Policy Analysis

Iran’s conservative administration has threatened to block one of the country’s last standing social media platforms, signaling a shift to more restrictive media censorship.

If the Biden administration moves forward with canceling the company’s license, it will need to prepare for increased military and economic pressure in the northeast amid further encroachment by Russian personnel.

Tehran has maintained its stringent line of insisting that Washington lift all sanctions, verify their removal, and provide future guarantees before it will lift a finger on resuming compliance with the JCPOA.

Leading scholars examine the origins and current trends of Russian involvement in the Middle East, as well as implications for U.S. strategy in the region.

Besides reopening the debate about proper use of the strategic reserve, the decision is not guaranteed to sway Washington’s tussle with Moscow and Riyadh.

Militia attacks on supply convoys are experiencing a (likely temporary) lull, and the sub-group Ashab al-Kahf appears to have taken the lead.

Despite more structured international maritime security measures, a recent encounter between Iranian and U.S. naval forces reiterated the potential for miscalculation, especially under a more assertive government in Tehran.

The kingdom has navigated tricky successions in the past, and many of the elements that allowed it to do so remain in place today.

Authorities have come too far to risk resuming violence or dividing the country with a rushed, heavily boycotted vote.

Spurred by conflicts in the Middle East, North Africa, and Afghanistan, the migration emergency in Belarus gives Washington an opportunity to foster cooperative agreements and goodwill.

The career of Iran's last pre-revolution ambassador to the United States offers both an example and a warning to American policymakers and diplomats today.

Pro-Iranian militia media channels are relying on distortion, character assassination, and misinformation to attract Iraqi audiences, after dependence on constant religious messaging proved futile.

The trilateral agreement will combine long-established peace partners with one of the Gulf parties to last year’s Abraham Accords, providing a model for broader normalization efforts.

To deflect responsibility for the assassination attempt on Iraq’s prime minister, self-styled "resistance" groups have assembled a dodgy dossier of convincing-looking disinformation.

As Ankara and Moscow mull a potential exchange of Syria border incursions for Idlib concessions, Erdogan risks endangering his intertwined goals of improving Turkey’s economy and minimizing tensions with Washington.

By reassuring its Kurdish allies via temporary diplomatic, military, and economic measures, Washington can gain greater leverage over Russia and other players at acceptably low risk and cost.

Fearing a Western-inspired overthrow, Tehran has intensified enforcement of morality laws, purged professors from universities, and poured billions of dollars into the creation of a separate national intranet.

Elements of Asaib Ahl al-Haq and Kataib Hezbollah are seemingly trying to extract domestic and Iranian support for more forceful pushback against their recent political isolation.

America’s broad inclination toward retrenchment is unlikely to abate anytime soon, but Israeli leaders can still do much to remind Washington why basic regional stability is so essential to its interests.

Militias' repeated targeting of Kadhimi, including this week's attack on his home, emphasizes that Kadhimi has done something right in his past two years as Prime Minister of Iraq.