Iran

Iranian support has contributed significantly to the increased effectiveness of Hamas attacks on Israel in the latest round of fighting. Conflict with Israel serves Iran’s interests by enhancing Hamas’ role in the Palestinian movement and Iran’s leverage in a shadow war with Israel. Iran’s alliance with Hamas and other armed …

Hamas has evolved into a much more aggressive predator, and Iran is behind them. Once again Hamas has flexed its muscles. This time Iran is backing its show of force. At the close of Ramadan and the onset of Eid al-Fitr (normally a joyous celebration for the entire Muslim world) …

The Saudi-Iranian contacts that began last month in secrecy have gained gravitas. Significantly, this is an exclusively regional initiative. The Saudi-Iranian drive to normalise ties is motivated primarily by the two sides’ deep distrust of American intentions. Blinken sounded unhappy and somewhat irritated. His words reflect the reality that the …

Iran’s Guardian Council, an unelected body that gets to decide a final list of candidates, is winnowing down the number of candidates allowed to run in the June 18 election. Iran’s Guardian Council held its second meeting May 19 to review the qualifications of 592 candidates who registered to run …

While tensions between Israel and Iran have been omnipresent in the Middle East for decades, the prospect of open military conflict between the two countries has never seemed closer than it does now. Over the past few months, the two rivals have escalated an undeclared naval war featuring unclaimed attacks …

Earlier this month, a prominent researcher and security expert in Iraq, who was close to the new prime minister and to Western governments, was gunned down outside his home in Baghdad. While the identify of his assailants remains unknown, Hisham al-Hashimi had many enemies, given his history of speaking out …

At midnight on Nov. 15, Iran’s government announced a precipitous 300 percent hike in fuel prices. Immediate public outcries quickly escalated into nationwide protests that spread to more than 100 cities and gripped the country for 6 straight days, before the authorities effectively crushed them. Since President Donald Trump withdrew …

In the four decades since Iran’s Islamic Revolution, relations between Tehran and Washington have seen deep enmity offset by brief periods of rapprochement and tactical cooperation. As a new U.S. administration settles into office and asserts its intent to, in President Joe Biden’s words, “offer Tehran a credible path back …

The Biden administration is apparently offering even more concessions and sanctions relief to Iran’s leaders, concessions that “go beyond the nuclear-specific sanctions.”….Meanwhile, these leaders from Iran are openly encouraging Hamas to launch more rockets…. In addition, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei…has been inciting terrorism on social media…. [and] labeled …

What is important here is that the conversation with Ghaani comes as Iranian media published a unique look at Israel’s air defense systems, asserting that Israel is showing new vulnerabilities. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force head Esmail Ghaani spoke with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh over the weekend and …