Since Iran’s clandestine nuclear portfolio was made public in 2002, the Islamic regime has stood in defiance of international calls to halt its nuclear activities. United Nations (UN) Security Council Resolution 1696 demanded Iran suspend its nuclear program by August 31, 2006, or risk facing possible economic and diplomatic sanctions. The UN deadline came and went, and over a month later little action has been taken. Now the United States and its European allies, divided, must determine how best to punish a noncompliant Iran.

What must the international community do in order to compel compliance from Iran? What economic levers are available, and can they be meaningful? Should the United States work with internal Iranian movements to pressure the regime? And at the end of the day, is there really a military option?

Speakers at this AEI event will include Patrick Clawson, deputy director of research of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; Thomas Donnelly, senior advisor in the Center for Strategic and International Studies International Security Program; Danielle Pletka, vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at AEI; and Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at AEI.