Robert Malley (born 1963) is an American lawyer, political scientist and specialist in conflict resolution, who was the lead negotiator on the 2015 Iran nuclear deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

[5] After leaving the Obama administration, Malley was President and CEO of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels[6] non-profit committed to preventing wars.

[15][unreliable source] The elder Malley spent time in New York, writing about international affairs, particularly about nationalist, anti-imperial movements in Africa, and made a key contribution by putting the FLN on the world map.

Robert attended École Jeannine Manuel, a prestigious bilingual school in Paris, and graduated in the same class (1980) as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In October 1998, Malley was appointed Special Assistant to President Clinton for Arab-Israeli Affairs, a post he held until the end of the administration in 2001.

He later became Program Director for Middle East and North Africa at the International Crisis Group in Washington, D.C., directing analysts based in Amman, Cairo, Beirut, Tel Aviv and Baghdad.

Malley's team covered events from Iran to Morocco, with a heavy focus on the Arab–Israeli conflict, the situation in Iraq, and Islamist movements throughout the region.

[22] In response, Malley told The Times he had been in regular contact with Hamas officials as part of his work with the International Crisis Group.

[23] The New York Times reported on February 18, 2014, that Malley was joining the Obama administration to consult on Persian Gulf policy as senior director of the National Security Council.

[24] On April 6, 2015, Malley replaced Philip H. Gordon as Special Assistant to the President and White House Coordinator for the Middle East, North Africa and the Gulf Region.

In describing the negotiating challenges, Malley later wrote in The Atlantic, "The real choice in 2015 was between achieving a deal that constrained the size of Iran's nuclear program for many years and ensured intrusive inspections forever, or not getting one, meaning no restrictions at all coupled with much less verification.

[34] He describes the PLO as antiquated, worn out, barely functioning, and, because it does not include the broad Islamist current principally represented by Hamas, of questionable authority.

[35] In 2008, he supported efforts to reach an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, including an immediate end to Palestinian rocket launches and sniper fire and a freeze on Israeli military attacks on Gaza.

Malley pointed to the blockade imposed by Israel on the Gaza Strip had not stopped Hamas's rocket attacks on nearby Israeli towns and claimed that the siege caused millions of Gazans to suffer from lack of medicine, fuel, electricity and other essential commodities.

[34] "Today, Malley still stands out for his calls to engage in negotiations with Syria and Iran and for finding 'some kind of accommodation' with Hamas", The Jewish Daily Forward reported in February 2008.

[20] They wrote that the attacks on Malley were "unfair, inappropriate, and wrong", and objected to what they called an attempt "to undermine the credibility of a talented public servant who has worked tirelessly over the years to promote Arab–Israeli peace and US national interests.

[46] Despite Malley's apology, Masih Alinejad, Iranian-American journalist and human right activist started a petition to remove him from his post as Special US Envoy for Iran.

The petition demands that President Biden "appoint a new Special Envoy that the people in the U.S. and in Iran can trust and respect as a symbol of America's commitment to freedom and democracy.