MEF Wires

Middle East Forum Wires are summary accounts and audio recordings of MEF speaking events.

Wires are written by MEF staff and (when summary accounts) are generally not reviewed by the speaker.

To see a listing of forthcoming MEF events, please click here.

Audio, Video and Transcripts
Gregg Roman Testifies Before the Knesset on the Cost of Redeeming Hostages
The Mishnah Warns Against Redeeming Captives at Exorbitant Prices—Not from Callousness, but from Wisdom
December 24, 2025
Audio, Video and Transcripts
Eastern Mediterranean Contributions to Middle East Security
The Middle East Forum participated in a high-level panel on “Eastern Mediterranean Contributions to Middle East Security” at the Delphi Economic Forum in Greece.
April 18, 2025
Audio, Video and Transcripts
The Middle East: Harris and Trump Policies Explained
November 4, 2024
 · 
Ahnaf Kalam
Fluttering Israel flag on crimson red sky with smoke pillars background. Israel problems concept.
Audio, Video and Transcripts
Israel’s Crucible: Forging a New Security Paradigm
Navigating Complex Threats from Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Beyond in a Shifting Middle East Landscape
October 6, 2024
 · 
Gregg Roman
Winfield Myers
Audio, Video and Transcripts
The Challenges of Countering Islamism in the West
May 17, 2023
 · 
Sam Westrop
Winfield Myers
Audio, Video and Transcripts
Salvaging Our Universities in an Era of Intellectual Decadence
May 17, 2023
 · 
Winfield Myers
More from MEF
Government supporters have justified the erasure of the village as a matter of correcting planning violations. Regardless of the official justification however (which may also be motivated by a desire to punish a community seen as having been a centre for Hezbollah and Iranian-backed armed groups during the war), the end result is still the same. A minority community has been displaced and is forced to take refuge in other Shia villages in the Homs region.
Middle East Forum Online
The Destruction of the Shia Village of Mazra’a in Homs
The Government’s Recent Erasure of the Homs Shia Village of Mazra‘A, Located West of Homs City, Is the Latest Example of Problems Faced by the Shia in Homs
July 5, 2026
 · 
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
A journalist who has long presented himself as an independent figure in Turkey was allegedly recruited and handled for years as an intelligence asset by a clandestine unit within the National Intelligence Organization, the country’s main spy agency, according to a former senior investigator.
Middle East Forum Online
Turkey’s Spy Agency Allegedly Cultivated Journalist as Intelligence Asset to Run Psyops
The Journalist Has Allegedly Conducted Influence Operations Designed to Advance the Political Objectives of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Government
July 5, 2026
 · 
Abdullah Bozkurt
The Government House of Baku in Azerbaijan.
Middle East Forum Observer
Israel’s Recognition of the Armenian Genocide Isn’t Enough
Israel Should Use Its Position to Moderate Azerbaijani Racism and Incitement Against Armenians
July 5, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Middle East Forum Observer
The Ins and Outs of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s Funeral
Many Are Noting Mojtaba Khamenei’s Absence on the Funeral’s First Day, but There Were Other Sideshows
July 5, 2026
 · 
Shay Khatiri
Archbishop of Canterbury Sarah Mullally, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion, oversees the ecclesiastical province of Canterbury.
Middle East Forum Observer
Archbishop of Canterbury Endorses Terrorism-Linked Activists on Israel Trip
Anglican Theologians Call Out Radical Anti-Israel and Antisemitic Rhetoric in Palestinian Churches
July 5, 2026
 · 
Jules Gomes
President Donald Trump and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoǧan in October 2025.
Middle East Forum Observer
Turkey is Testing Trump Ahead of the NATO Summit
Erdoǧan Has Increased the Severity and Frequency of His Provocations, Seemingly to See What He Can Get Away With
July 4, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Nabih Berri, speaker of the Lebanese Parliament and leader of the Amal movement, in a file photo.
Middle East Forum Observer
What Happens When Lebanon’s Nabih Berri Dies?
Berri’s Death Could Mean the End of the Amal Movement, or at Least Its Relevance in Lebanese Politics
July 4, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
A Qatari businessman linked to the royal family recently purchased 10,000 hectares on the Baguales plateau in Río Negro province in Argentina's Patagonia.
Middle East Forum Observer
Qatar’s Strategic Advance in Latin America
Washington and Most Latin American Capitals Have Yet to Register the Full Scope of Doha’s Play for Influence
July 3, 2026
 · 
Jose Lev Alvarez
Middle East Forum Online
‘Ashura under Restriction in Syria’s Shia Villages
In Nubl and al-Zahara’, Private Mourning Continues While Public Religious Displays Remain Curtailed and Sectarian Reconciliation Remains Distant
July 2, 2026
 · 
Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
The Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights, above, is a focal point for such hostility. The mosque was established in the 1990s by Imam Mohammad Ali Elahi, who according to The New York Post “served as head of the Iranian Navy’s political-ideological office during the 1980s.”
Middle East Forum Online
Medieval Minbar: Dearborn Heights Sermons Revive Medieval Antisemitism
The Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn Heights Is a Focal Point for Such Hostility
July 2, 2026
 · 
Dexter Van Zile