The Americans Are Gone. Will Iraq’s Militias Disarm?
On September 30, the US completed its military withdrawal from Iraq, ending a 12-year-long mission to combat ISIS that began in 2014. The date was also meant to be the deadline for disarming the largely Iranian-backed militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), but Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi has now pushed that cutoff back to June 30, 2027. MEI Distinguished Diplomatic Fellow Amb. (ret.) Robert S. Ford joins hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj to discuss what the US military withdrawal means for Iraqi security and the nature of the bilateral relationship going forward. They also speak about what it will take for Baghdad to bring the PMF militias to heel, and how Iraq may navigate the post-Iran war era.
Jordan’s Economy Weathers Iran War’s Shocks and Finds New Opportunities
In the summer of 2003, King Abdullah II told Bloomberg Jordan sits “between Iraq and a hard place,” a play on words designed to describe the kingdom’s challenging environment to an American audience amid the US-led Iraq war to the east and the lingering Palestinian-Israeli conflict to the west. Jordan is grappling with a much “harder place” today.
Proponents of the war with Iran have taken recent increases in crude-oil flows through the Strait of Hormuz as proof that the US strategy is finally working. President Trump is so confident in this that he recently rejected a seven-day plan, set forward by Iran’s foreign ministry, to end the war and open the strait. The United States is “winning tremendously,” Trump boasted.
Reformist Politician Who Questioned Iran’s Syria Policy Barred from Campaigning
Hardliners in Iran are continuing to punish Gholamhossein Karbaschi, a reformist politician backing President Hassan Rouhani, for his last week speech in which he questioned the Islamic Republic’s military role in Syria. In the latest incident, a pro-regime vigilante group forced the former mayor of Tehran to cancel a campaign rally in Semnan Province.
Iraqi Vice President Reveals Iran’s Influence in Iraq through Proxies
Iraqi Vice President Ayad Allawi has revealed that a leader of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) has traveled to Iran to discuss the issue of internally displaced people of the strategic town of Jurf Al Sakhar near Baghdad.
If President Trump travels to Riyadh later this month, as reported, he will find that the six leaders of the Gulf Coordination Council (GCC) countries hold widely divergent views on Iran, the extent of the Iranian threat, and how to resolve the conflict in Yemen.
I.R.G.C. Says Will Continue Deploying Its Officers to Syria to Support Assad and anti-Israel “Resistance Front”
The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) Ground Force has said that he will continue to deploy “military advisers” to defend the government of Bashar al-Assad and the “resistance front” against Israel. “A war has multiple dimensions. The most important one is the ground part.
Iran’s Arms Production Capacity Has Reportedly Seen 100-Fold Increase under Rouhani
The Iranian defense minister has announced that the country’s arms production capacity has seen a staggering 100-fold increase under the Rouhani administration,
Zarif Visits Pakistan for Security Talks after Gunmen Killed 10 Iranian Border Guards
Iran and Pakistan agreed Wednesday to work together to boost security along their shared border after Pakistan-based militants killed 10 Iranian border guards in the Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan last week. A militant group called Jaish al-Adl claimed responsibility for the attack.
Authorities in Iran Threaten Afghan Migrants to Fight in Syria or Face Deportation
Iran’s security forces threaten Afghans living in Iran to go to Syria to “fight for Syrian President Bashar al Assad or be deported to Afghanistan,” according to a report the Pakistani Dawn newspaper.
Senior Reformist Politician Faces Prosecution after Criticizing Iran’s Role in Regional Wars
A court in Iran’s Isfahan Province announced today that Gholam Hossein Karbaschi, a senior reformist politician, will be prosecuted for questioning the Islamic Republic’s policies and actions in the Syrian conflict.
Top Syrian Military Official in Tehran to Coordinate War Efforts
Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan held a meeting with lieutenant General Ali Abdullah Ayyoub, the chief of the general staff of the Syrian Army, in Tehran earlier today.
Abdul Jabar Qahraman, who recently resigned as the top official overseeing war efforts in Afghanistan’s volatile Helmand Province, has said that Iran facilitates contacts between Taliban leaders and Russian officials.
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