Speaking with Al Jazeera’s NewsHour, AGSIW Senior Resident Scholar Hussein Ibish discussed the Iranian presidential election:  “Assuming he is allowed to run, former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could greatly complicate the race by introducing a populist candidacy with Persian ethnic-nationalist, and working and middle class economic, appeals that potentially have a broad base of support, and are a kind of Iranian equivalent to the Trump and Brexit-style populist politics sweeping much of the Western world.” Ibish also appeared on VOA’s Encounter to discuss the implications of the Syrian civil war.

He additionally commented on U.S. President Donald J. Trump’s response to the chemical attacks in Syria for AFP: “There is a moral affront and there is maybe a personal anger, even a humiliation for Trump.”