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Iran

Trump’s South Caucasus Peacemaking Is His Most Successful, but It Remains Unfinished
  • Commentary
  • Trump’s South Caucasus Peacemaking Is His Most Successful, but It Remains Unfinished

    Of all the fronts in President Trump’s peacemaking agenda, the South Caucasus has delivered the most concrete results. The August 2025 Washington Declaration, signed between Armenia and Azerbaijan and witnessed by Trump, marked an important step toward peace in the region. The two sides initialed a peace agreement and advanced plans to unblock regional connectivity, including through the establishment of the Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP), which would connect Azerbaijan to its Nakhijevan exclave through southern Armenia. Implementation of TRIPP has since made notable progress, but construction has yet to start. A breakthrough on those two tracks would, in turn, unlock Armenia–Türkiye normalization, transforming a long-fractured region into an area of trade and interdependence.

    The Iran War Was Always About Regime Change
  • Commentary
  • The Iran War Was Always About Regime Change

    Wars don’t just end. They get interpreted, reinterpreted, and turned into strategic doctrine. That is what happened after the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s, a conflict that saw the United States back Tehran’s Iraqi adversaries. The war taught Tehran three lessons it never unlearned: that Washington wants the Islamic Republic gone, that Iran stands essentially alone in the world, and that it cannot survive a direct, overt fight with the U.S. and Israel.

    Iran’s New War Cabinet Is Really an Old One
  • Analysis
  • Iran’s New War Cabinet Is Really an Old One

    Within 48 hours this week, Iran filled six of the most important posts in its battered military and security establishment. Read together with the biographies and mandates behind them, the appointments show how Tehran is drawing lessons from successive wars and preparing for a prolonged period of insecurity, without proving it has abandoned negotiation.

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    Iran-Controlled Militia Groups Playing Key Role in Operations in Mosul, Kirkuk
  • Analysis
  • Iran-Controlled Militia Groups Playing Key Role in Operations in Mosul, Kirkuk

    The spokesman of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) reiterated today that its forces will play a leading role in military operations in the Iraqi provinces of Nineveh and Kirkuk – particularly in the strategic city of Tal Afar in western Mosul. “The Popular Mobilization Forces have a commanding and extensive presence and participation in operational zones in Nineveh Province,” P.M.F.

    April 13, 2017

    Iran’s Ground Forces Expanding Use of Drones
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis
  • Iran’s Ground Forces Expanding Use of Drones

    The commander of Iran’s Army Ground Forces has announced an increase in the number and range of drones used during the Ground Forces’ operations across the country.

    April 13, 2017

    Two More I.R.G.C. Members Killed in Iran’s Volatile Southeast
  • Analysis
  • Two More I.R.G.C. Members Killed in Iran’s Volatile Southeast

    Unidentified gunmen killed two members of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) during a military operation on Wednesday in Zahedan, the capital of Iran’s southeastern province of Sistan and Baluchestan, the

    April 12, 2017

    Iran’s Response to U.S. Missile Strikes in Syria
  • Analysis
  • Iran’s Response to U.S. Missile Strikes in Syria

    President Donald Trump’s decision last week to militarily punish the regime of Bashar al Assad for using chemical weapons caught Syria’s closest ally Iran by surprise. Political and military leaders in Tehran are still uncertain whether the U.S. strikes were a one-time mission or represented a sea change in Washington’s policy in Syria. The Islamic Republic hopes it was the former, but there is a growing concern in Tehran that it may be the beginning of concerted efforts by Washington and its regional Sunni allies to topple Iran’s ally in Damascus.

    April 12, 2017

    Iran’s Soleimani Reportedly in Iraqi Kurdistan to Influence Referendum Talks
  • Analysis
  • Iran’s Soleimani Reportedly in Iraqi Kurdistan to Influence Referendum Talks

    Major General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.)’s elite Quds Force, has traveled to the Iraqi Kurdish city of Sulaymaniyah as Kurdish political leaders are discussing plans to hold referendum on the political fate of the Iraqi Kurdistan region this year,

    April 11, 2017

    Iran's Defense Minister Tells Moscow: U.S. “Should Pay Heavy Price” for Future Syria Attacks
  • Analysis
  • Iran's Defense Minister Tells Moscow: U.S. “Should Pay Heavy Price” for Future Syria Attacks

    Iranian Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan today had separate phone conversations with his Russian and Syrian counterparts and warned that the United States should pay a heavy price for any future attacks against the regime of Iran’s ally Bashar al-Assad in Syria, the Iranian media reported.

    April 11, 2017

    The Aftermath of U.S. Airstrikes in Syria | Monday Briefing
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis
  • The Aftermath of U.S. Airstrikes in Syria | Monday Briefing

    In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Paul Salem, Randa Slim, Charles Lister, Gonul Tol, and Alex Vatanka provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the need for an overarching strategy in Syria following U.S. airstrikes, Secretary of State Tillerson’s upcoming visit to Moscow, the likely aftermath of U.S. airstrikes in Syria, Turkey’s growing frustration with U.S. strategy in Syria, and the rise of a hardliner challenger to Rouhani in the upcoming Iranian presidential election.

    April 10, 2017

    Iran and Russia Threaten U.S. after Syria Attack
  • Analysis
  • Iran and Russia Threaten U.S. after Syria Attack

    A joint operational command center of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s foreign backers has warned that it will forcefully respond to any future U.S. military attack against Syria, the Iranian media reports.

    April 10, 2017

    Senior I.R.G.C. Commander Killed in Iran’s Restive Province Just Days after ISIS Video
  • Analysis
  • Senior I.R.G.C. Commander Killed in Iran’s Restive Province Just Days after ISIS Video

    A senior Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) commander has been assassinated in Iran’s restive Sistan and Baluchestan Province, the Iranian media reports. According to I.R.G.C.-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, Ruhollah A’ali, an I.R.G.C. battalion commander in Zahedan, the capital of Sistan and Baluchestan, was “martyred” by “Takfiri terrorists” last night. Takfiri is a term Iranian leaders use for Sunni militants. The commander was affiliated with the I.R.G.C.’s 110th Salman Brigade in the province. The two assassins were reportedly killed by Basij forces.

    April 10, 2017

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