Media

Rouzbeh Parsi in conversation with Said Mahmoudi around the themes of his book Mellan Gud och stat.

Rouzbeh Parsi in conversation with Trita Parsi around the themes of his book Mellan Gud och stat.

Rouzbeh Parsi in conversation with Mohammad Fazlhashemi around the themes of his book Mellan Gud och stat.

Rouzbeh Parsi in conversation with Shora Esmailian around the themes of his book Mellan Gud och stat.

Rouzbeh Parsi discusses the escalating confrontation between the United States and Iran after US strikes destroyed several Iranian oil tankers, weighing whether the mounting economic pressure could push Tehran towards acquiring nuclear weapons.

Rouzbeh Parsi analyses the sharp escalation between the United States and Iran – US strikes on Iranian oil tankers and Iran’s missile response – warning of an ”escalation dynamic outside the negotiating room”.

Rouzbeh Parsi, Iran specialist and affiliated researcher at Lund University, joins Studio Ett alongside the programme’s Washington correspondent to explain what US finance minister Scott Bessent’s new sanctions – and his warning to countries that keep their economic ties with Iran – actually mean.

Rouzbeh Parsi, Iran specialist and researcher affiliated with Lund University, discusses the shifting balance of power in the Strait of Hormuz as more tankers pass close to Oman’s coast under American protection and Iran and Oman negotiate over safer shipping, appearing alongside Erik Hånell, CEO of Stena Bulk.

Rouzbeh Parsi joins host Taimaz Ghaffari to discuss Iran’s new maximalist demands and its apparent strategy of waiting out Trump’s term before returning to the negotiating table, the emerging Oman–Iran arrangement over the Strait of Hormuz, and whether Trump is heading for a Carter- or Hoover-style presidency.

Rouzbeh Parsi, Middle East analyst and adjunct lecturer at Lund University, joins Sveriges Radio’s Studio Ett to discuss the significance of the death sentence handed to the ousted Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and what might persuade Russia to hand him over to Syria.

Rouzbeh Parsi tells El Español that Mojtaba Khamenei is reasserting his position and beginning to build his own architecture of the Iranian state in a time of war, as the leadership reorganises its military and security command.

Rouzbeh Parsi tells The New Arab that Iran regards uninterrupted passage through the Strait of Hormuz as more vital to the world economy than to Iran itself, and that any genuine lifting of sanctions would require concrete, verifiable US commitments. He warns that markets will remain skittish until the wider US–Iran confrontation is resolved.

Rouzbeh Parsi tells the Neue Zürcher Zeitung that the emerging understanding is a major step forward from Iran’s perspective, but that Tehran still needs a long-term deal with the United States, noting that formalising Iran’s role in the strait runs directly counter to Trump’s war aims.

Rouzbeh Parsi tells Dagens Nyheter that the reported Iran–Oman understanding over the Strait of Hormuz solves nothing until a binding agreement is signed, arguing that Trump does not want to commit to anything binding and that Iran will never let him declare himself the winner.

Rouzbeh Parsi discusses reports that the United States and Iran have resumed talks over the Strait of Hormuz — a claim Tehran denies — noting that Iran says it is instead negotiating with Oman over how shipping through the strait should be managed.

Rouzbeh Parsi discusses Iran’s long history and possible futures in the wake of the spring’s US–Israeli attack, and the split it opened within the Iranian diaspora, in conversation with journalist and documentary filmmaker Sara Moein.

Rouzbeh Parsi joins a panel on how to make sense of the United States and its geopolitical turn after a year of Donald Trump, alongside international-law professor Mark Klamberg.

Rouzbeh Parsi joins Firstpost America to assess the sharp escalation between the United States and Iran, weighing Tehran’s retaliatory strikes across the Gulf, the claimed interception of a US Tomahawk missile, and the dangers to the Strait of Hormuz and wider regional security.

