Norman T. Roule is a geopolitical and energy consultant who served for 34 years in the Central Intelligence Agency, managing numerous programs relating to Iran and the Middle East. He served as the National Intelligence Manager for Iran (NIM-I) at the ODNI from 2008 until 2017. As NIM-I, he was the principal Intelligence Community (IC) official responsible for overseeing all aspects of national intelligence policy and activities related to Iran, to include IC engagement on Iran issues with senior policymakers in the National Security Council and the Department of State. Mr. Roule is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an advisor to the Belfer Center for Science & International Affairs at the Harvard Kennedy School, a 2023 Visiting Fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School, and a non-resident senior adviser with the Transnational Threats Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. He is also an advisor to United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) and the Counter Extremism Project (CEP).
As the world waits to see whether a new nuclear deal will be agreed to with Iran, Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly spoke with Cipher Brief Expert Norm Roule for the State Secrets Podcast. Roule serves as an energy expert and analyst in the private sector. Here is the full conversation, lightly edited.
The Cipher Brief:What do you think would absolutely need to be included in any deal to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran in order to make it worthwhile for the West?
“The Cipher Brief has become the most popular outlet for former intelligence officers; no media outlet is even a close second to The Cipher Brief in terms of the number of articles published by formers.” —Sept. 2018, Studies in Intelligence, Vol. 62
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