Skip to Content

Research & Commentary Results

Filter by
2805 Results
Monday Briefing: Chances for MidEast Peace Remote under Trump
  • Analysis
  • Monday Briefing: Chances for MidEast Peace Remote under Trump

    In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Yousef Munayyer, Alex Vatanka, Jonathan M. Winer, and Marvin G. Weinbaum provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including President Trump’s trip to Israel and the prospects for a peace process, the reelection of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Russia’s planned naval drill off the coast of Libya this week, and the Afghan Taliban’s decision to reject peace talks.

    Rouhani Says Iran’s Missile Program Will Continue despite Washington’s Concern
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis
  • Rouhani Says Iran’s Missile Program Will Continue despite Washington’s Concern

    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Monday that the Islamic Republic would continue its ballistic missile program despite Washington’s concerns, the Iranian media reported. “American authorities should know that whenever we need to test a missile for technical reasons, we will carry it out. And we will not wait for them or their permission,” he said defiantly after U.S. and Saudi leaders criticized Tehran’s regional policies at the Riyadh summit.

    May 22, 2017

    Iran Says U.S. Forces’ Withdrawal Only Way to Restore Regional Stability
  • Analysis
  • Iran Says U.S. Forces’ Withdrawal Only Way to Restore Regional Stability

    Deputy Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces has blamed the United States for regional instability and claimed that the withdrawal of the U.S. forces would restore peace and security in the Middle East. “The only way to [restore] peace and tranquility to the region is the departure of the Americans and the renunciation of aggressive and terrorist operations by dependent and reactionary regimes against independent countries,” Brigadier General Massoud Jazayeri said on Sunday. His remarks were a reaction to the latest comments by U.S.

    May 22, 2017

    Rouhani Goes to War Against Iran’s Deep State
  • Analysis
  • Rouhani Goes to War Against Iran’s Deep State

    Read the full article on Foreign Policy.

    Iran’s presidential vote is now a two-man race. Tehran Mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s 11th-hour withdrawal means that incumbent Hassan Rouhani will face the 56-year-old Ebrahim Raisi, a close associate of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a man who was at the heart of the decision to mass execute political dissidents in the late 1980s.

    Al-Qaeda’s Turning Against its Syrian Affiliate
  • Analysis
  • Al-Qaeda’s Turning Against its Syrian Affiliate

    “There are really big problems right now,” a conservative Islamist cleric close to Syria’s armed opposition told me – “al-Qaeda is trying to create a new loyal faction in Idlib, but that’s being prevented by al-Hayat.” As this influential cleric and four other similarly well-connected Islamist opposition figures have described to me in recent days, al-Qaeda’s central leadership is growing increasingly exasperated at its former Syrian affiliate – now named Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (H.T.S.), after a second rebrand in January 2017 – and is now actively seeking to build a rival movement more loyal

    Rouhani’s Neoliberal Doctrine has Failed Iran
  • Analysis
  • Rouhani’s Neoliberal Doctrine has Failed Iran

    Four years ago, Hassan Rouhani assumed the Iranian presidency on the back of a campaign pledge to alleviate Iran’s economic hardship by striving for the removal of sanctions. With nuclear-related sanctions removed, blame for Iran’s continued economic misery has either been put on remaining U.S. unilateral sanctions that present a hurdle to large-scale European involvement in the country, or Iran’s hardliners blocking the president’s economic reforms. Yet, Rouhani’s own economic doctrine has significantly contributed to his administration’s failure to improve the lives of Iranians.

    May 18, 2017

    Iran's 2017 Presidential Election
    Middle East Institute
  • Analysis
  • Iran's 2017 Presidential Election

    May 18, 2017 – Iranians are heading to the polls on May 19 for a presidential election that could have serious consequences for the country.

    May 18, 2017