The US administration appears to have great expectations for Iraq’s new prime minister, Ali Falah al-Zaidi. But the expectations need to be tempered.
The 2026 Iran war has made Lebanon a core Gulf security concern, and Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar now have a narrow opportunity to curb Hizballah’s influence by leading reconstruction, strengthening Lebanese state institutions, and tying economic re-engagement to reform.
After nearly four months of war, the US and Iran have signed a 14-point memorandum of understanding declaring the conflict over, reopening the Strait of Hormuz, and beginning talks toward a final deal. Alan Eyre, MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow and a core member of the 2015 JCPOA negotiating team, joins host Alistair Taylor to unpack the deal’s implications for both countries, its ripple effects across the region, and what a lasting settlement would take.
Hassan Firouzabadi, up until recently the Chief of Staff of Iranian Armed Forces, has revealed the country’s supreme leader is intensely involved in managing Iran’s missile industry.
News Brief: Shia News, an Iranian website, commented that the sudden appearance of Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran’s Quds Force, in the streets of Aleppo after it was recaptured by Iran-led forces generated anger among the top Russian military brass.
On December 27, Iran’s Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan gave a lengthy interview about Iranian regional policy objectives. In his remarks, Dehghan made it clear that Russia can count on access to military sites on Iranian soil should circumstances require it.
A top Iranian general has said the “liberation” of the Syrian city of Aleppo was a “strategic” victory for Iran over the United States and regional countries. “When Aleppo was liberated, polici
A senior Iranian navy commander unveiled the country’s plan to construct an aircraft carrier as part of a broader project to upgrade the country’s maritime warfare capabilities.
A mixed gathering of a number of Bahrainis and American Jews has been met with strong disdain by a number of Iranian news sites.
Ali Jannati, a former minister of culture under President Hassan Rouhani, has strongly attacked the state of the Iranian society and a lack of political leadership in the country. He said that there were “75,000 mosques and 800 Friday prayer leaders” in Iran today, but ordinary people still had “no one to turn to for leadership.”
Iranian officials have told a British-Iranian mother held in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison that she should either keep her toddler with her in jail or give up custody.
The Middle East’s descent into chaos has been accompanied by a growing threat to the region’s historic sites. The breakdown of states and growth in extremism have exposed these ancient sites to looting and destruction. The drivers, however, are varied. Extremist groups like ISIS profit from the smuggling of antiquities, but there are also religious motivations. Extremist movements such as ISIS and al-Qaeda, which adhere to a strictly puritanical view of Islam, perceive heritage sites, including Islamic, as a sinful distraction from faith.
The Iranian foreign minister, Javad Zarif, is under pressure in Tehran to admit that his nuclear negotiations with the Americans have been a failure.
An Iranian lawmaker defended the presence of the Islamic Republic
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
