As commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, a unit responsible for countless acts of international terrorism, Major General Qassem Suleimani manages all aspects of Teheran’s external military strategy in the Middle East. In Lebanon, Suleimani coordinates Iranian activities with Hezbollah. In Iraq, he controls the Iranian-financed Shia militias. In Syria, he directs Iran’s extensive materiel and financial support for the Assad regime and its allied foreign fighters. And in U.S. military circles, Suleimani is best known for his proxy campaign against American soldiers after the second Gulf War—which resulted in hundreds of U.S. combat deaths and thousands of serious injuries.
And yet the Iran Deal announced on July 14, 2015 will grant sanctions relief to Qassem Suleimani—along with any number of other well-known terrorist figures, including Ahmad Vahidi, one of the masterminds of the Buenos Aires Jewish community center bombing, and Anis Naccache, the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese national who once served as deputy to Carlos the Jackal.
How will sanctions relief for Suleimani and others like him affect ongoing conflicts and tensions in the Middle East? Once emboldened and empowered by the removal of existing sanctions (asset freezes, travel bans, and so forth), how can these men—and the very real threats they pose—be contained and deterred?
On Friday, August 28th, Hudson Institute hosted a timely panel discussion on the implications of sanctions relief for terrorist figures like Qassem Suleimani. Experts with first-hand knowledge of Suleimani and his associates’ deadly activities—including Derek Harvey, Jack Keane, and Michael Pregent—joined Hudson Senior Fellow Lee Smith for a penetrating analysis of this too-often-overlooked aspect of the P5+1’s agreement with Iran.
Join Hudson Institute Senior Fellows Michael Doran and Ludovic Hood, Research Fellow Zineb Riboua, and Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, for a timely discussion about the conflicts in the region and America’s strategic and diplomatic paths forward.
Join Senior Fellow Dr. Rebeccah Heinrichs and Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) for a fireside discussion on how Congress can guide American strategy, the need to modernize the defense industrial base, and the vital role of allies and partners in an unstable international environment.
Join Senior Fellow Michael Doran for a candid conversation with H.E. Narek Mkrtchyan, ambassador of the Republic of Armenia to the United States of America, as they discuss the developments, challenges, and opportunities defining the US-Armenia relationship.
Please join Hudson Institute’s China Center as Miles Yu hosts a panel with key members of Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan and the Democratic Progressive Party to examine Taiwan’s mobilization efforts against the CCP’s increasing threats.
