The panel discussion will be livestreamed here on Monday, October 16, at 12:00pm (ET).
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As key international restrictions on Iran’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs are set to expire this month, Tehran supports, sponsors, and coordinates with terrorist groups like Hamas — who just brutally murdered over 1,200 Israelis. The United States and its allies are assessing how best to respond to the indiscriminate attacks on Israel while also actively seeking to mitigate fatal flaws of the 2015 nuclear deal and associated UN Security Council Resolution 2231. While the US has opted for a policy of declining pressure on Iran, the Islamic Republic has amassed enough material to produce a nuclear weapon in 12 days while simultaneously developing and testing more advanced ballistic missiles. To make matters worse, the Islamic Republic has booted inspectors from nuclear sites, leaving reduced international oversight.

How can the US stand up to the murderous regime in Iran and its network of proxies? What exactly are the upcoming “sunsets” under UN Resolution 2231? How can the West mitigate the fallout of an effective greenlighting of Iranian sales of missiles and drones to Russia?

To discuss Iran’s military and nuclear capabilities and its ongoing coordination with its global network of terror surrogates, FDD will host an event featuring:

• David Albright, founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security
• Shannon Crawford, ABC News reporter
• Behnam Ben Taleblu, FDD senior fellow
• Bradley Bowman, senior director of FDD’s Center on Military and Political Power
• Richard Goldberg, FDD senior advisor and former director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction
• Eyal Hulata, FDD senior international fellow and former Israeli national security advisor
• Anthony Ruggiero, senior director of FDD’s Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program and former deputy assistant to the president for national security affairs and National Security Council senior director for counterproliferation and biodefense
• Jonathan Schanzer, FDD senior vice president for research
• Andrea Stricker, FDD research fellow and deputy director of FDD’s Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program

David Albright

David Albright is founder and President of the non-profit Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS)  in Washington, D.C. He directs the project work of ISIS, heads its fundraising efforts, and chairs its board of directors. In addition, he is a renowned physicist, regularly publishing and conducting scientific research. He has written numerous assessments on secret nuclear weapons programs throughout the world and co-authored four books. During his career, Albright has testified numerous times on nuclear issues before the U.S. Congress. Albright cooperated actively with the IAEA Action Team from 1992 until 1997, focusing on analyses of Iraqi documents and past procurement activities. In June 1996, he was the first non-governmental inspector of the Iraqi nuclear program.  In the spring of 2003, after the fall of Baghdad, he initiated a successful effort to retrieve the only complete set of classified Iraqi documents, hidden since the 1991 Gulf War, about making gas centrifuges to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. He has spoken to and briefed innumerous government decision- makers, and trained many government officials in non-proliferation policy making.

Behnam Ben Taleblu

Behnam Ben Taleblu is a senior fellow at FDD where he focuses on Iranian security and political issues. Behnam previously served as a research fellow and senior Iran analyst at FDD. Prior to his time at FDD, Behnam worked on non-proliferation issues at an arms control think-tank in Washington. Leveraging his subject-matter expertise and native Farsi skills, Behnam has closely tracked a wide range of Iran-related topics including: nuclear non-proliferation, ballistic missiles, sanctions, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the foreign and security policy of the Islamic Republic, and internal Iranian politics.

Bradley Bowman

Bradley Bowman serves as senior director of the Center on Military and Political Power at the FDD, where he focuses on U.S. defense strategy and policy. He has served as a national security advisor to members of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees, as well as an active duty U.S. Army officer, Black Hawk pilot, and assistant professor at West Point. Bradley spent nearly nine years in the U.S. Senate, including six years as the top defense advisor to Senator Kelly Ayotte, then-senior Republican on the Armed Services Readiness and Management Support Subcommittee. Bradley also served as national security advisor to Senator Todd Young and worked as a Council on Foreign Relations international affairs fellow on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Shannon Crawford

Shannon Crawford covers the State Department for ABC News, reporting on a wide range of issues, including Americans wrongfully detained abroad, and the war in Ukraine, U.S. relations with China and Russia. Shannon is often travels with the press corps accompanying the Secretary of State on missions around the world, where she observes the critical negotiations and diplomacy that directly impact American interests. She has also questioned a number of world leaders in one-on-one interviews and press conferences, including pressing the president of Iran on his regime’s crackdown against sweeping protests over the treatment of the country’s women and girls.

Richard Goldberg

Richard Goldberg is a senior advisor at FDD. From 2019-2020, Richard served as the Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction for the White House National Security Council. He previously served as chief of staff for Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and deputy chief of staff and senior foreign policy adviser to former U.S. Senator Mark Kirk of Illinois in both the U.S. House and Senate. He was a founding staff director of the House U.S.-China Working Group. Richard is a leader in efforts to expand U.S. missile defense cooperation with Israel, he played a key role in U.S. funding for the Arrow-3 program, Iron Dome and the deployment of an advanced missile defense radar to the Negev Desert.

Eyal Hulata

Eyal Hulata is a senior international fellow at the FDD and the first foreign visiting fellow at FDD headquarters. From July 2021 to January 2023, Dr. Hulata served as Israel’s national security advisor and head of Israel’s National Security Council (NSC). Eyal served under Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Prime Minister Yair Lapid. During his tenure, Eyal coordinated the national effort on Iran, coordinated the maritime border agreement with Lebanon, and co-headed the Strategic Consultation Group with his American counterpart, Jake Sullivan.  Earlier in his career, Eyal served for more than 20 years in Israeli national security roles.  For his achievements, Eyal was awarded the prestigious Israeli Defense Award.

Jonathan Schanzer

Jonathan Schanzer is senior vice president for research at FDD, where he oversees the work of the organization’s experts and scholars. Jonathan previously worked as a terrorism finance analyst at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he played an integral role in the designation of numerous terrorist financiers. He has held previous think tank research positions at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Middle East Forum. Jonathan has written hundreds of articles on the Middle East, along with more than a dozen monographs and chapters for edited volumes. Jonathan testifies often before Congress and publishes widely in the American and international media.

Andrea Stricker

Andrea Stricker is deputy director of FDD’s Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program and an FDD research fellow.  She is an expert on nuclear weapons proliferation and illicit procurement networks. Andrea has extensively researched Iran’s nuclear program, including its history, proliferation efforts, and diplomatic agreements, particularly issues relating to the Iran nuclear deal and Iran’s Nuclear Archive.  Her other areas of interest include non-proliferation regimes and related United Nations resolutions, chemical and biological weapons, illicit finance, Middle East security dynamics, sanctions, and U.S. foreign policy.