Rayburn and Satloff: Strikes on Iran Need Follow-Through to Work

AAM has launched a town hall series with Iran International called Iran International Insight bringing together geopolitical analysts, economists, and security experts to evaluate the ongoing confrontation between Iran and the United States, regional ceasefires, and internal economic pressures.

Speaking on January 14, 2026 as part of the Iran International Insight Town Hall series in Washington, D.C. — presented by Iran International in partnership with America Abroad Media — Joel Rayburn of the Hudson Institute and Robert Satloff, Executive Director of the Washington Institute, warned that limited US military strikes against Iran risk repeating the mistakes of past "one-off" actions unless paired with sustained political and economic pressure. The discussion, moderated by Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, came a day after President Trump signaled he was leaning toward military action, telling Iranian protesters "HELP IS ON ITS WAY."

Drawing a parallel to the 2017 US strikes on Syria after Assad's use of chemical weapons, Rayburn argued that force alone accomplishes little without follow-through: "We can't do this just by one-off military strikes... we have to have a campaign and we have to use all the tools at our disposal." Satloff echoed that a strike "sounds like something that you do and then you're done," arguing Washington should first pursue non-military options — including disrupting the regime's internal communications — and reserve any use of force for narrowly targeting the security forces, such as the IRGC and Basij, directly responsible for the crackdown.

Robert Satloff (left), Joel Rayburn (center) and Behnam Ben Taleblu