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.
Iranian-Backed Forces Advancing to Southeast Syria despite U.S. Warning
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.
Foreign Powers Should Push for Compromise in Libya
Whenever power is contested in a country—any country—the political fight over who will ascend to the helm provides opportunities for foreign powers to intervene, and in some cases, influence the outcome of the political process.
Such behavior can carry short-term rewards when a new leader, put into power with the help of the foreign government, tilts favorably toward the sponsor; but it also can be counterproductive.
Bahrain-Malaysia Relations Set to Reach New Heights
On May 3, 2017, King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa concluded a four-day trip to Malaysia, the first visit by a Bahraini monarch since the two countries established diplomatic ties in 1974 and the initial leg of a tour that also included stops in Brunei and Thailand. This essay takes a brief look at the development of economic ties between Bahrain and Malaysia in recent years, and considers the prospects for their continued growth in light of the outcome of King Hamad’s visit.
Senior Iranian Official Visits Moscow to Discuss Syria War Plan
The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani today met with his Russian counterpart Nikolai Patrushev in Moscow to discuss the conflict in Syria, state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported. The two sides pledged to continue support for the Bashar al-Assad regime against armed opposition groups.
Rouhani Defends Hezbollah and I.R.G.C.’s Role in Regional Conflicts
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has dismissed his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump’s designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization and defended the Lebanese group and its role in both Lebanon and Syria.
Iran-Supported Iraqi Militias Seize Strategic Town in Western Mosul
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.
Rouhani Seeks France’s Help to Encourage Foreign Investment in Iran
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has urged the new government in France to play a more active role in the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (J.C.P.O.A.), the nuclear agreement t
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 Reacts to Riyadh Summit: Stability in Mideast Impossible without Iran's Help
On Monday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned the United States and its regional allies that stability in the Middle East cannot be achieved without Tehran’s help.
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.
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.
Kayhan Editor: Rouhani’s “Submissiveness” Has “Sharpened Teeth” of America and Its Allies
The editor of Iran’s most prominent hardline newspaper says President Hassan Rouhani’s “submissiveness” and campaign rhetoric have emboldened the United States and its Arab allies to threaten a military attack against the Islamic Republic. “Mr.
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.
The cinema has long been a contested space in Egypt. Following its nationalization in 1966, a formerly flourishing film industry ran steadily downhill and movie theater operators were subjected to censors’ increasingly puerile whims. The only independent company allowed to operate was Misr International Films—founded in 1972 by Egyptian director Youssef Chahine (1926-2008)—to produce, distribute, and exhibit films while coincidentally enabling the state to posit itself as an indulgent patron of cinematic art. The annual state-run Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF, est.
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.
