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 Lies about Working toward Muslim Unity
  • Analysis

    • Iran Lies about Working toward Muslim Unity

    This week again Iranian leaders have been busy publicizing themselves as “promoters of Islamic unity.” On the one hand, Iranian leaders, like President Hassan Rouhani, speak of the illusive “great conspiracy” supposedly concocted by what he calls “big powers” to split the Muslim world.

    December 15, 2016

    Civilians Massacred in Aleppo by Iranian Backed Militia
  • Analysis

    • Civilians Massacred in Aleppo by Iranian Backed Militia

    The bloody fall of Aleppo, Syrian opposition forces’ last major urban stronghold, is now certain. Without outside assistance, the rebel groups found it impossible to withstand a ruthless air and ground onslaught by the Iranian-led military forces that are propping up the regime of Bashar al-Assad.

    December 15, 2016

    Ahmad Majidyar

    IRGC Increases Ballistic Missile Production despite Sanctions
  • Analysis

    • IRGC Increases Ballistic Missile Production despite Sanctions

    In a remark that may stir concern in the United States, Israel and the Gulf region, a senior commander of the Islamic Republic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says his country has increased the production of ballistic missiles despite international sanctions.

    December 12, 2016

    Ahmad Majidyar

    British Premier’s Remarks at G.C.C. Summit Trouble Iran
  • Analysis

    • British Premier’s Remarks at G.C.C. Summit Trouble Iran

    British Prime Minister Theresa May’s remarks at the Gulf Cooperation Council summit about the need to “push back against Iran’s aggressive” actions in the Middle East have provoked angry reactions and threats from Iranian leaders.

    December 8, 2016

    Ahmad Majidyar

    In Japan’s Return to Iran: Risky Business
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • In Japan’s Return to Iran: Risky Business

    This essay discusses Japan’s long-standing energy dependence on the Middle East and the complications arising from it, with a focus on relations with Iran. More specifically, it looks at the risks and potential rewards of the revival and strengthening of Japan’s economic relations with Iran in the wake of the nuclear deal.

    December 8, 2016

    Bryan Bryan Coleman

    Toward a Regional Framework for the Middle East: Takeaways from other Regions
  • Analysis

    • Toward a Regional Framework for the Middle East: Takeaways from other Regions

    Regional Cooperation Series

    This Policy Paper is part of the Middle East Institute’s Regional Cooperation Series. Throughout 2016, MEI will be releasing several policy papers by renowned scholars and experts exploring possibilities to foster regional cooperation across an array of sectors. The purpose is to highlight the myriad benefits and opportunities associated with regional cooperation, and the high costs of the continued business-as-usual model of competition and intense rivalry.

    Trump’s Iran Gift to China?
  • Analysis

    • Trump’s Iran Gift to China?

    Most observers are still trying to figure out president-elect Donald Trump’s likely Iran policy. Whatever it might be as an approach, it will probably be nothing as accommodating as has been the case in the Obama era. And if Washington starts to earnestly squeeze Tehran from January 21, 2017, the Iranians no doubt will turn to Russia and China for protection.

    New Basij Chief Tasked to Counter “Enemy Plots”
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis

    • New Basij Chief Tasked to Counter “Enemy Plots”

    On December 7, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointed Brigadier General Gholamhossein Ghaib-Parvar as the new commander of Iran’s Basij organization. Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naqdi, former head of Basij, will direct the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC’s) cultural and social affairs.

    December 7, 2016

    Ahmad Majidyar

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