Research & Commentary Results

The Syrian government greatly appreciates Tehran’s unwavering support in “the fight against terrorism” over the past years and now wants Iran to play an active role in the war-torn country’s reconstruction and economic development, Syria’s Prime Minister Imad Khamis said in a meeting with Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani on Sunday.

Senior Iranian political and military officials have said that the Islamic Republic will not allow the United States or any other Western country to inspect its military sites under any circumstances, the Iranian media reported.

Iran’s Intelligence Ministry says it has arrested 27 terrorists linked with the Islamic State, the Iranian media reported today. A statement released by the ministry claimed that the terrorist group planned terrorist attacks in Iran’s strategic provinces and religious cities, and that Iranian intelligence agents also confiscated weapons and explosive material the militants were attempting to smuggle into Iran.

Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) groups have agreed to form an alliance – dubbed as the Coalition of the Loyalists – under the leadership of the Badr Organization to participate in the country’s next parliamentary elections, Fars News Agency, an Iranian outlet affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) reports. P.M.F. units such as Kata’ib Hezbollah, Kata’ib Sayyid al-Shuada, Kata’ib Jund al-Imam, and Asaib Ahl al-Haq will be part of the new alliance.

The hopeful scene in Paris July 25 was a familiar one. Libyan leaders, in this case General Khalifa Haftar and Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj, meet under the umbrella of another world leader, in this case, French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, and announce progress on a deal to put Libya back together and hold new elections.

It was a scene that had last played on May 2 in Abu Dhabi, under Emirati guidance with the same Libyan players, and one I and others had sought to put together a full year ago when I was serving as U.S. Special Envoy for Libya.

The following excerpt is from an interview with MEI Senior Fellow Alex Vatanka conducted by J. Dana Stuster for Lawfare. Read the full conversation here.

The Iranian minister of communications and information technology has rejected claims by the United States and European countries that Iran’s space projects are inconstant with the nuclear deal Tehran signed with world powers in 2015.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif held meetings with two African leaders visiting Tehran to attend President Hassan Rouhani’s swearing-in ceremony. In a meeting with Ghana’s Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, the two leaders discussed ways to boost relations between the two countries, particularly in the fields of energy, banking, and agriculture.

A senior Iraqi Shiite leader has rejected reports that he plans to visit Saudi Arabia, telling Iranian journalists that he will only visit the Kingdom if Saudi troops leave Bahrain and Yemen. “Saudi Arabia recently sent a message to me through a mediator asking if I would go to meet this country’s leaders if they invite me. I responded by saying that if their gift to me is leaving Bahrain and ending the killing of Yemen’s innocent people, I will certainly accept. Of course, this request was rejected by them.

Read the full article on Foreign Affairs. 

The crisis which has engulfed the Gulf Cooperation Council (G.C.C.) states since June 5, 2017, leading to an unprecedented diplomatic and economic blockade of Qatar, has effectively split the Gulf into three camps, fracturing the uneasy yet much-lauded unity of an alliance which has long prided itself on stability and security. This essay offers a possible explanation for Bahrain’s contradictory position regarding the crisis, and considers whether Manama can maintain it.

With the fall of Mosul, Iranian-supported Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) is preparing for post-Islamic State Iraq. The paramilitary forces have recently launched a professional public relations campaign on the Internet and social media aimed at justifying and legitimizing P.M.F.’s existence beyond the collapse of the Islamic State. Should the P.M.F. prevail in this effort, it will mark a victory for the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.), which has aided P.M.F. groups for years and sees them crucial for its influence in Iraq in the future.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei today sharply criticized the latest U.S. sanctions and vowed that the Islamic Republic will defy international pressure and continue its missile program. “We send orbital launch vehicles to the space, but suddenly we see that they’ve created uproar over it, throughout the world, while this is merely a scientific and technical activity,” he said at ceremony in which he officially validated President Hassan Rouhani’s reelection.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has blasted President Donald Trump for signing a congressional bill that levies new sanctions against Iranian entities associated with the country’s missile program and support for terrorism in the region. “We will not remain silent regarding the breach of J.C.P.O.A. [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action also known as the Iran nuclear agreement] by America and the government and parliament will soon announce this country’s retaliatory measures,” Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said today.

A senior Iranian official said that Tehran will not let the Trump administration to blame Iran if the nuclear deal falls apart. “America is seeking to walk away from the J.C.P.O.A. [Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action also known as the Iran nuclear deal] at the expense of Iran,” warned Ali Shamkhani, the Secretary General of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.