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-Supported Iraqi Militia Groups Make Further Advances in Western Mosul
The Iraqi Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) have seized several villages in northwestern Mosul from the Islamic State in recent days and are planning to enter the strategic city of Tal Afar, the Iranian media reports.
March 17, 2017 – MEI Senior Fellow Alex Vatanka joins host Paul Salem to discuss US-Iranian relations since the US election and Iran’s upcoming presidential election in the context of regional turmoil and questions over the Supreme Leader’s succession.
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Charles Lister, Randa Slim, Paul Salem, and Eran Etzion provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the meeting of the anti-ISIS coalition in D.C., the Iraqi Prime Minister’s visit to the U.S., the upcoming Arab League summit, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu’s visit to China.
U.S. Designation of Iran-Backed Bahraini Militants Prompts Angry Reaction from Tehran
The U.S. Department of State’s designation of two Iran-backed Bahraini militants as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (S.D.G.T.) has prompted an angry reaction from Tehran. Iran’s Foreign Ministry called allegations by Washington that Tehran supports terrorist activities in Bahrain as “baseless and politically-motivated,” and accused the U.S.
Latest Crackdown in Iran Points to I.R.G.C.’s Meddling in Elections
A number of senior Iranian lawmakers have criticized the country’s security and intelligence authorities for the latest wave of crackdown on journalists and social and political activists.
Riyadh’s Offer to Contribute Troops in Syria Prompts Angry Reaction from Tehran
Ali Shamkhani, the head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), has warned the United States and Saudi Arabia against sending military forces to Syria, the
Iran Arrests Late President’s Daughter, Activists in Pre-Election Crackdown
Judicial authorities in Iran have sentenced the daughter of late president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani to six months in jail for “spreading lies to disturb the public opinion about the Judiciary and Sepah [Islamic Revolution Guards Corps],” opposition website Kaleme reported today.
Iran’s Judiciary Calls for Purge of Dual Nationals, Depicts Them as Security Threat
Iran’s Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri has sent a new list of government officials with dual nationality to the country’s Ministry of Intelligence – calling for a thorough investigation into their cases.
Iran’s Judiciary Orders Increased Social Media Clampdown ahead of Elections
Iran’s Prosecutor General Mohammad Jafar Montazeri announced earlier today that the country’s judicial authorities each week filter between 16,000 and 20,000 Telegram accounts.
Redefining the Drivers of India-G.C.C. Economic Relations
Against the backdrop of the global geo-economic shift from West to East, India and its G.C.C. counterparts can, and should, seize the opportunity to recalibrate and reshape their economic relations. This essay discusses how the adoption of a value chain approach and its application to the healthcare high-tech digital service sectors.
Iran-Supported Militia Groups Intensify anti-U.S. Propaganda in Iraq
With the Islamic State on the verge of losing Mosul, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (I.R.G.C.) and its Iraqi militia proxies have recently launched a vicious propaganda campaign against the U.S. and its regional allies – posing security risks to U.S. military advisers that are helping the Iraqi security forces in the country.
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.
