Iran's top security and intelligence commander, Gen. Qassem Soleimani, was killed early this morning in a drone strike that was authorized by President Donald Trump. Critics of the president's Iran policy fear the strike will lead to an escalation that could have drastic consequences throughout the Middle East, but supporters say the attack was justified.

IU Bloomington experts are available to comment on Soleimani's influence in the Middle East and the potential for Iranian retaliation. For more information, contact Marah Yankey, Indiana University, at 812-856-1442 or [email protected].

Assistant professor Hussein Banai’s research is focused on Iran’s political development as well as on United States and Iran relations. He has co-convened on a critical oral history project on U.S. and Iran relations since 2007. The project brings together former Iranian and American officials, scholars, journalists and other interested parties to explore missed opportunities and breakthroughs in U.S. and Iran relations since the Iranian Revolution in 1979.

He can be reached at 401-290-8399 or [email protected].

Distinguished Professor Jamsheed Choksy's research broadly covers the development of societies, especially sectarian communities, in Central Asia, the Near East and South Asia studied through interdisciplinary approaches involving history, religious studies, international affairs, politics, anthropology, archaeology, language, literature and numismatics. He focuses specifically on Iranian and Persian studies, Indian subcontinental studies, Zoroastrianism, Islam, and Manichaeism. Choksy has conducted fieldwork in Iran, United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka, among other countries.

He can be reached at 812-855-8643 or [email protected].

Former Ambassador of Iraq Feisal Istrabadi is the founding director of the Indiana University Center for the Study of the Middle East, a Title VI National Resource Center. He is also professor of the practice of international law and diplomacy in the Maurer School of Law and the Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies. He focuses his research on the processes of building legal and political institutions in countries in transition from dictatorship to democracy.

He can be reached at 812-855-2724 or [email protected]

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