Ahmad Majidyar

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 Report, Daily 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.

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Head of I.R.G.C.’s Khatam al-Anbia Blasts Rouhani’s Economic Policies, Deal with Total

The commander of Khatam al-Anbia Construction Headquarters, a conglomerate of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.), blasted President Hassan Rouhani’s economic policies and said he “harbors a serious grievance against the Rouhani government.” In an interview with Iran’s state-run television, Gene

I.R.G.C. Seizes Saudi Boat, Detains Four Crew Members

The naval forces of the Islamic Revolution Guards Crops (I.R.G.C.) have seized a Saudi vessel for allegedly trespassing on Iranian territorial waters, the Iranian media reported today. Majid Agha-Babaei, the director-general of border affairs at Iran’s Interior Ministry, said I.R.G.C.

Khamenei’s Kashmir Remarks Draw Praise in Pakistan, Rebuke in India

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s latest remarks about Kashmir have triggered reactions in both Pakistan and India.

Protestors in Southern Afghanistan Chant Anti-Iran Slogans after Rouhani’s Water Remarks

Earlier today, hundreds of people marched the streets of Lashkargah, the capital of Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand Province, to protest Iranian President Hassan Rouhani’s latest remarks on water dispute with Afghanistan, the Afghan media reported. Speaking at an international conference on tackling dust storm, Rouhani had criticized the Afghan government and its international allies for constructing dams and preventing the flow of sufficient water into Iran.

Iraqi Kurdistan Summons Iran’s Envoy over Latest Cross-Border Shelling

On Wednesday, the commander of the Ground Force of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.)

Details of Khamenei’s Meeting with I.R.G.C. Commanders after Syria Strikes

The official website of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has

Top Iraqi Politician Says Baghdad Will Limit U.S. Military Role in Iraq after Mosul Battle

Ammar al-Hakim, the head of Iraq’s Shiite ruling coalition, has said during his visit to Tehran that the Baghdad government will reduce the number of American military advisors and their role after the liberation of Mosul. “We emphasize that we oppose the presence of their military forces the same way we opposed foreign military bases on the Iraqi soil,” Hakim said in an interview with Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.).

I.R.G.C. Navy Commander Says U.S. Should Be Mindful of Iran’s Military Power

The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) Navy

Growing Environmental Problems Strain Iran’s Ties with Its Neighbors

Iran’s growing environmental challenges have recently reached crisis point. Water scarcity and air pollution, in particular, have not only caused sociopolitical and security problems inside the country, but have also strained Iran’s relations with its neighbors. As the Islamic State is losing ground in Iraq and Syria, Iran and Turkey are particularly vying for the control of water in the region.

Iran’s Navy Launches Five-Day Naval Drills in Caspian Sea

The Iranian Navy has deployed its newest warships, missile systems and Special Forces units to the Caspian Sea for a five-day naval exercise, the

Iranian Leaders Say Will Ignore U.S. Warning, Further Enhance Missile Program

A senior Iranian official has said that Tehran will continue to further enhance its missile program despite U.S.

Senior Iraqi Leader Visits Tehran, Says Foreign Troops Not Allowed in Post-Islamic State Iraq

Ammar al-Hakim, the head of Iraq’s Shiite ruling coalition, has said that the Baghdad government will not allow a single foreign soldier to remain in Iraq after the fight against the Islamic State is over, Iranian media reported on Monday. Fars News Agency, an outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolution G

Rouhani Calls for “Revolutionary” Foreign Policy to “Isolate America”

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that all centers of power in Iran should work together to seek the support of European and Asian powers to isolate the United States, the

Tajikistan Closes Iranian Organizations in New Diplomatic Escalation

The Iranian embassy in Tajikistan has shut down its economic and cultural offices in northern parts of the country, the BBC Persian reported today.

Iranian Parliament Seeks to Increase Budget for Missile Program, I.R.G.C. Quds Force

The Iranian parliament is finalizing a bill to increase the annual budget for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.), the Iranian media reported. The estimated surplus budget of more than half a billion dollars is specifically designed to help the I.R.G.C. to further enhance the country’s missile program and military activities in the region. The move came as a response to the latest U.S. Senate legislation that would impose new sanctions against Iran’s missile program.