Rouzbeh Parsi tells de Volkskrant that a way out of the US–Iran conflict requires Washington to acknowledge it has not won the war and that compromises are unavoidable, arguing the deliberate vagueness of the ceasefire memorandum reflects Trump’s reluctance to face that.

Rouzbeh Parsi joins Studio Ett, alongside Ekot’s correspondent Lorin Ibrahim in Erbil and Marco Nilsson, professor of global studies at Jönköping University, to discuss the Iranian drone attacks on Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan and what the strikes on American bases mean for the wider Iran–US conflict.

Rouzbeh Parsi assesses the collapse of the 60-day US–Iran memorandum of understanding halfway through its term, arguing that the two sides have slid back past their starting point rather than merely taken a step back. He also warns that the renewed closure of the Strait of Hormuz comes as the American strategic oil reserve stands 20 per cent lower heading into winter.

In a question-and-answer piece for Omni’s explainer series, Rouzbeh Parsi sets out five possible ways out of the Iran war for Donald Trump – from a historic trade deal to declaring the United States the guardian angel of the Strait of Hormuz – and dismisses several of them.

Rouzbeh Parsi joined SVT’s Aktuellt to analyse the renewed fighting between the United States and Iran, explaining how the two sides’ conflicting readings of the interim agreement have fed the latest escalation.

Rouzbeh Parsi joined Taimaz Ghaffari for a full-length conversation on the military escalation between the United States and Iran, asking whether the ceasefire has collapsed or whether the escalation is itself part of the negotiation, and why Trump’s overtures to Turkey unsettle Israel.

Rouzbeh Parsi was one of four experts interviewed by Dagens Nyheter on the state of the Middle East after the latest American strikes on Iran, assessing the risks facing Washington as Tehran refuses to loosen its grip on the Strait of Hormuz.

Rouzbeh Parsi is quoted in the Norwegian daily Klassekampen on the fragile Iran–US agreement over the Strait of Hormuz, arguing that the deliberate vagueness that let both sides sign the deal has now become a problem as their interpretations diverge sharply.

Rouzbeh Parsi appeared on SVT’s evening news programme Aktuellt to analyse the fragile ceasefire between Iran and the United States, warning that the truce may already be unravelling.

Rouzbeh Parsi spoke to Sveriges Radio’s P1 Morgon about the fresh overnight exchange of attacks between the United States and Iran, calling it a game of cat and mouse and warning that, with no trust between the parties, either side could return to force at any moment.

Rouzbeh Parsi analyses the symbolism of Ayatollah Khamenei’s state funeral in Tehran, explaining how the child’s coffin of his granddaughter — killed alongside him in the February 2026 airstrike — evokes the Shia martyrdom of Imam Hussein at Kerbala, and notes that the emerging fault line in Iran’s leadership now runs between conservative pragmatists and hardliners opposed to any negotiations with the United States.

Rouzbeh Parsi joins Studio Ett, alongside Mohammad Fazlhashemi, professor of Islamic theology at Uppsala University, to discuss the start of the multi-day funeral ceremonies for Iran’s former leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the US strikes on Iran in February 2026.

Rouzbeh Parsi joins the Global Track panel, alongside defence and aerospace analyst Bharath Gopalaswami, to analyse Trump’s exit from the Iran war, the 14-point US–Iran memorandum of understanding signed on 15 June and the fragile 60-day ceasefire, and what they mean for Iran’s nuclear programme and the wider region.

Rouzbeh Parsi features in Sveriges Radio’s foreign-affairs programme Konflikt, analysing why the Trump administration’s stated aim of regime change in Iran did not materialise after the ceasefire, alongside accounts from people inside the country.

Rouzbeh Parsi, interviewed as an Iran historian at Lund University, explains why Lebanon is a litmus test for Tehran: Hizbullah is a key ally Iran cannot be seen to abandon without sending a fatal signal to its other regional partners, even as Tehran waits to see whether Israel honours Trump’s ceasefire commitments.

