After decades of political setbacks, Iran’s former Revolutionary Guards commander has returned to the center of power. Is he an incidental beneficiary of war, or have observers underestimated him all along?
Gulf states and their partners are increasingly looking beyond their most immediate interests of containing the war with Iran. While recent talks between Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, and Iran have kept de-escalation on the agenda, a broader regional security framework and non-aggression pact has also emerged, envisioning a longer-lasting solution to regional conflicts. The talks have yet to produce a settlement, but they reflect a growing recognition that Gulf security cannot depend entirely on Washington. Iran will still be there, and its neighbors will have to find ways of living with it.
Recent elections for the Israeli Knesset and American Congress may make less of a difference in the Middle East than some people think. Elections are significant indicators of national political trends, but do not always translate into changes in national security strategies. That is likely the case now in both nations.
Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has warned the Trump administration that the United States will pay a high price if it decides to walk away from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the nuclear deal Iran signed with world powers two years ago. He reportedly made the remarks in a meeting with members of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee.
On Monday, the Islamic State claimed it had killed scores of Iraqi troops and captured one soldier in an ambush near the al-Tanf border-crossing along the Iraqi-Syrian border. Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (K.S.S.), an Iranian-backed unit of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.), however, blamed U.S. air strikes for its losses and vowed revenge.
Tajikistan has accused Iran of having played a subversive role in the country’s civil war in the 1990s by sending terrorists to the Central Asian republic, the latest sign of deteriorating relations between the two countries.
The spokesperson for the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) has announced that the paramilitary forces will participate in the upcoming military operation against the Islamic State in Tal Afar despite regional concerns, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported today. “In the operation to liberate Tal Afar, all Hashd al-Shaabi forces, the Iraqi army, the federal police and also counterterrorism and rapid-reaction forces will participate,” Ahmed al-Assadi was quoted as saying.
The commander of an Iranian-backed Iraqi paramilitary unit has accused the American troops of colluding with the Islamic State and killing dozens of Iraqi militiamen and Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) officers along the Iraqi-Syrian border last night – a charge the U.S.-led coali
A senior official of Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq, an Iran-supported militia unit within Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.), has threatened violence against the leadership of the Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.).
The chief commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) Aerospace Force has said that the Islamic Republic has stepped up its efforts to enhance its miss
The head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (A.E.O.I.) has warned that Tehran will keep all options on the table if Washington walks away from the nuclear agreement the Islamic Republic signed with the United States and five other world powers in July 2015. In an interview with Lebanon’s Arabic-language Al-Mayadeen TV, Ali Akbar Salehi said the nuclear accord is an international document and it will be difficult for the Trump administration to cancel the deal.
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Randa Slim, Gerald Feierstein, Gonul Tol, and Jean-François Seznec provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including next steps in the Syrian conflict de-escalation process, General Zinni’s mission to the Gulf, Qatari-Turkish relations, and crude oil informal cooperation.
The Popular Mobilization Forces – the Iraqi paramilitary forces also known by its Arabic name Hashd al-Shaabi – will not be disbanded after the fight against the Islamic State is over and will remain a key player in Iraq, the alliance’s security spokesman said on Sunday. “Hashd al-Shaabi is an official military organization affiliated with the government of Iraq.
The Syrian government greatly appreciates Tehran’s unwavering support in “the fight against terrorism” over the past years and now wants Iran to play an active role in the war-torn country’s reconstruction and economic development, Syria’s Prime Minister Imad Khamis said in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Sunday.
Senior Iranian political and military officials have said that the Islamic Republic will not allow the United States or any other Western country to inspect its military sites under any circumstances, the Iranian media reported.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry says it has arrested 27 terrorists linked with the Islamic State, the Iranian media reported today. A statement released by the ministry claimed that the terrorist group planned terrorist attacks in Iran’s strategic provinces and religious cities, and that Iranian intelligence agents also confiscated weapons and explosive material the militants were attempting to smuggle into Iran.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) groups have agreed to form an alliance – dubbed as the Coalition of the Loyalists – under the leadership of the Badr Organization to participate in the country’s next parliamentary elections, Fars News Agency, an Iranian outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) reports. P.M.F. units such as Kata’ib Hezbollah, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuada, Kata’ib Jund al-Imam, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq will be part of the new alliance.
The following excerpt is from an interview with MEI Senior Fellow Alex Vatanka conducted by J. Dana Stuster for Lawfare. Read the full conversation here.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
