The Other MoU: Launching a Europe-Gulf Resilience Initiative After the US-Iran Deal
The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the United States and Iran may have ended one of the most consequential Middle Eastern crises in decades, but it has not resolved the strategic problem it exposed. Whether the 60-day talks it set in motion will produce a final agreement remains far from certain.Yet the central lessons are already clear: Iran has preserved significant leverage, Washington has had to scale back its ambitions, and Europe and the Gulf face the prospect of protracted regional tension. Europe and the Gulf should therefore use the aftermath of the US-Iran deal to articulate their own “other MoU”: a Europe-Gulf Resilience initiative.
A Post-War Model for Verifying Iran’s Missile Arsenal
This study proposes a model for constraining and verifying Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal by employing a layered Strategic Verification Model with seven components: comprehensive baseline declarations; missile test and launch monitoring; intrusive inspections; quantitative and qualitative limits on missile capabilities; production controls, especially on solid-fuel manufacturing; a robust enforcement and compliance architecture; and regional confidence building measures.
The Houthis are a political-military faction and Zaydi religious movement founded in northwestern Yemen in the 1980s. A key member of Iran’s Axis of Resistance with links to other militant organizations in the Arabian Peninsula and the Horn of Africa, the group has continued to pose a threat to Western interests on a global scale.
This backgrounder provides an overview of how the Abraham Accords came about, the US interests involved, their economic and strategic consequences, and the prospects for further enlargement going forward.
After a decade of post-Arab Spring isolation, Turkey’s leaders have recognized that their ambition to position the country as an agenda-setter on the world stage requires active engagement in all directions. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s consolidation of executive authority has centralized foreign policy decision-making and tied it to his domestic political priorities, transforming the country’s revisionist approach to one shaped primarily by personal and pragmatic interests.
As the Western Sahara conflict reaches its fifth decade, the territorial dispute remains unresolved and largely unknown. MEI’s Intissar Fakir unpacks the Western Sahara’s complex history and the rival claims by Morocco and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. She examines recent developments, such as President Trump’s recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the territory and the collapse of a 30-year cease-fire, as well as the core questions that remain unanswered after half a century.
Podcasts
Middle East Focus
MEI’s flagship weekly podcast on US foreign policy and contemporary political and social issues in the Middle East.
MEI Senior Fellow Brian Katulis engages friends, colleagues, and policy experts in casual conversations on the most important happenings in the Middle East.
Iran-Backed Iraqi Paramilitaries Reach Border Area, Express Readiness to Fight in Syria
The head of an Iranian-supported Badr Organization said today that the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces have launched a new operation to secure areas along the Syrian-Iraqi border, Fars News Agency, which is affiliated with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.), reported.
Iran Plans to Launch Several Satellites into Space, including 1st Sensor-Operational Satellite
Iranian officials claim that the country has made significant progress in designing and producing satellites and is planning on launching several satellites into space in the near future.
Iran Says It's Ready to Send Troops to Syria to Monitor Ceasefire
Iran’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that the Islamic Republic is prepared to deploy troops to Syria to monitor the ceasefire, Iranian media reported. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghassemi added that Iran, Russia and Turkey are holding talks to discuss the implementation of the ceasefire and de-escalation zones in Syria. “If the required grounds are provided, there would be a need to deploy forces who can monitor the ceasefire,” the Iranian spokesman said.
Senior Iranian Clerics: “Shadow of War over Iran Expanding” with new U.S.-Arab Partnership
Senior Iranian clerics at Friday prayers across the country today denounced the creation of an “Arab NATO” by the United States and its regional allies to fight terrorism and contain Iran’s regional ambitions.
Iran-Supported Iraqi Paramilitaries Make Further Gains in Western Mosul
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 Iranian defense minister today claimed that the country has achieved self-sufficiency in the field of producing military hardware, particularly ballistic missiles, the Iranian media reported.
The Destabilizing Role of Missiles in the Middle East
The destabilizing role of ballistic and cruise missiles in the Middle East has stood out since the end of the Second World War: more than 90 percent of the well-over 5,000 missiles fired in combat have taken place in the Middle East.[1] Moreover, because offensive missiles have become so prominent a feature of wars in the Middle East, missile defenses have begun to play a major role in countering growing offensive missile arsenals.
IranObserved: Presidential Election and Foreign Policy
May 23, 2017 – Ahmad Majidyar, director of the IranObserved project at the Middle East Institute, joins host Paul Salem to discuss Hassan Rouhani’s reelection as president, the election’s implications for U.S.-Iran relations during the Trump presidency, and Iran’s broader strategy in regional conflicts.
I.R.G.C. Unveils New Underground Missile Production Factory despite U.S. Warning
The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) Aerospace Force today revealed that the country has recently built a third underground ballistic missile production factory, the
Iran Paper: Are New U.S. Sanctions a Declaration of War against Iran?
The U.S. Senate Relations Committee today approved a new set of sanctions against Iran for its ballistic missile program, support for terrorism, and human rights abuses.
Iran-Supported Iraqi Groups Marching ahead in Western Mosul
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.
Worries in Tehran about Close U.S.-Arab Partnership to Contain Iran
The deputy commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) said that President Donald Trump’s statements at the Riyadh summit was only a confession to Iran’s superior power in the region. “50 world leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia and their only word was that Iran enjoys an uncontrollable power, and it is an honor for us (Iran),” Brigadier General Hossein Salami stressed. He warned that any actions against Iran would have dire consequences.
The election of Emmanuel Macron is certainly bad news for terrorist organizations in the Middle East. At the same time, it is unlikely that France will modify its attitude in regards to larger regional challenges, for instance, the ongoing Syrian civil war, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, or the cold war between Iran and Saudi Arabia.
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.
