Skip to Content

Ahmad Majidyar

This individual is a guest contributor. MEI is not able to assist with contact requests.

Ahmad Majidyar headshot

Ahmad Khalid Majidyar is a Middle East & South Asia analyst with a focus on Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was previously a senior fellow and the director of IranObserved Project at the Middle East Institute.

From 2008 to 2015, Majidyar worked as a senior research associate at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), where he co-authored two monographs on Iran: Iranian Influence in the Levant, Egypt, Iraq and Afghanistan (AEI 2012), and The Shi’ites of the Middle East: An Iranian fifth column? (AEI 2014). He also published a number of research papers on Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

As an instructor with the Naval Postgraduate School’s Leadership Development and Education for Sustained Peace program (2008-2016), Majidyar provided graduate-level seminars to more than 3,000 U.S. and NATO military leaders on Afghanistan and the broader region. In addition, he has provided briefings on Iran and Afghanistan at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Joint IED Defeat Organization, the National Defense University, the State Department, and Congress; and he has spoken as a guest analyst at think tanks, universities, and world affairs councils.

Majidyar’s articles on Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan have been published in Foreign Policy, The New York Times, Fareed Zakaria’s GPS, Fox News, U.S. News & World ReportDaily Telegraph, and Forbes, among others. He has also discussed Middle Eastern topics on the BBC, CNN, Al-Jazeera English, Sky News, CBC Canada, Bloomberg News and Voice of America’s Dari, Farsi, Urdu and English services.

Previously, Majidyar worked as a media analyst with the BBC Monitoring in Afghanistan and as a humanitarian aid worker with the UNHCR in Pakistan.

The Latest from Ahmad Majidyar

Filter by
990 Results
Iran-Backed Iraqi Group Seizes “Large” Areas in Southeastern Syria
Middle East Institute
  • Analysis
  • Iran-Backed Iraqi Group Seizes “Large” Areas in Southeastern Syria

    The leadership of Harakat al-Nujaba, an Iranian-supported militia group fighting in Syria and Iraq, has announced that its forces have launched an operation to seize territory from the the Islamic State in southeast Syria near the shared border point with Iraq and Jordan. The statement released by the group said the paramilitary forces had captured “large parts” of southeastern desert in Syria, including “important” villages of Um al-Raheel, Abu Khashaba, and Berket al-Miyah.

    July 14, 2017

    Iran Eyes Role in Mosul’s Reconstruction
  • Analysis
  • Iran Eyes Role in Mosul’s Reconstruction

    With the Islamic State ousted from Mosul, several Iraqi parliamentarians and media outlets affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) have called on the Rouhani government to “prepare the ground” for Iranian companies to play a larger role in the Iraqi city’s reconstruction process. “Iran must make efforts to actively participate in the rebuilding of Mosul and other war-ravaged cities of Iraq and export Iran’s technological and engineering services and other goods needed in Iraq.

    July 14, 2017

    Iran’s Islamic Azad University Plans to Open New Branches in Lebanon and Iraq
  • Analysis
  • Iran’s Islamic Azad University Plans to Open New Branches in Lebanon and Iraq

    Iran’s Islamic Azad University (IAU) plans to open new branches in Lebanon and Iraq, according to Ali Akbar Velayati, the head of the university’s board of founders and an influential political figure in the Islamic Republic.

    July 13, 2017

    I.R.G.C. Asks Rouhani for Larger Role in Iran’s Economy
  • Analysis
  • I.R.G.C. Asks Rouhani for Larger Role in Iran’s Economy

    The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) has said that his forces are actively involved in economic and developmental projects across the country and stressed that the I.R.G.C. is keen to further expand its role in the Iranian economy to create jobs and fight poverty.

    July 13, 2017

    Iran Vows to Respond to Trump Administration’s Regime Change Remarks
  • Analysis
  • Iran Vows to Respond to Trump Administration’s Regime Change Remarks

    The deputy chief of Iran’s armed forces has warned that the Islamic Republic will take action against U.S. interests in the Middle Eastern region in retaliation to the Trump administration’s regime change remarks.

    July 13, 2017

    Soleimani Details Iran’s Military Role in Iraq, Hails Iraqi Paramilitary Forces and Hezbollah
  • Analysis
  • Soleimani Details Iran’s Military Role in Iraq, Hails Iraqi Paramilitary Forces and Hezbollah

    On Monday, the head of Iran’s Quds Force revealed that the country’s defense ministry worked over time in recent years to manufacture weapons to equip Iraq’s Army and the Hashd al-Shaabi – the Iraqi paramilitary forces also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces [P.M.F.] – in their fight against the Islam

    July 11, 2017

    Iran’s Defense Minister Reacts Angrily to Mattis’ Regime Change Remarks
  • Analysis
  • Iran’s Defense Minister Reacts Angrily to Mattis’ Regime Change Remarks

    U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis’ latest remarks about the need for regime change in Iran have triggered angry reactions in Tehran. The Iranian defense minister described the Mattis’ comments as “interventionist” and claimed they violated all principles of international law.

    July 11, 2017

    With Islamic State Crumbling, Iran and Its Proxies in Iraq Intensify Anti-U.S. Propaganda
  • Analysis
  • With Islamic State Crumbling, Iran and Its Proxies in Iraq Intensify Anti-U.S. Propaganda

    A commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) – also known as Hashd al-Shaabi – has said that the paramilitary forces will not agree to the presence of American forces or foreign private security firms in post-Islamic State Iraq, particularly in regions near the Syrian border. “The central government has almost agreed to Blackwater controlling the borders. But Blackwater doesn’t have the authority and resources to control the borders or fight Daesh [Islamic State].

    July 10, 2017

    Iran Says U.S.-Russia Ceasefire Could Be Successful Only If Expanded to All Syria
  • Analysis
  • Iran Says U.S.-Russia Ceasefire Could Be Successful Only If Expanded to All Syria

    The Iranian Foreign Ministry has said that the latest agreement between the United States and Russia on a ceasefire mechanism in southern Syria could be successful only if it is expanded to all of Syria, the Iranian media reported today. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi told a press conference in Tehran that the agreement should complement four other de-escalation zones that had already been decided upon at the Astana summit by Russia, Iran, Turkey and Syria.

    July 10, 2017