Deputy Director, Middle East and North Africa programme
Senior Policy Fellow
Europe-Iran relations; Iran nuclear deal and associated sanctions policy; Iranian foreign and domestic policy; Iran-Saudi relations
English, Persian
Ellie Geranmayeh is a senior policy fellow and deputy head of the Middle East and North Africa programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She specializes in European foreign policy in relation to Iran, particularly on the nuclear and regional dossiers and sanctions policy.
Geranmayeh advised European governments and companies on the nuclear negotiations between Iran and world powers from 2013-2015 and continues to brief senior policy makers on how to effectively safeguard the implementation of the nuclear agreement. Her research focus also covers wider regional dynamics including post-ISIS stabilisation and geopolitical trends in the Middle East.
She is regularly quoted by international media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, and appears on CNN, Al-Jazeera and the BBC to provide commentary on regional developments. Prior to joining ECFR, Geranmayeh worked at Herbert Smith Freehills law firm. She graduated in Law from the University of Cambridge.
Turmoil in the Middle East and north Africa directly affects Europeans. Yet their influence in the region has never been weaker. This project maps Europe’s role across the Middle East and north Africa, making the case that Europeans can do more to leverage their influence in pursuit of core interests
Washington will use the recent unrest to argue against Europe engaging with Tehran. Europeans, led by Emmanuel Macron, must lead the efforts for détente.
Over a year into the Trump administration's “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, the re-imposition of sanctions have not only placed in jeopardy the Iran nuclear…
Recording of the Lunch Discussion analysing Yemen's role in the current Gulf crisis and how recent regional developments will have an impact on the UN-coordinated…
In this episode, live from Brussels, Ellie Geranmayeh is standing in for our host Mark Leonard to discuss Iran’s further withdrawal from the 2015 Nuclear…
With the intense escalation between Iran and the US, and the potential for French mediation efforts to unravel, Europe must think carefully about its next move
This week, ECFR director Mark Leonard discusses with experts Ellie Geranmayeh and Julien Barnes-Dacey the French president Emmanuel Macron's bold initiative: Europeans are now to…
The second episode of ECFR’s summer series on strategic sovereignty explores the critical challenge that secondary sanctions pose for Europe, due to the Trump administration’s…
Boris Johnson's first foreign policy test will be avoiding stumbling the UK into a broader confrontation with Iran
With the help of Russia and China, European leaders can prevent the total collapse of the 2015 agreement—and keep the region safe
The Trump years galvanised Europeans’ efforts to strengthen their own sovereignty; they now need to agree concrete offers they can make to the new administration
Europeans wish to persuade Iran to compromise on strategic issues – but, unless they understand the dynamics of domestic Iranian politics, they will not get far
The EU and its member states should strengthen their sanctions policy and begin to build up their deterrence and resilience against secondary sanctions
Europe must salvage the nuclear deal with Iran and step-up robust diplomacy with Teran on regional issues
Recent terror attacks in Berlin, Baghdad and Istanbul demonstrate that defeating ISIS militarily is only half the battle
Joint military operations in Syria have brought Russia and Iran relations closer than at any point since World War II
The sixth ECFR Foreign Policy Scorecard highlights the EU's diminishing ability to influence its neighbours, and the neighbourhood's growing impact on the EU
Iran deal should be a catalyst to end decade-long stand off with Tehran and lead to engagement on regional security
The fifth edition of ECFR's Foreign Policy Scorecard examines EU's response to a year of crisis
Essay collection on the regional dimensions of the IS crisis
Joe Biden has vowed to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal. In a recent report for Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Ellie Geranmayeh looks at what concrete steps can be taken by the United States, Iran, and Europe to bring all parties to the nuclear deal back into full compliance, noting that time is of the essence.
Victory for Joe Biden is likely to bring three big policy shifts in the region, opening new possibilities and challenges for Europeans
A broad range of political and financial problems are likely to prevent Iran from importing advanced weapons systems in the coming years
After a humiliating defeat at the UN Security Council, Washington will seek snapback sanctions to sabotage what is left of the nuclear deal. Britain, France, and Germany can still keep it alive until after the US election.
Iran’s rumoured talks with China on a partnership agreement could have significant economic benefits and provide it with valuable geopolitical bargaining chips
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom will have to decide whether to support the US cause to extend the UN embargo or oppose it. But neither option is ideal.
European governments and the EU should press the US to strengthen the humanitarian exemptions in its Iran sanctions
The coronavirus has hit the Middle East and north Africa at a time when the region is already burdened with multiple problems, including a series…
European governments must seek to dissuade the US from using Iraq as a new battlefield in its struggle with Iran.
European countries and businesses are unlikely to escape the impact of US extraterritorial measures on China, Russia, and Turkey.
European governments need a deeper engagement strategy to draw these powerful actors into inclusive political processes and power-sharing structures that can help stabilise the region
Turmoil in the Middle East and north Africa directly affects Europeans. Yet their influence in the region has never been weaker. This project maps Europe’s role across the Middle East and north Africa, making the case that Europeans can do more to leverage their influence in pursuit of core interests
An ECFR guide to the key disputes threatening to spark a wider Middle Eastern war
ECFR’s New Battlelines Project maps Iran’s coalition of allies, regional influence and the counter-coalition that has formed to oppose them
To what extent can and will Iran policy be a priority of the incoming administration? What can Europeans do to bolster transatlantic diplomacy on Iran?
The annual Munich Security Conference was themed “Westlessness”, defining “a widespread feeling of uneasiness and restlessness in the face of increasing uncertainty about the enduring purpose…
Lunch discussion to mark the launch of ECFR's newest paper “War and pieces: Political divides in southern Yemen“. International attention to the Yemeni conflict has shifted…
ECFR, in partnership with the Friedrich-Ebert-Foundation (FES), invited to a discussion on “Iran-US: Preventing a Collision Course” on 21 January. Following a series of…
With the US-killing of the Iranian military leader, Qassem Soleimani, the Middle East has been yet again sent in the heart to geopolitical uncertainty and…
Over a year into the Trump administration's “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran, the re-imposition of sanctions have not only placed in jeopardy the Iran nuclear…
Recording of the Lunch Discussion analysing Yemen's role in the current Gulf crisis and how recent regional developments will have an impact on the UN-coordinated…
In this episode, live from Brussels, Ellie Geranmayeh is standing in for our host Mark Leonard to discuss Iran’s further withdrawal from the 2015 Nuclear…
This week, ECFR director Mark Leonard discusses with experts Ellie Geranmayeh and Julien Barnes-Dacey the French president Emmanuel Macron's bold initiative: Europeans are now to…
The second episode of ECFR’s summer series on strategic sovereignty explores the critical challenge that secondary sanctions pose for Europe, due to the Trump administration’s…
Ellie Geranmayeh comments on the killing of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh
The newspaper quotes from the Iran Statement.
The Swedish newspaper quotes from the ECFR Iran Statement
The newspaper refers to the Iran Statement ECFR published recently.
Ellie Geranmayeh talks about Iran's diplomatic fallout
