The Iran–Israel War: What's Next?

About the Discussion:
The ceasefire in the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, while a welcome development, has left many questions unanswered, including: How much damage was truly done to Iran’s nuclear program? Where is the missing uranium? How long will it take Iran to restore the nuclear program and replenish its ballistic missiles? More broadly, can the weakening of Iran, and the central role of the US, lead to wider changes in the region, first and foremost to a deal to end the war in Gaza and bring all the hostages home? And what does it all mean for Israel’s and Iran's domestic politics?

This webinar was recorded on July 1, 2025. It was organized by the UCLA Y&S Nazarian Center for Israel Studies; the Principles for Peace Foundation – Geneva, Switzerland; and the UCLA Center for Middle East Development.

About the Speakers:
Ambassador Dennis Ross is the counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He also teaches at Georgetown University’s Center for Jewish Civilization. For more than twelve years, Amb. Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process, dealing directly with the parties as the U.S. point man on the peace process in both the George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton administrations. He served two and half years as special assistant to President Obama and National Security Council senior director for the Central Region, spending the first 6 months of the Administration as the special advisor on Iran to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. His newest book is Statecraft 2.0: What America Needs to Lead in a Multipolar World (Oxford University Press, March 2025).

Dr. Shira Efron is Israel Policy Forum’s Research Director and The Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation Senior Fellow. She also advises several government ministries and is the co-chair of the subgroup on regional cooperation of Israeli President Herzog’s climate forum. Dr. Efron has spent two decades in U.S. think tanks, including the RAND Corporation, where she founded and led the Israel program between 2016–2022, the Center for American Progress, and Middle East Institute, and the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies. Her research portfolio covers multiple dimensions of U.S. Middle East Policy, including on the Great Power Competition, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and regional integration. She was previously a consultant with the U.N. country team in Jerusalem, where she focused on Gaza. She is a member of Deborah Forum, which promotes women in the security establishment.

Bijan Khajehpour is a managing partner at EUNEPA, a Vienna-based international consulting firm with focus on West Asia. Bijan has been recognized as a leading commentator of Iranian political and economic developments, focusing on the geopolitics of energy, Iran's rentier-economy and the impact of corruption and mismanagement on economic development. Bijan is also a member of the Board of the European Middle East Research Group (EMERG) and a regular contributor to Amwaj Media and Al-Monitor. His publications include contributions to The Caspian Region at a Crossroad: Challenges of a New Frontier of Energy and Development (St. Martin’s Press, 2000), Iran at the Crossroads (Palgrave, 2001) Security in the Persian Gulf: Origins, Obstacles, and the Search for Consensus (Palgrave, 2002), L’économie réelle de l’Iran (L’Harmattan, 2014) and Inside the Islamic Republic (Hurst Publishers, 2016). He completed his graduate studies in management and economy in Germany and the UK and his Doctorate of Business Administration at the International School of Management in Paris.

Professor Steven E. Zipperstein (moderator) is Associate Director of the UCLA Center for Middle East Development. He is also an adjunct assistant professor at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Zipperstein is a former US federal prosecutor and the former chief legal officer of Verizon Wireless and BlackBerry Ltd. He is the author of The Legal Case for Palestine: A Critical Assessment (Routledge 2025); Zionism, Palestinian Nationalism and the Law: 1939-1948 (Routledge 2022); Law and the Arab-Israeli Conflict: The Trials of Palestine (Routledge 2020).

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Introduction @ 00:00:00
Ambassador Dennis Ross @
Dr. Shira Efron @
Dr. Bijan Khajehpour @
Discussion and Q&A @


DISCLAIMER: The views or opinions of our guest speakers and the content of their presentations do not necessarily reflect the views of the UCLA Younes and Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies. Hosting speakers does not constitute an endorsement of the speaker's views or opinions.