO Centre for International Processes Analysis and Editor of "Al-Monitor" (USA).

Moderator:

  • Fyodor Lukyanov, Research Director of the Valdai Discussion Club; Chairman, Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.

Working languages: Russian, English.