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Ahmad Majidyar

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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

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UAE's Siding with Saudi Arabia in Diplomatic Row Unsettles Iran
  • Analysis
  • UAE's Siding with Saudi Arabia in Diplomatic Row Unsettles Iran

    Diplomatic relations between Iran and the United Arab Emirates are going through another rough patch as the latter recently submitted a letter to the United Nations General Assembly, expressing concern over Iran’s “expansionist” policies in the region.

    November 14, 2016

    Rouhani under Pressure to Do More for Opposition Figure's Release
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis
  • Rouhani under Pressure to Do More for Opposition Figure's Release

    As President Hassan Rouhani is readying for reelection next May, he has come under growing pressure from his reformist supporters to improve the human rights situation in the country.

    November 11, 2016

    Iranians Divided over Impact of Trump’s Victory on Iran-US Relations
  • Analysis
  • Iranians Divided over Impact of Trump’s Victory on Iran-US Relations

    Iranian officials and media have reacted to Donald Trump’s election victory with a mixture of cautious optimism and alarm.

    During the final stages of US presidential election, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and leaders of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had implicitly supported Trump over Hillary Clinton. With Trump’s victory, they now hope that his pro-Moscow and anti-Saudi Arabia rhetoric translates into policy to favor Iran’s interests in Syria and the broader region.

    November 10, 2016

    Iran-Backed Iraqi Militias Mulling Post-Mosul Role in Syria
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis
  • Iran-Backed Iraqi Militias Mulling Post-Mosul Role in Syria

    As the Iraqi security forces are moving deeper into eastern districts of Mosul, the Iranian media reports that militia groups from the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) are making territorial gains against the Islamic State in Mosul’s western region.

    November 4, 2016

    Tehran-Moscow Ties Growing but Alliance Remains Shaky
  • Analysis
  • Tehran-Moscow Ties Growing but Alliance Remains Shaky

    At the invitation of Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, the chairwoman of the Federation Council of Russia, the country’s upper house of parliament, is

    November 4, 2016

    IRGC Touts Victory over US in Middle East
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis
  • IRGC Touts Victory over US in Middle East

    Speaking at a rally marking the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran on November 3, a senior Iranian military official

    November 3, 2016

    Iran Hails Aoun’s Election as Victory for Resistance
  • Analysis
  • Iran Hails Aoun’s Election as Victory for Resistance

    On Monday, Lebanon’s lawmakers ended more than two years of political gridlock and elected Michel Aoun as the country’s president. The news was greeted with elation in Tehran as Aoun, a former general from Lebanon’s Christian community, is a close ally of Iran-backed militia and political party Hezbollah.

    November 2, 2016

    Iran Eyeing Closer Ties with Eastern Europe
  • Analysis
  • Iran Eyeing Closer Ties with Eastern Europe

    The Iranian media reports that Slovenia’s President Borut Pahor will soon visit Tehran to reopen his country’s embassy in the Iranian capital.

    November 2, 2016

    Khamenei Says Dialogue with US Futile
  • Analysis
  • Khamenei Says Dialogue with US Futile

    On November 2, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned that compromise with the United States would only aggravate the country’s problems. He accused Washington of continuing hostile policies against Tehran and not abiding by the terms of the 2015 nuclear agreement.

    November 2, 2016