Tehran’s reshuffle leaves no pragmatic opening
upreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei’s latest appointments to Iran’s top security and paramilitary institutions are not routine personnel changes but a reflection of his priorities for tighter control over...
Intelligence Organization of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
In Iran, the New Lineup Is the Same Hardline Regime
The latest reshuffle of Iran’s government looks less like renewal than a game of musical chairs among regime veterans. Islamic Republic Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose status and capacity to...
Policy Briefs
Iran intensifies recruitment, repression amid reports of thousands of security deaths, Washington weighs ground operations
Washington has signaled readiness to expand operations, including potential ground options, while continuing strikes on Iran’s military and weapons infrastructure. At the same time, the sustained Israeli...
Op-eds
Iran braces for internal unrest as US and Israeli attacks persist (March 14-16 updates)
From March 14 to 16, US and Israeli operations continued targeting key elements of the Islamic Republic’s military capabilities, including missile infrastructure, naval command sites, and facilities...
Op-eds
Israel Strikes Tehran Regime’s Assembly of Experts, Underlining Efforts to Disrupt Succession Process
Israel’s military isn’t making it easy for the Islamic Republic of Iran to choose a new leader. On March 3, the Israeli Air Force reportedly carried out strikes against a building housing the Assembly...
Policy Briefs
US-Israeli strikes hit Iran’s missile, nuclear, political, and repression sites
On March 2 and 3, the United States and Israel continued their sweeping joint military campaign, hitting conventional battlefield assets and a variety of other regime targets across Tehran and central...
Op-eds
Tehran regime fears defections as Iran’s nationwide movement defies containment
What began on December 28 as demonstrations in downtown Tehran, driven by runaway inflation and the rial’s sharp depreciation against the dollar, has moved beyond a protest wave and become...
Op-eds
Tehran threatens snapback retaliation, raises fears of war with Israel
The United Kingdom, Germany, and France, known as the E3, triggered the “snapback” process on August 28 by sending a letter to the UN Security Council. This move gives Tehran 30 days to...
Op-eds
A Year of Meming Dangerously: Iranian Influence Operations Targeting Israel Since October 7
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Memos
US, UK, EU allies condemn Iranian terror plots
The United States, the United Kingdom, and a dozen other European countries issued a statement on July 31, condemning Iran’s escalating extraterritorial intelligence operations across Western...
Op-eds
Israel Defense Forces raid Iran-linked terror cell in Syria
The Israeli military carried out a raid in Syria during which it says it apprehended “a terrorist cell operated by Iran.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) revealed the operation, part of Israel’s...
Op-eds
5 Oppressive Iranian Institutions Israel has Targeted
As Israel degrades the Islamic Republic of Iran’s military capabilities, the campaign has also targeted key pillars of repression in the country. Among them are senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps...
Insights
Israel targets nuclear sites, Iran appoints new officials (June 19 updates)
Israel has expanded its military campaign against Iran with targeted strikes on nuclear facilities, missile infrastructure, and security institutions. Leadership changes within Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary...
Op-eds
Israel targets IRGC general and disrupts Iranian banks (June 17 updates)
A sweeping Israeli campaign on June 17 delivered a series of coordinated military strikes and cyber operations that placed the Islamic Republic of Iran under mounting pressure. Israel eliminated the most...
Op-eds
Unpacking Iran’s counterintelligence apparatus
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently issued “seeking information” posters for two operatives of the Islamic Republic’s intelligence services implicated in the 2007 abduction...
Op-eds
Israel Seizes Deadly Iranian Weapons Destined for West Bank Terrorists
Iranian Weapons Seized by Israeli Forces: The IDF and the Shin Bet intelligence agency announced on November 27 that they had seized weapons from Iran destined for terrorists...
Flash Briefs
Spy surge: Tehran’s espionage strategy against Israel
The Islamic Republic has accelerated its intelligence operations in Israel, with at least five spy rings uncovered by Israel in October alone. Between October 14 and 31, authorities arrested some 20 individuals...
Op-eds
IRGC Official Among Plotters Indicted for Attempted Murder of U.S.-Based Iranian Dissident
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) unsealed charges against four Iranians on October 22 in connection with a 2022 plot to assassinate Iranian dissident journalist Masih Alinejad...
Flash Briefs
U.S. Sanctions Key Iranian Human Rights Abusers
The Biden administration sanctioned 12 people on September 18 for their “violent repression” of the Iranian people, both within Iran and abroad. The sanctions, imposed in coordination...
Flash Briefs
Iranian Cyber-Spying Group Posed as Tech Support to Target U.S. Political Officials’ WhatsApp Accounts
Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram’s parent company, Meta, reported on August 23 that it blocked a small cluster of WhatsApp accounts used by Iranian cyber-attackers to target officials...