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 Expansionist Naval Agenda May Further Alarm Regional States
  • Analysis

    • Iran Expansionist Naval Agenda May Further Alarm Regional States

    Iranian Navy Commander Habibollah Sayyari on Sunday discussed Iran’s latest progress in developing the capabilities and expanding the operational and geographical scope of the country’s naval forces. He announced that he had deployed 20,000 naval personnel to the Makran region  on the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

    February 13, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Iranian Regime Marks 1979 Revolution Anniversary with “Death to America” Slogan
  • Analysis

    • Iranian Regime Marks 1979 Revolution Anniversary with “Death to America” Slogan

    Chanting “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” hundreds of thousands of pro-regime Iranians rallied on Friday to renew allegiance to the clerical establishment and commemorate the 38th anniversary of the country’s Islamic Revolution, Iranian state-run media reported.

    February 10, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Another Top Dissident on Hunger Strike In Iran
  • Analysis

    • Another Top Dissident on Hunger Strike In Iran

    Mehdi Khazali, a prominent critic of the Iranian regime who was arrested by the security forces this week and sent to Tehran’s Evin Prison, has decided to go on hunger strike. Khazali’s hunger strike was reported by a number of reformist-leaning outlets in Iran.

    Top Iranian Lawmaker Hails Quds Force’s Subversive Activities in Iraq and Syria
  • Analysis

    • Top Iranian Lawmaker Hails Quds Force’s Subversive Activities in Iraq and Syria

    Chairman of the Iranian Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi has commended Iranian Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani’s “important” role in regional conflicts.

    February 9, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

    Concerns in Iran over Trump’s Possible I.R.G.C. Designation
  • Analysis

    • Concerns in Iran over Trump’s Possible I.R.G.C. Designation

    The media and legal experts in Iran have already begun examining the implications a potential decision by the Trump administration to designate the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) as a terrorist entity. Tabnak, an outlet affiliated with former I.R.G.C.

    February 9, 2017

    Ahmad Majidyar

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