Washington says it doesn’t know who runs Iran. Tehran insists its leadership is united. MEI Senior Fellow Alex Vatanka joins hosts Alistair Taylor and Matthew Czekaj to sort out where the truth lies. They look at the small circle of political and military figures now steering the war effort in Tehran: who they are, how they make decisions, and how unified they really are. They also discuss the current state of US-Iran negotiations, the role of the upcoming midterm elections in the United States, and how the Islamic Republic is preparing for a potential renewal of conflict afterward.
Crude oil is flowing out of the Gulf again, but the market is no better prepared for another disruption in the Strait of Hormuz. It has assembled a temporary system for managing one. Crude exports from the Gulf, excluding Iran, returned to pre-war levels in September, while total Gulf shipments reached 15.5 million barrels a day, more than 80% of the pre-conflict volume.
Many of the immediate consequences of the Israeli-American war with Iran are already clear. The further emergence of drones and missiles as dominant weapons of war; the danger to the global economy from the threats to vital chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb; and the inadequacy of US weapons procurement, among other issues, have garnered widespread and entirely merited attention.
The Iranian naval forces today tested its new medium-range cruise missile during a two-day drill underway in the Sea of Oman, the Iranian media reported.
Hamas wants Khamenei to lead fight against US, Israel over Jerusalem
The representative of the Palestinian Hamas in Lebanon, Ali Barakah, has said that the militant group wants Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to unify the Islamic community and lead the fight against the United States and Israel after Washington’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as the Jewish state’s capital.
Iran deports scores of youth to western Afghanistan
Iran everyday deports hundreds of Afghans, including a sizable number of children and teenagers, BBC Persian reports. According to Afghan officials working on refugee affairs in western Herat Province, which borders Iran, about 500 undocumented Afghans are sent back to Herat through Islam Qala border crossing. The BBC report also reveals that human traffickers entice young men from rural Afghanistan into going to Iran for work opportunities. But many face significant dangers on their journey to Iran or are subjected to deportation even if they reach Iran.
Manama says Tehran and its regional allies sponsor “terrorist cells” to destabilize Bahrain
Bahrain’s interior minister said on Sunday that Tehran and its regional proxies are supporting militant groups that carry out terrorist actions on the Bahraini soil, Iranian and
Khamenei’s advisor: Iran will stay in Syria and Iraq and help Damascus fight US troops
A top advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei defended Iran’s costly involvement in regional conflicts and called for a long-term military presence in Syria and Iraq, Fars News Agency reported. “Our forces must stay in Iraq and Syria so as to defend Islamic unity. This is because if Iran is not present, no country can be the standard-bearer and guarantor of stability in the region,” said Ali Akbar Velayati, a former foreign minister who holds more than a dozen official positions in the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s Navy reportedly warns off two “coalition warships” in latest dangerous encounter
A senior Iranian naval officer said on Monday that the country’s warplanes warned off two US-led coalition vessels during a military drill in the Persian Gulf, the Iranian media reported. “This morning and in the first hours of the drills, two warships of the coalition which had approached the drills zone to monitor the Iranian Navy units were identified by the Navy drones,” Spokesman of the drills Rear Admiral Seyed Mahmoud Moussavi was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
Iranian, Russian diplomats meet in Moscow amid looming Turkish offensive in Afrin
Iran’s deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs, Hossein Jaberi Ansari, today left Tehran for Moscow to hold talks over the latest developments in Syria and the broader region, the Iranian media reported. Ansari and his accompanying team met with Mikhail Bogdanov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s special envoy to the Middle East and African countries, to discuss ways of strengthening cooperation between the two countries in Syria. The two sides reportedly also talked about Yemen and other regional crises.
IRGC commander: We’re chasing US to Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea
The deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has said that the United States is no longer to “pull off a victory” in the Middle East and claimed that Tehran and its allies are driving the US forces out of the region.
US long-term military presence in Syria worries Tehran
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s remarks that Washington will maintain a long-term military presence in Syria to continue to assist the Syrian Democratic Forces and prevent a potential ISIS reemergence have worried Tehran. An article in Fars News Agency, a mouthpiece of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), said that the “open-ended” deployment of US forces in Syria is aimed at “regime change” in the country.
The demonstrations that broke out across Iran in late December were the largest the country has seen since 2009, however their causes and participants were quite different from past protests. Barbara Slavin of the Atlantic Council and MEI Senior Fellow Alex Vatanka join host Paul Salem to discuss what we’ve learned about these protests and their implications for Iran’s leaders, the region, and U.S. policy.
Hamas leader vows new intifada against Israel in letter to Iran's Khamenei
In a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Palestinian Hamas, has praised Iranian support for the militant group, and particularly Tehran’s “unwavering and valuable” stance on the issue of Jerusalem. According to the Iranian media, Haniyeh denounced President Donald Trump’s decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and emphasized in the letter that launching another intifada against Israel would be the best course of action at present.
Iran rejects missile talks in defiance of Western pressure
Iran’s defense minister today denied a report that Tehran has accepted Western demands to hold negotiations on the country’s controversial missile program, according to Tasnim News Agency.
Iran’s soft power: Islamic Azad University opening branches in major Syrian and Iraqi cities
While Iran’s military involvement in regional conflicts and support for militant groups often make headlines, Tehran’s sophisticated soft power strategies aimed at promoting the Islamic Republic’s ideological and political goals in the region are largely overlooked. The establishment of Islamic Azad Universities in major Syrian and Iraqi cities and the expansion of its main branch in Lebanon is one example of how Tehran uses soft power tools to expand its sphere of influence across the region.
January 12, 2018 – The protests shaking provincial cities and towns in Iran since December 28, 2017 are a new and different phenomenon for the Islamic Republic. Young, politically voiceless people of modest means are apparently frustrated over the economic prospects and inequities they perceive. The Middle East Institute (MEI) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) were pleased to provide an inside view of the demonstrations and how they contrast with the “Green Movement” of 2009 or an Iranian “spring” of the like that spread through the Arab world in 2011.
The oldest peer-reviewed publication dedicated to the study of the modern Middle East, MEI’s flagship journal covers politics, society, and culture in the region.
