Awaiting Israel’s strike, Tehran pushes propaganda to cushion the blow
“Lethal, precise and especially surprising.” That’s how Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant framed Israel’s impending military response to the Islamic Republic’s overt and...
Supreme National Security Council
A superficial approach to Iran’s illicit oil exports will backfire
The British government announced on Sept. 17, 2023, that it would dissolve a network of oil trading companies headed by Hossein Shamkhani, son of former Secretary of Iran’s Supreme...
Op-eds
Iranian Minister Urges Anti-Western BRICS Bloc to Create ‘Security Structure’
The Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Akbar Ahmadian, called for the BRICS bloc of states (named after original founders Brazil, Russia, India, China,...
Flash Briefs
Hamas chief political leader Ismail Haniyeh killed in Tehran
One of Hamas’ longest-serving and most influential leaders, Chairman of the Political Bureau Ismail Haniyeh, was targeted and killed on Tuesday in Tehran while in town to attend the inauguration ceremony...
Op-eds
Iran Rebuffs Argentine Request for Extradition of Key Terrorist Mastermind
Tehran on April 24 rejected an Argentine request for the extradition of Iran’s interior minister for his alleged role in the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in...
Flash Briefs
Hamas and Islamic Jihad Meet Iranian Leaders in Tehran
Leaders of the Iran-backed Palestinian terror organizations Hamas and Islamic Jihad (IJ) both met this week with Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi. Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh met with Raisi...
Flash Briefs
Iran is playing musical chairs with leadership positions. None of these individuals have been sanctioned.
Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) has a new secretary. After nearly a decade at the helm, Rear Admiral Ali Shamkhani stepped down from the SNSC on May 22 and was appointed to...
Op-eds
Saudi Arabia, Iran Agree to Reestablish Diplomatic Ties
Latest Developments Iran and Saudi Arabia agreed to restore diplomatic relations on Friday and reopen their respective embassies within two months in a deal brokered by China. Tehran and Riyadh severed...
Flash Briefs
Arsenal
Assessing the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ballistic Missile Program
Monographs
It’s Time for Biden to Leave a Bad Deal in the Past
A change in Iranian presidents doesn’t change the badness of the Iran deal.
Op-eds
What Does the Rise of Baqeri Mean for the Iran Nuclear Deal?
Ebrahim Raisi, who will take office on August 8 as president of the Islamic Republic in Iran, met with India’s foreign minister last week, with two top officials in tow: Mohammad Javad Zarif, Tehran’s...
Policy Briefs
Iranian presidential selection paves new path for nuclear extortion
Following a performative election on June 18, Iran will have a new president: the hard-line Ebrahim Raisi. Raisi’s rise will likely mean a different nuclear negotiating team after August in Vienna,...
Op-eds
Ali Larijani, Iran’s Rejected Hardliner
It wasn’t supposed to end this way. On May 15, Ali Larijani, the former speaker of Iran’s parliament, registered to run for president. Ten days later, the Guardian Council – an unelected, 12-member...
Insights
Why the Coming Iranian Elections Will Challenge the Biden Administration
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei seems inclined to promote a candidate who will quash dissent over someone who could work with the West.
Op-eds
Trump’s Iran Achievement
Among Donald Trump’s proudest achievements as president was his withdrawal of the United States from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), his predecessor’s nuclear agreement with Iran. The...
Op-eds
President Joe Biden would give Iran what it wants most — so Iran hopes he defeats Trump
A Biden victory would prop up the Iranian regime. A Trump victory would weaken it further.
Op-eds
The U.S. Is Right to Push to Extend the U.N. Arms Embargo on Iran
It’s not every day that Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, borrows from the lexicon of international relations theory. Highlighting the Islamic Republic’s proliferation of conventional...
Op-eds
Paper of Iran’s leader accuses Germany of terrorism in antisemitic tirade
“Holocaust was a fraud,” screams Khamenei paper
Op-eds
What Trump can expect from Iran’s supreme leader
Iran’s seizure of two oil tankers — one British-owned, the other British-flagged — in the Strait of Hormuz on Friday dram...
Op-eds
The Revolutionary Guard’s Disinformation Campaign to Dominate Iran’s Economy
hen Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was formed shortly after the 1979 Islamic Revolution,[note][1] Mohsen Sazegara, “The Revolutionary Guard and the Three Perversions,” Personal...