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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    Top Hamas Figure Urges Relinking With Bashar Al-Assad
  • Analysis

    • Top Hamas Figure Urges Relinking With Bashar Al-Assad

    Mahmoud al-Zahar, one of the top members of the Hamas leadership is reported by the Iranian press to push for the resumption of relations between the Palestinian organization and the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad.

    Erdogan’s G.C.C. Trip Unnerves Tehran
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • Erdogan’s G.C.C. Trip Unnerves Tehran

    Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s official trip to Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar has prompted anxiety in Tehran. Erdogan arrived in Riyadh on Monday night after a visit to Bahrain, and he is scheduled to go to Qatar next.

    February 14, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Top Russian Official Cancels Trip to Tehran in Anger
  • Analysis

    • Top Russian Official Cancels Trip to Tehran in Anger

    Iranian media have been speculating about reasons why Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitryi Rogozin this week canceled his planned trip to Tehran. Rogozin was due to hold talks with top Iranian officials, including Defense Minister Hossein Dehgan.

    Rouhani Called Out for Not Fulfilling Election Promise of Releasing Political Prisoners
  • Analysis

    • Rouhani Called Out for Not Fulfilling Election Promise of Releasing Political Prisoners

    The U.S. Department of State released a statement this afternoon calling for the immediate release of former Iranian opposition leaders and presidential candidates Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, as well as Mousavi’s wife and women’s rights activist Zahra Rahnavard.

    February 14, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Iran Risks Military Clash with U.S. Navy by Sending Weapons to Houthis
  • Analysis

    • Iran Risks Military Clash with U.S. Navy by Sending Weapons to Houthis

    The New York Times reported on February 12 that Defense secretary Jim Mattis last week was exploring whether the U.S. Navy should “intercept and board an Iranian ship to look for contraband weapons possibly headed to Houthi fighters in Yemen.” But according to unnamed U.S.

    February 13, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Zarif Again Declares His Allegiance to General Soleimani
  • Analysis

    • Zarif Again Declares His Allegiance to General Soleimani

    Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif has strongly defended the regional policies of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.). In particular, Zarif defended General Qassem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, which is the I.R.G.C.’s expeditionary force. “I have had a close relationship with General Soleimani for over 20 years. When I was the head of the [Iranian] negotiating team involving questions of Iraq and Afghanistan, I had a very good working relationship with General Soleimani,” Zarif stated.

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