While visiting Moscow on May 23, Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa told Russian President Vladimir Putin that his country sees “no reason to delay with normalization of relations” with Iran. The king also said that Manama has ceased having problems with Tehran. “We are trying to establish normal diplomatic, trade, and cultural relations
According to state-backed media in Iran, more than one hundred thousand Shia Afghan migrants in the Iranian city of Mashhad participated in state-backed mourning processions to commemorate the death of hardline Islamist President Ebrahim Raisi in late-May. But this is far from a one-off. In March, the presence of at least twenty thousand Afghan migrants
“The idea struck me to introduce the concept of a fatwa [during the 2004 nuclear] negotiations. There was no coordination [in advance],” Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator at the time recounted eight years after the incident. This was nothing short of a stroke of genius in shaping a false narrative about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program,
Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel on April 14, in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria, represented the most dangerous round of conflict between the two countries in decades. This attack involved more than 350 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. The killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi at
Iran’s unprecedented April 14 attack on Israeli territory was a warning shot. It showed Tehran’s potential ability to put a dent in Israel’s formidable air superiority despite essentially its lacking a modern air force. The direct Iranian air attack on Israeli soil was a watershed moment in the region’s steadily deteriorating security status quo. It
Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, a worry has weighed heavily on the Middle East: that the war’s geography would widen and Iran and Israel would enter into a direct conflict with each other beyond its shadow war confines. As the Gaza war enters its sixth month, this possibility is now more likely
According to senior military officials and independent analysis by the Global Terrorism Trends and Analysis Center (GTTAC), which provides data to the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau, most attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) used in the world today originate from Iran. Notably, the GTTAC data do not include Iranian drones used by Russia as part of
In the five months since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, it has become clear that Iran is growing increasingly concerned with the possibility of further regional escalation. This escalation could potentially draw Iran into an unwanted confrontation, not only with Israel but also with the United States. The war has provided Tehran with
Following the killing of Mahsa Jina Amini in September 2022, the world witnessed unprecedented protests across Iran. Citizens from diverse backgrounds joined in solidarity, challenging the status quo, and demanding answers about and accountability for Amini’s death. As the weeks passed, streets across cities echoed with the voices of defiance as demonstrators courageously faced the
Top Iranian and Saudi security officials met in Beijing on March 10, 2023 to begin a new chapter in bilateral affairs following sky-high tensions. The neighbors in the Persian Gulf signed a deal to restore full-fledged diplomatic ties and reactivate a 2001 security cooperation agreement. The absence of any US or European role—combined with Iraqi,