Mohsen Rezaei: The Unlikely Peacemaker
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?
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.
Authorities in Bahrain said over the weekend that they had arrested 25 members of an Iran-backed “terror cell” involved in recent attacks on the Bahraini security forces, including a deadly jail break in January.
The ambassador of Maldives to Saudi Arabia has said that his government refused an Iranian offer to launch a radio station in the South Asian island country.
Yousef al-Otaiba, the United Arab Emirates’ ambassador to the United States, said on Thursday that Iran’s “hostile behavior” in the Middle East “is growing worse” despite the nuclear deal Tehran signed with world power
A senior adviser to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.)’s secretive Quds Force has warned that Iran will annihilate the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Haifa if Israel shows any aggression. “When Supreme Leader [Ali Khamenei] says we will turn Tel Aviv and Haifa to dust within seven minutes if needed, it is no joke.
Ahmadreza Jalali, a Sweden-based Iranian researcher detained in Iran since April 2016, is on a hunger strike in Tehran’s Evin Prison protesting his denial of access to due process and detention without charge, the Inte
A new report by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence says Iran will be able to purchase warships, submarines and advanced missiles to further boost its naval power after 2020, when the U.N.
A senior U.N. official has warned that Iran’s water crisis, if left unchecked, will become dangerous for the country in the next two decades, the BBC Persian reports.
Ezzatollah Zarghami, the former head of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, has emphasized the significance of Afghan Shiite militias for the Iranian military intervention in Syria.
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry has kept Iranian-Kurdish civil rights activist Farzaneh Jalali in one of its detention centers in the city of Kermanshah since she was arrested without a warrant on February 23, the International Campaign on Human Rights in Iran (ICHRI) reports.
Anwar Mohamad Gargash, the minister of state for foreign affairs of the United Arab Emirates, blamed Iran’s “interventionism” for the war and human suffering in Yemen.
The Iranian media extensively covered Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud’s recent trip to Malaysia. State-run and semi-official outlets close to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.), in particular, discussed in details the growing economic and trade ties between Riyadh and Kuala Lumpur.
First Vice-President Eshaq Jahangiri has warned that soaring unemployment has become Iran’s “biggest challenge” and revealed that a staggering number of 500,000 Iranians are annually added to the list of those already without jobs in the country.
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.