Latest Developments Iran has already provided Russia with a significant number of surface-to-surface ballistic missiles and plans to send more soon, Reuters reported on February 21. Three Iranian sources told Reuters that Moscow had received “around 400 missiles” from Tehran, including “many from the Fateh-110 family of short-range ballistic weapons, …
Read More »Iran Update, February 21, 2024
Iranian sources told Reuters on February 21 that Iran provided hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) to Russia in early January.[i] The three unspecified Iranian sources said that Iran provided roughly 400 SRBMs to Russia, including the Fateh-110 and the Zolfaghar. The sources said that Iran has sent at least …
Read More »Iran’s ‘Axis Of Resistance’: Different Groups, Same Goals – Analysis
Iran’s so-called axis of resistance is a loose network of proxies, Tehran-backed militant groups, and an allied state actor. The network is a key element of Tehran’s strategy of deterrence against perceived threats from the United States, regional rivals, and primarily Israel. Active in the Palestinian Occupied Territories, Lebanon, Iraq, …
Read More »Iran Update, February 19, 2024
The Houthi movement launched an anti-ship ballistic missile that struck and disabled the UK-owned, Belize-flagged Rubymar cargo ship in the Bab al Mandeb strait on February 18.[i] The Rubymar’s Lebanon-based management company said that the vessel took on water after the missile struck the vessel’s engine room.[ii] The Houthi military …
Read More »Iran Update, February 18, 2024
Reuters reported on February 18 that Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Esmail Ghaani directed Iranian-backed Iraqi groups to “pause” attacks on US forces during a January 29 meeting in Baghdad.[i] Ghaani met with the leaders of Iranian-backed Iraqi militia groups less than 48 hours after the …
Read More »Iran Updates
The Iran Update aims to inform national security policy by providing timely, relevant, and independent open-source analysis of developments pertaining to Iran and its Axis of Resistance. This update covers political, military, and economic events and trends that affect the stability and decision-making of the Iranian regime. It also provides …
Read More »Iran Update, February 17, 2024
Key Takeaways: Northern Gaza Strip: Israeli forces continued operations in and around al Nasser Hospital in western Khan Younis on February 17. Israeli special operations forces arrested 100 individuals at the Hospital and killed Palestinian fighters operating nearby.Negotiations: An unspecified senior Hamas member told al Jazeera on February 17 that …
Read More »Enduring myths of the 1979 Iranian Revolution
Few events in our lifetime are as shrouded in myth and conspiracy as the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Forty-five years later, however, we now have a much clearer picture of the dramatic events that played out on the streets of Tehran before a worldwide television audience. Certain myths have retained an …
Read More »From Yemen to Palestine: The strategic depth of the Houthi-Iranian alliance
On Jan. 18, Abdul-Malek al-Houthi, the leader of Yemen’s Houthi movement, gave a televised sermon on the Iran-backed militia group’s television channel. It was just the latest in a series of public appearances, this one aimed at addressing the coordinated US-UK airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and the Biden …
Read More »Baghdad Caught in U.S.-Iran Crossfire
Recent U.S. retaliatory strikes on Iran-aligned militia forces in Iraq have fueled pro-Iranian political and militia leaders to accelerate their efforts to force a U.S. withdrawal. The government of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is working to reflect public opposition to U.S. strikes on Iraqi territory while remaining engaged with …
Read More »