After decades of political setbacks, Iran’s former Revolutionary Guards commander has returned to the center of power. Is he an incidental beneficiary of war, or have observers underestimated him all along?
Gulf states and their partners are increasingly looking beyond their most immediate interests of containing the war with Iran. While recent talks between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Iran have kept de-escalation on the agenda, a broader regional security framework and non-aggression pact has also emerged, envisioning a longer-lasting solution to regional conflicts. The talks have yet to produce a settlement, but they reflect a growing recognition that Gulf security cannot depend entirely on Washington. Iran will still be there, and its neighbors will have to find ways of living with it.
Recent elections for the Israeli Knesset and American Congress may make less of a difference in the Middle East than some people think. Elections are significant indicators of national political trends, but do not always translate into changes in national security strategies. That is likely the case now in both nations.
Hengameh Shahidi, a reformist activist and journalist who was recently imprisoned in Iran, has accused President Hassan Rouhani of striking a deal with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) ahead of the country’s presidential elections slated for May this year.
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have seized several villages in northwestern Mosul from the Islamic State in recent days and are planning to enter the strategic city of Tal Afar, the Iranian media reports.
The U.S. Department of State’s designation of two Iran-backed Bahraini militants as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (S.D.G.T.) has prompted an angry reaction from Tehran. Iran’s Foreign Ministry called allegations by Washington that Tehran supports terrorist activities in Bahrain as “baseless and politically-motivated,” and accused the U.S.
A number of senior Iranian lawmakers have criticized the country’s security and intelligence authorities for the latest wave of crackdown on journalists and social and political activists.
Judicial authorities in Iran have sentenced the daughter of late president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to six months in jail for “spreading lies to disturb the public opinion about the Judiciary and Sepah [Islamic Revolution Guards Corps],” opposition website Kaleme reported today.
Iran’s Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri has sent a new list of government officials with dual nationality to the country’s Ministry of Intelligence – calling for a thorough investigation into their cases.
Iran’s Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri announced earlier today that the country’s judicial authorities each week filter between 16,000 and 20,000 Telegram accounts.
With the Islamic State on the verge of losing Mosul, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) and its Iraqi militia proxies have recently launched a vicious propaganda campaign against the U.S. and its regional allies – posing security risks to U.S. military advisers that are helping the Iraqi security forces in the country.
أقدم مطبوعة محكمة مخصصة لدراسة الشرق الأوسط المعاصر، تغطي مجلة MEI الرائدة السياسة والمجتمع والثقافة في المنطقة.
