Middle Orient

Who Will Be Iran’s Next Supreme Leader?

If the succession process can be carried out as Khamenei intended, it will likely bring a hardliner into power. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s death on Saturday after U.S. and Israeli airstrikes hit his compound immediately re-invoked the succession issue inside Iran, along with threats from the U.S. president to interfere in …

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Great Power Spillover from the Iran War: Implications for China, Russia, Turkey, and Europe

Washington Institute experts explain what U.S. officials and military planners should be on the lookout for as great power competitors and close allies outside the region consider their responses to the crisis. Trump’s Next Steps Will Reverberate Beyond the Middle East President Trump’s decision to attack Iran adds another layer …

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Israel and Somaliland: Size Matters… So Does Location

Israel’s initiative in recognizing Somaliland potentially raises the level of threat from the Houthis, an Iranian-supported terrorist militia that occupies most of northern Yemen. Somaliland is located directly across from Yemen. The Houthis, also known as Ansar Allah (“Friends of Allah”), have proven their durability by having survived many US …

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Iran’s New Proxy: Sudan

An exclusive video circulating among intelligence sources shows a Sudanese army officer addressing a crowd during the country’s ongoing civil war. In the speech, he openly threatens Israel and expresses solidarity with Iran against the United States and its allies. At first glance, such rhetoric might appear to be the …

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The Energy War Iran Can’t Win

Iran’s leaders know they cannot win this war outright. Their strategy, as analysts have noted, is to drive up the costs for President Donald Trump — in casualties, energy prices, and inflation — and hope he declares victory and goes home. That will not work when it comes to energy. …

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