Rouzbeh Parsi appeared on SVT’s flagship news programme Aktuellt to analyse the newly signed agreement between the United States and Iran, discussing what the deal means for Tehran and the wider region.

Rouzbeh Parsi analyses the reported draft peace agreement between the United States and Iran, judging the announcement more credible than earlier claims because it came from the mediator Pakistan rather than from President Trump. He argues that, as an international power play, Iran is the big winner and the United States the big loser, while cautioning that a finished deal is unlikely to be ready for signing.

Rouzbeh Parsi appears as a studio guest on Studio Ett, alongside US analyst Emma Ricknell, to discuss the latest turns in the war after Donald Trump withdrew his threat of fresh strikes on Iran and signalled a possible agreement.

Rouzbeh Parsi joins Studio Ett, with North America scholar Dag Blanck, to discuss reported fighting near the Strait of Hormuz after Trump threatened Iran with renewed strikes and Iran claimed to have closed the strait.

Rouzbeh Parsi outlines three scenarios for how the conflict in the Middle East could unfold, arguing that the negotiations between the US and Iran are dysfunctional and that both sides signal a readiness to return to full-scale war rather than compromise on their core positions.

Rouzbeh Parsi tells Klassekampen why Iran’s first retaliatory strike on Israel on behalf of another country is a necessary gamble — and what the shift signals about the front line in the Middle East.

Rouzbeh Parsi tells the NZZ that Iran’s escalation over Lebanon is a means for Tehran’s leadership to test the US president, arguing the regime’s chief concern is to gauge how far Trump can rein in Israel — since any deal with Washington would be worthless if Israel were to attack Iran again afterwards.

Rouzbeh Parsi joins Studio Ett to discuss the latest exchange of attacks between Iran and Israel — why each side is acting as it is, and what it means for the ceasefire and the wider peace talks.

Rouzbeh Parsi argues that Iran’s strikes may be testing Donald Trump’s leverage over Benjamin Netanyahu — if Washington cannot restrain Israel in Lebanon, how could it broker a US–Iran peace deal?

Rouzbeh Parsi assesses why entrenched mistrust between Washington and Tehran continues to weigh on US–Iran negotiations, and how little room remains for diplomacy.

A Diplosphere analysis drawing on Rouzbeh Parsi’s reading of the Iran war — why its ramifications will reach well beyond the conflict, and what that means for smaller states’ foreign policy.

The concluding part of the Diplosphere analysis with Rouzbeh Parsi on the Iran war’s wider fallout and the choices it forces on smaller states’ foreign policy.

Rouzbeh Parsi argues that the United States has no viable military solution to Iran, and considers whether Washington’s approach is eroding its standing with Gulf allies.

Rouzbeh Parsi comments on renewed talks between Israel and Lebanon and what they signal for the fragile balance along the border and the wider region.

A documentary on Reza Pahlavi — the exiled son of Iran’s last shah and his bid to lead a future Iran — featuring Rouzbeh Parsi on the history and the prospects.

Rouzbeh Parsi unpacks Trump’s 15-point ceasefire plan for Iran — what it actually proposes, how realistic it is, and why it matters for the region.

Rouzbeh Parsi talks about his book on Iran’s long twentieth century — the forces that shaped today’s Islamic Republic and where the country may be heading.

Rouzbeh Parsi joins France 24’s The Debate to assess Iran after the killing of two senior figures in its leadership — who fills the vacuum, and where the country goes next.

Rouzbeh Parsi weighs the choices and risks facing Washington over Iran — from a limited strike to a wider war — and what each scenario would mean for the region.

A Kalam podcast conversation with Rouzbeh Parsi on the wave of protests that shook Iran — their roots, the regime’s response, and what they mean for the country’s future.

A conversation on how war and shifting alliances are redrawing the balance of power across the Middle East, and what that realignment means for Iran and the region.

Rouzbeh Parsi discusses the limits of military pressure on Iran, arguing that Israeli action alone cannot bring about political change in Tehran and that any such outcome would demand far deeper — and riskier — US involvement.