The Iranian Nuclear Challenge: Options for the Biden Administration

Iran's nuclear program is accelerating, and the Iran nuclear deal--which the United States withdrew from in 2018--is hanging on by a thread. President Biden and his advisors have pledged to renew nuclear diplomacy with Iran and have offered to return to compliance with the deal if Iran does the same. But is returning to the nuclear agreement possible? Is it desirable? How can the United States best prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon, address the range of other concerns about Tehran's behavior, and limit the risks of proliferation in the region? This presentation will address these and other questions surrounding the challenges posed by Iran's nuclear program.

Eric Brewer is deputy director and senior fellow with the Project on Nuclear Issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Mr. Brewer has extensive experience working nuclear proliferation challenges in the U.S. government, including Iran and North Korea. Prior to joining CSIS, Mr. Brewer was a council on Foreign Relations International Affairs fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Mr. Brewer also served as the director for Counterproliferation at the National Security Council, where he was responsible for coordinating U.S. policy to prevent and reverse the spread of nuclear weapons, their delivery systems, and related technologies. While at the NSC, Mr. Brewer played a lead role in developing and executing elements of U.S. North Korea policy. From 2014 to 2017, Mr. Brewer served as deputy national intelligence officer for WMD and Proliferation at the National Intelligence Council. In that capacity, he led the Intelligence Community's analysis of foreign nuclear weapons capabilities and intentions, proliferation trends, and over-the-horizon proliferation threats.