Ariane Tabatabai (Persian: آرین طباطبایی) is an Iranian-American political science expert and author.
[3] Tabatabai wrote an article published by Foreign Policy magazine prior to the 2020 US presidential election, arguing that Iran's economy was fragile and its leaders would be forced to negotiate and make concessions; she urged the winning US presidential candidate not to return to the nuclear agreement and press for more points.
[8] She departed the negotiating team (along with Richard Nephew) after a few months because she believed that the U.S. would lift too many sanctions on Iran and consequently, a reinstated agreement would not be strong enough.
[3] In September 2023, a large cache of Iranian government correspondence and emails reported for the first time by Semafor and Iran International claimed to connect Tabatabai with the Iran Experts Initiative, an effort initiated by senior Iranian Foreign Ministry officials to bolster Tehran's image and positions on global security issues.
[15] Two weeks later, the Pentagon released a statement confirming that "Dr. Tabatabai was thoroughly and properly vetted" as a condition of her employment with the Department of Defense.