Salam Kawakibi

A prominent Iran-backed Iraqi militia commander has accused the United States of providing weapons and food to Islamic State fighters trapped in western Mosul, according to Fars News Agency, an Iranian outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.).

Marking the 38th anniversary of the creation of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.), the Iranian Armed Forces General Staff said Wednesday that the country’s elite force has turned into a “strategic asset” and a “defense shield” not only for Iran but also for the “Islamic Resistance in the region

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ remarks about Iran’s destabilizing influence in the Middle East prompted an angry reaction from Tehran. The Iranian defense minister rejected the allegations by the top U.S.

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned Wednesday that Iran’s “enemies” use intimidation and scare tactics to achieve their goals, and called on political and military lea

For the first time in three years, Mahmoud Abbas will meet with an American president in the White House. The meeting, expected in early-May, will also be the first between Abbas and President Donald Trump, and will serve to shape the relationship both men, and those they represent, have in the years ahead.

While Abbas might be inclined to be more pliant as an early show of goodwill, he will still seek demonstrations of seriousness from the Israelis, brokered by Washington, before agreeing to re-engage in peace talks.

This essay discusses Morocco’s changing role within the Euro-African migration system — that of a source, transit, and final destination country. It briefly addresses the responsibilities and responses of Moroccan authorities in dealing with the phenomenon of irregular migration, in particular as it relates to Morocco’s role as a destination country.

A senior Iranian Quds Force official arrived in Baghdad today to start his new position as the Islamic Republic’s ambassador to Iraq, the Iranian

The Russian military police has started training local militia forces in the Syrian governorate of Aleppo, according to Fars News Agency, an Iranian outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.).

Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan will visit Moscow next week to meet his Russian counterpart Sergey Shoygu, Iranian and Russian media report.

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the country’s military budget has seen a 145 percent increase during his four year in office.

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Gonul Tol, Gerald Feierstein, Alex Vatanka, and Marvin G. Weinbaum provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the victory of Turkish President Erdogan’s “Yes” constitutional referendum campaign to increase his powers, Secretary of Defense Mattis’ trip to the Middle East, the entry of 1,600 candidates for the upcoming Iranian presidential elections, and the alarming violence in Pakistan against accused “blasphemers”.

President Hassan Rouhani has said that the Iranian government will seek no one’s permission to build missiles and upgrade the country’s defense capabilities.

Earlier today, a senior Iranian lawmaker said the United States and its allies have failed in Syria and the broader region and credited Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s leadership for defeating Iran’s “enemies” in foreign lands to safeguard the country’s national security.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.)’s elite Quds Force runs an international network of organized criminal networks to smuggle drugs into and throughout Europe, al-Arabiya Arabic reports. Quoting unnamed sources from the Italian Judiciary, the report claims that the mastermind of the Quds Force’s illicit drugs operations is former Quds Force General Gholamreza Baghbani. Members of the Lebanese Hezbollah and Iran-linked Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) are reportedly part of the criminal network.