Research & Commentary Results

The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces today seized nine villages around al-Qairawan region in western Mosul from the Islamic State, the Iranian media reports. According to a P.M.F. statement, the paramilitary forces “managed to reach the Sinjar mountains and block the road that connects Sinjar to al-Ba’aj.

The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) have seized eight villages from the Islamic State in western Mosul, the Iranian media reports. According to Iraqi officials, the paramilitary forces have also launched operations in northern Ba’aj and have secured the control of the main road linking al-Adaniyah district and the two of al-Ba’aj. According to a P.M.F.

The U.S. air strike last week targeting Iranian-led forces in southern Syria signaled escalating tension between Washington and Tehran over the six-year conflict in Syria. The U.S. military said it carried out the raid because an Iran-directed convoy was advancing toward a “de-confliction zone” near the al-Tanf region, where the U.S. military is training Syrian opposition forces to fight the Islamic State. The militia forces reportedly did not respond to U.S. warnings.  The air strike – the first such action by the U.S.

Iran-supported units within the Hashd al-Shaabi, the Iraqi paramilitary forces called Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.), have seized the al- Qairawan region in western Mosul from the Islamic State, Iran’s Fars News Agency reported today.

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.

The Hashd al-Shaabi – Iraqi paramilitary forces known as the Popular Mobilization Forces – captured an air base from the Islamic State on Thursday, the Iranian media reports.

A council of tribal leaders in Iraq’s Nineveh Province

Accusations are mounting that Iran is ramping up its engagement with the Taliban in Afghanistan. Like a lot of Iran’s murky foreign policy, it is difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff. The three questions that need to be answered to clear up the murky relationship between Iran and the Taliban are: why the change in Iran’s policy; when did this policy change occur; and what is the level of support afforded to the Taliban?

Unlikeliest of Allies

Latest reports about increased U.S.

On Monday, Iranian Ambassador to Baghdad Iraj Masjedi traveled to the holy city of Karbala and held meetings with senior Iraqi government officials and religious leaders, the

A lengthy report in Fars News Agency (F.N.A.), an outlet close to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.), claims that the United States is seeking to contain the growing influence of Iran and its proxies in Iraq and Syria by increasing its military presence in northern and southern Syria and keeping

A commander of Kurdish peshmerga forces in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, Sarbast Lazkeen, has cautioned that any further expansion of Iran-backed Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) toward the Syrian border and into Kurdish regions could prompt a direct military intervention by Turkey, Saudi Arabia or the United States.

Recent reports that the Trump administration is in talks with Baghdad about keeping American troops in Iraq after the defeat of the Islamic State have triggered concern in Tehran. The Iranian media also have raised the alarm that the U.S. increasing military presence in Iraq and Syria is aimed at countering the influence of Iran and its regional allies in the Middle East.

The Iraqi Hashd al-Shaabi – the paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.) – earlier today announced the launch of the second phase of the “Muhammad Rasulullah” operation in western Mosul of Iraq’s Nineveh Province.

Muhammad al-Hattab, a commander of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (P.M.F.), has hinted that the paramilitary forces may enter politics and participate in elections after the Islamic State is defeated.