Iran

Analysis: The recent security pact between Iraq and Turkey has raised fears about Ankara’s intentions and increased military influence in northern Iraq. A recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Turkey and Iraq has reignited debates over Ankara’s future role in northern Iraq. The agreement, focused on military, security, and …

US and international health officials confirmed on August 29 that Israel has agreed to implement a temporary humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip to vaccinate children against polio.[1] The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office emphasized that the pause is not related to the longer-term ceasefire proposal currently under discussion in Doha.[2] …

The Iranian president’s ability to implement his electoral program remains limited, given what his previous reformist presidents have achieved, as none of them were able to bring about fundamental changes in Iran’s domestic and foreign policies. Pezeshkian’s presidential program is likely to strongly confront the conservatives who have controlled parliament …

The new Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, spoke with a senior Hamas figure andstressed that Iran would support any agreement to end the war in the Gaza Strip that would beacceptable to the Palestinians and the “resistance.” E_187_24Download

Over the past few years, Iran has been increasingly exerting its influence in the Middle East, particularly on Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and the Houthis in Yemen. How real is Iran’s influence? After the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniya in Tehran, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the commander of the …

CTP-ISW continues to assess that an Iranian drone and missile strike targeting Israel is the most likely Iranian course of action. The Pentagon spokesperson reported on August 26 that the United States assesses there is still a threat of strikes against Israel from Iran or its Axis of Resistance based …

Latest Developments 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 associated with the administrations of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump. Meta’s investigation revealed that hackers with APT42 — …

Lebanese Hezbollah conducted a drone and rocket attack on Israel on August 24 in response to Israel killing a senior Hezbollah commander, Fuad Shukr. Hezbollah fired 200-300 projectiles, including around 20 one-way attack drones, in two waves into Israel.[1] Hezbollah fired rockets at 11 Israel Defense Forces (IDF) sites in …

The factors seemingly driving Iran to delay its direct attack on Israel are temporary. These factors will disappear with time, which would increase the likelihood of an Iranian attack on Israel. These factors include ongoing ceasefire-hostage talks between Israel and Hamas, the US-Israeli deterrent posture, and internal Iranian coordination and …

The July election of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and historic fears of conflict with the U.S. military have delayed or derailed an Iranian retaliatory attack on Israel. Iranian leaders appear willing to trade a military response to the killing in Tehran of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for an indirect seat …