Tehran

Has Iran’s drone threat peaked?

In response to the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, Tehran has unleashed more than 1,500 drones on countries across the region, including the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia...

Is the Islamic Republic Down and Out in the Levant and Beyond?

Since October 7, 2023, Iran’s theocracy has watched its entire westward foreign policy crash, disabled by an Israeli counterattack and its shockwaves.

Trump Could End the War Tomorrow. I Don’t Think He Will.

Energy markets breathed a sigh of relief on Monday after President Donald Trump suggested he could declare victory over Iran at any time. “I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” he told...

South Africa Should Stand with the Iranian People, Not Their Oppressors

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei may be dead, but the warm feelings linger on in South Africa. The Islamic Republic’s brutal repression of its civilians and the US-Israeli operation against...

Mojtaba Khamenei Replaces His Father as Supreme Leader of Iran’s Clerical Regime

Iranians Urged To Pledge Allegiance to New Leader: Mojtaba Khamenei, the 56-year-old son of eliminated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been appointed to replace his father. Iran’s Assembly of Experts released a statement calling on Iranians to “keep unity and pledge allegiance to the new supreme leader.” Trump Says ‘He’s Not Going To Last Long’: President Donald Trump said that Iran is “going to have to get approval from us” regarding the appointment of its next leader. “If he doesn’t get approval from us, he’s not going to last long. We want to make sure that we don’t have to go back every 10 years, when you don’t have a president like me that’s not going to do it,” Trump stated. More Hardline Than His Father: “Mojtaba is expected to be more hardline than his father, and his ascent means the Iranian regime may get more repressive,” Axios observed. The younger Khamenei was sanctioned by the United States in 2019 for having “acted for or on behalf of” his father.

Gulf states have a stark choice — and Trump must make them face it

Iran has turned its war with the United States and Israel into a direct assault on its Persian Gulf neighbors — targeting not just American military and diplomatic installations based in these Arab states,...

Lebanon Weighs Legal Action Against Hezbollah’s Chief as Israel’s Northern Front Turns Deadly

Reports from Beirut suggest Lebanese Justice Minister Adel Nassar is considering “legal action” against Hezbollah’s leader, Naim Qassem. For decades Hezbollah, a proxy of the clerical regime in...

Action on Another Front: Strikes on Pro-Tehran Militias in Iraq

Air strikes, likely conducted as part of American-Israeli operations, are hitting Iran-backed Shiite militias in Iraq, but no one is taking credit. The militias themselves claim to have launched dozens...

Iran continues striking civilian infrastructure and US bases in the Gulf (March 7–8 updates)

Between March 7 and 8, Iran continued launching drones and missiles across the Persian Gulf, targeting energy infrastructure, airports, military bases, government buildings, and urban areas in Saudi Arabia,...

Separatism Would Hand the Iranian Regime a Lifeline

As joint U.S.–Israeli operations have degraded the Islamic Republic’s military capabilities, the conflict is entering its next phase. Washington and Jerusalem are reportedly considering backing armed...

The War Against Iran’s Jihadis: What’s Xi Got to Do With It?

Israel Is Taking Aim at Hezbollah’s Banking Sector. The U.S. Should Follow Suit.

The ongoing war against Iran’s clerical regime isn’t confined to the skies above Tehran — at least not for Israel. On March 2, the Israel Defense Forces attacked 18 branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan...

Similarities and differences in US and Israeli targets and objectives in Iran campaign

The US and Israel have cooperated to achieve impressive operational successes against Iran, but a mutually shared definition of victory remains elusive. This inconsistency and lack of clarity could undermine...

Iran’s ‘Hezbollah Blueprint’ To Survive the U.S. Military’s Massive Air War

The 12-Country Offensive: Why Iran is Attacking Oman and Azerbaijan to Sabotage Operation Epic Fury ...

Who Is Mojtaba Khamenei?

If chosen to succeed his father as Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei will seal the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ dominance over the Islamic Republic.

US and Israel establish air superiority, focus strikes on Iranian military sites and ‘regime pillars’ (March 4–5)

The American and Israeli campaign against the Islamic Republic of Iran reached its 100th hour on March 5, as both forces in the joint operation continued to target military assets. The United States highlighted...

Iranian and Iranian-Backed Attacks Against Americans (1979-Present)

Armed conflict between the United States and Iran did not begin in 2026, but instead has deep roots that extend back to the 1979 Islamic Revolution. For nearly five decades, the clerical regime in Tehran...

The Four Paths for a Post-Khamenei Iran

The U.S. is hoping for regime change in Iran, but what could happen if the Islamic Republic survives?

Hezbollah’s Recklessness May Restore Israel’s ‘Security Zone’

Hezbollah built much of its political legitimacy on the claim that it forced Israel to withdraw from its “security zone” in southern Lebanon in 2000. The group’s decision to now join Iran’s war...

Israel Did Not Drag the US Into War

“If anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand,” President Donald Trump exclaimed to a journalist on March 3. He was answering a question posed by ABC News Senior Political Correspondent...