March 6, 2026

University of Arizona experts available for media inquiries on Iran

TUCSON, Ariz. — As tensions involving Iran continue to evolve, University of Arizona experts are available to speak to the news media about the military operation and its implications for regional stability and global security. Journalists can email media_requests@list.arizona.edu and University Communications staff will help reporters connect with an appropriate expert.

David J. Dunford: Former U.S. Ambassador to Oman
Expertise: U.S.-Middle East diplomacy, Gulf politics, Middle East security, Arab-Israeli conflict
Dunford served as U.S. ambassador to Oman from 1992 to 1995 after serving as deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He has taught and written extensively about Middle East diplomacy. He is the author of the book "From Sadat to Saddam: The Decline of American Diplomacy in the Middle East" and co-author of "Talking to Strangers: The Struggle to Rebuild Iraq's Foreign Ministry."

Carolyn Barnett: Assistant professor, School of Government and Public Policy and School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies
Expertise: political behavior in the Middle East, social policy, political psychology
Barnett studies gender, political psychology, social policy, and political and economic behavior in the Middle East and North Africa and previously served as a research fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Alex Braithwaite: Distinguished Professor and director, School of Government and Public Policy
Expertise: terrorism, civil war, global conflict trends, contagion of violence
Braithwaite's research addresses a series of related topics in the broad areas of international relations and conflict processes. This includes the causes and contagion of violent and nonviolent conflict, including terrorism, protests, riots, civil war, and international wars. He can comment on general patterns of war and possible causes of this war.

Richard Eaton: Professor, Department of History
Expertise: history of pre-colonial India, history of Iran and the Persianate world, history of the Islamic world
Eaton's research explores historical connections between the Iranian Plateau and South Asia and the broader interactions between Islam and regional religious traditions.

Leila Hudson: Professor, School of Middle Eastern and North African Studies
Expertise: Syria, Iraq, Middle East political history, conflict dynamics
Hudson's research focuses on Syria, Iraq, Islam, Palestine, the Arab world, oil, terrorism, popular culture, non-state actors, conflict dynamics, political economy, refugees, extremism and media in the Middle East.

Kamran Talattof: Professor, School of Global Studies and Middle Eastern and North African Studies
Expertise: Iranian culture, ideology, political thought and fundamentalism
Talattof's work focuses on the intersections of ideology, politics, culture and gender in Iran and the broader Near East, with particular attention to modern Iranian intellectual history, revolution, nationalism and literature. He is the founding director of the University of Arizona's Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Persian and Iranian Studies.

Media contact:
media_requests@list.arizona.edu

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