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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    With ISIS Losing Ground in Mosul, Iran-Backed Militias Turn Attention to Iraqi Rivals
  • Analysis

    • With ISIS Losing Ground in Mosul, Iran-Backed Militias Turn Attention to Iraqi Rivals

    A prominent Iran-backed Iraqi militia commander has warned peshmerga forces loyal to the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) to withdraw from the northern Iraqi town of Sinjar and stressed that the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) will not allow any parts of Nineveh Province to be incorporated into the Iraqi

    March 28, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Kayhan Editor: U.S. and Allies Trying to Weaken Iran's Regime by Empowering "Moderates"
  • Analysis

    • Kayhan Editor: U.S. and Allies Trying to Weaken Iran's Regime by Empowering "Moderates"

    Hossein Shariatmadari, the editor-in-chief of hardline Kayhan newspaper, claims that an assessment of speeches by U.S. politicians at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) this week shows America and its allies are afraid of the Islamic Republic’s power.

    March 28, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Renewal U.N. Special Rights Rapporteur’s Mandate Unnerves Iran’s Judiciary Chief
  • Analysis

    • Renewal U.N. Special Rights Rapporteur’s Mandate Unnerves Iran’s Judiciary Chief

    Iran’s Judiciary Chief Ayatollah Sadeqh Larijani has criticized the U.N. Human Rights Council for renewing the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran for another year. “Unfortunately, the United Nations’ human rights bodies have become a tool to pressure independent states,” Larijani said in a meeting with high-ranking judiciary officials in Tehran.

    March 28, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Clear Partisan Divide at AIPAC | Monday Briefing
  • Analysis

    • Clear Partisan Divide at AIPAC | Monday Briefing

    In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Yousef Munayyer, Eran Etzion, and Alex Vatanka provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the evident partisan divide at this year’s AIPAC Conference, the surprise that the Trump administration’s lack of support for settlement building has caused for Israel’s right wing, and Iranian President Rouhani’s trip to Moscow.

    Arab Leaders Accuse Iran of Sharing Missile Technology with Houthi Rebels in Yemen
  • Analysis

    • Arab Leaders Accuse Iran of Sharing Missile Technology with Houthi Rebels in Yemen

    Major General Ahmed al-Assiri, the spokesperson of the Saudi-led coalition forces, has accused Iran of intensifying and prolonging the Yemeni conflict by supporting Houthi rebels, including sharing missile technology with the militants.

    March 27, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Iran and Russia Team up with Taliban to Undermine U.S.-led Mission in Afghanistan
  • Analysis

    • Iran and Russia Team up with Taliban to Undermine U.S.-led Mission in Afghanistan

    Afghan and U.S. officials say Iran and Russia have teamed up to undermine the U.S.-led stabilization efforts in Afghanistan by sheltering, training, funding and arming Taliban insurgents. They claim that the two countries have not only expanded their diplomatic engagement with the Taliban leadership, but are also providing advanced weapons to the insurgents that are fighting the Afghan government and the U.S.-led coalition forces in the country.

    March 24, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

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