Research & Commentary Results

The Iranian Navy’s 50th flotilla of warships docked at the Sri Lankan port of Colombo earlier today, Tasnim News Agency reported. According to public relations department of the Navy, the Iranian naval fleet included Shahid Naghdi and Bayandor destroyers and Tonb logistic-combat vessel. The Iranian naval commanders from Artesh (Iran’s regular Army) onboard plan to meet senior Sri Lankan military officials to seek ways of bolstering naval cooperation between the two countries.

Air pollution in the southwestern Iranian province of Khuzestan has reached “extremely dangerous” levels, the BBC Persian reports. All flights at the international airport in Ahvaz, Khuzestan’s capital, have been suspended, and schools in several cities such as in Ahvaz, Abadan, Khoramshahr, and Mahshr have temporarily shut down. A video clip published on the BBC Persian website shows that dense dust pollution has forced scores of residents to leave the area.

Iran’s top general responsible for external operations marked the 10th assassination anniversary of late Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh by promising the destruction of the state of Israel,

The Iranian Foreign Ministry has rejected European power’s demand that Tehran limit its missile activities and moderate its regional behavior. Bahram Qassemi, the ministry’s spokesman, lashed out at French President Emmanuel Macron’s latest demand that Iran’s ballistic missile program be placed under international surveillance.

The Syrian government and Kurdish rebel forces in northern Syria are working on an agreement on the deployment of Syrian Army troops to Afrin to counter the Turkish offensive in the region, Tasnim News Agency, which is affiliated with the 

Read the full article on The National Interest

The leader of an Iraqi militia group with close ties to Iran traveled to Lebanon this week to voice solidarity with Hezbollah and pledged to stand with the “axis of resistance” in any future wars with Israel. Akram al-Kaabi, the head of Harakat al-Nujaba, made the remarks to reporters in southern Beirut after visiting the tomb of late Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was allegedly killed by Israel. “We, at the axis of resistance, will mobilize forces against Israel at any place.

Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji announced yesterday that the country is planning on opening the al-Qaim-Abu Kamal border crossing between Iraq and Syria, Iranian and Iraqi media reported.  Al-Araji, who is a senior member of Iran-backed Badr Organization, added that his ministry has obtained permission from Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and Chief of Staff of the Iraqi military, General Othman Al-Ghanimi, to reopen the strategic border crossing.

Harakat al-Nujaba, an Iranian-backed Iraqi militia group fighting in Iraq and Syria, announced that it stands with Syria against the Israeli “aggression and cowardly massacre” in the Arab country. Hashem al-Mousawi, the group’s spokesman, said Israel is unable to attack Syria and the “axis of resistance” – a term used for the alliance of Iran and its regional proxies.

In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Charles Lister, Bilal Y. Saab, Eran Etzion, Gonul Tol, Paul Salem, and Randa Slim provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the Syrian-Iranian downing of an Israeli fighter jet, the critical crossroads of U.S. and Turkey relations, Rex Tillerson’s upcoming visit to Lebanon, and Iraqi reconstruction plans.

A senior aide to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has rejected the prospect of renegotiating the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers in July 2015. “We have honored our commitments, and the JCPOA is not open to renegotiation and review under any circumstances,” Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister who now holds several senior positions, told reporters.

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said today that Iran is the most powerful country in the Middle East and will defy international pressure on defense capabilities, particularly its missile program. “The repeated defeats of America, the Zionist regime [Israel] and the European and regional allies of Washington and Tel Aviv in proxy wars and Takfiri terrorism – which have turned out to be contrary to their expectations – are a reminder of the undeniable fact that the Islamic Republic of Iran, as the undisputable No.

The commander of Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters, a conglomerate of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), has

Some Iranian citizens who had joined the Islamic State in Iraq and Afghanistan have tried to enter Iran to conduct terrorist attacks,

With the absence of multilateral diplomatic forums in the Middle East and the Trump administration scaling back on U.S. diplomatic outreach, the role of backdoor diplomatic channels, known as “Track II” dialogues, has seldom been more important. Randa Slim, director of MEI’s program on conflict management and Track II dialogues, and Robert Ford, former US ambassador to Syria, join Paul Salem to discuss the role of these dialogues in addressing issues ranging from the Syrian civil war to the conflict in Yemen and regional tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia.