On February 28, the U.S. launched Operation Epic Fury, a coordinated attack between the United States and Israel targeting strategic military infrastructure and regime leadership in Iran, resulting in the killing of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. These strikes follow protracted tensions over Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs, and coincide with broader proxy escalations, including engagements involving Iranian-aligned groups such as Hezbollah in Lebanon. Retaliatory missile and drone launches from Iran have targeted Israeli cities as well as U.S. bases across the Gulf, intensifying an already volatile regional security environment. 

On Thursday, March 5, at 8 am PT, the Pacific Council is hosting a rapid response webinar to discuss the current U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran and what we can anticipate as debates intensify over strategic objectives, the legal basis for military action, and the long-term costs of sustained engagement. Members will hear from Ambassador (ret.) Barbara Leaf, the Senior International Policy Advisor at Arnold & Porter and former Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, and Dr. Jerrold D. Green, Interim President & CEO and Middle East and South Asia Senior Fellow at the Pacific Council.

Why it's important:

• The death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei leaves no obvious successor, creating a power vacuum for the Islamic Republic regime. 
• Fears of a wider conflict are rising as Iran continues to target U.S. assets in the Gulf, including strikes in Doha, Dubai, and Manama.
• At least 175 people were killed in a strike on a girls’ school in Iran, located near the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps naval base.  
• Crude oil prices have surged by 8% following the attack on Iran, with shipping companies halting trade through the Strait of Hormuz, a key chokepoint of trade for oil and natural gas. 

To register for this webinar, visit the Zoom Registration Page.

Guest Speaker 

Ambassador (ret.) Barbara Leaf is a seasoned, dynamic leader of large, complex organizations in the U.S. and abroad. She brings more than three decades of government service and diplomatic experience to provide strategic counsel to clients across a range of trade and commerce, foreign policy, national security, and legislative issues.

Most recently, Ambassador Leaf served as Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, developing and implementing policies and programs for 18 countries from Morocco to the Arabian Peninsula. During her tenure, she intensified collaboration between U.S. government agencies and Middle Eastern governments and their private sectors to deepen business-to-business ties and expand bilateral trade. Drawing on her extensive experience with the Gulf in particular, Ambassador Leaf energetically promoted U.S. efforts to further regional economic integration through new multilateral transportation and trade corridors linking India through the Gulf to Israel and Europe. Her years of collaborative work with senior Iraqi and Gulf officials on regional security and economic issues built relationships of trust that enabled Ambassador Leaf to deal successfully with market impediments and improve business environments for U.S. firms.

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Presider

Dr. Jerrold D. Green is the Global Advisor to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and a Senior Fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations. He is the Interim President & CEO of the Pacific Council on International Policy where he serves as the Senior Fellow for the Middle East and South Asia. Green was a Partner at Best Associates in Dallas, Texas, a merchant banking firm with global operations. He also occupied senior management positions at the RAND Corporation where he was awarded the RAND Medal for Excellence. Dr. Green has a B.A. (summa cum laude) from the University of Massachusetts/Boston, as well as an M.A. and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago. His academic career began at the University of Michigan and he subsequently joined the University of Arizona where he became a Professor of Political Science and Sociology as well as Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies. He also served as a Research Professor of Communication, Business, and International Relations at the University of Southern California.

Green has lived and worked in Egypt, where he was a Fulbright Fellow, Iran, and Israel. He has been a visiting fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Science's West Asian Studies Center in Beijing; a visiting lecturer at the Havana based Center for African and Middle East Studies (CEAMO), a fellow at the Australian Defense College, and delivered papers at conferences sponsored by the Iranian Institute of International Affairs in Tehran. Dr. Green led three U.S. Department of Defense sponsored fact-finding delegations to Afghanistan, one to Iraq, and has served as an observer at the legal proceedings at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, conducted by the U.S. Department of Defense. 

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To register for this webinar, visit the Zoom Registration Page.