More from MEF
Vice President JC Vance in a file photo.
Middle East Forum Observer
Iranian Press Reflects Internal Schisms after U.S.-Iran Meeting Is Scrapped
Nour News Framed the Postponement of Talks Not as a Crisis but as Part of a Broader Struggle over the Post-War Order
June 19, 2026
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Mardo Soghom
Skyscrapers of downtown Addis Ababa rise behind a step garden in the central business district.
Middle East Forum Observer
What Do Ethiopia’s Elections Mean for Its Middle East and Horn of Africa Policy?
Abiy’s Election Victory Will Formalize His Coalition’s Domestic Mandate and Keep Ethiopia on Its Present Foreign Policy Trajectory
June 19, 2026
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Blen M. Diriba
Middle East Forum Online
Iran and Turkey Want the Middle East. One Country Stands in Their Way.
Israel Blocks Tehran’s Revolutionary Corridor and Ankara’s Neo-Ottoman Bid for Regional Dominance
June 18, 2026
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Jose Lev Alvarez
France tied its recognition of a Palestinian state to Mahmoud Abbas’s pledge to hold national elections by June 2026. The deadline passed without a vote.
Middle East Forum Online
France Was Promised Palestinian Elections. It Got Abbas’s Son Instead.
France Recognized Palestine in Exchange for Elections. The Deadline Passed with No Vote—and Another Abbas in Power.
June 18, 2026
 · 
Amine Ayoub
New evidence suggests that the International Criminal Court has ulterior motives that go far beyond mere anti-Israel bias—and that its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, is likely acting as a pawn of even more sinister actors. Image: International Criminal Court, The Hague.
Middle East Forum Online
How Doha Captured the International Criminal Court
Qatar’s Deep Ties to the Muslim Brotherhood Are Highly Relevant in Alleged Meddling in Legal Actions Against the State of Israel
June 18, 2026
 · 
Craig Considine
Under the shadow of a what critics called a "backdoor blasphemy law," South Wales Police officers were handed the power to decide what counted as acceptable discussion of Islam—until legal threats and a free speech revolt forced a retreat.
FWI News
Welsh Police Backtrack on Islamic ‘Blasphemy Law’ Amid Free Speech Backlash
Cops Told to Log Anti-Islam Talk Under State Anti-Muslim Hostility Definition
June 18, 2026
 · 
Jules Gomes
President Donald Trump is pictured in Davos, Switzerland, on January 22, 2026.
Middle East Forum Online
The Iran Deal Has Serious Faults
With the U.S. Pledging Non-Interference in Domestic Affairs, the Revolutionary Guards May Believe They Have a Green Light to Slaughter Far More
June 18, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
MEF in the Media
The Deal is Signed — Now What?
June 18, 2026
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Jim Hanson
Israel is not a signatory. Israel asked to see the text and was refused. As the deal came together, the president of the United States told all sides to “stand down,” and was, by every account, blunter than that in private with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, an open rupture between the two governments on display. Image: Netanyahu, Trump, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian with the signed MOU.
Middle East Forum Online
Israel Won the War, but the Peace Is Being Signed Without It
If No Ally Will Write the Red Lines of Israel Into a Deal, Then It Has No Choice but to Become the Guarantor of Its Own Security
June 18, 2026
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Gregg Roman
Mohammad-Bagher Ghalbaf
Middle East Forum Observer
Ghalibaf Declares Victory in Negotiations. Does Anyone Listen?
Tehran Seeks Not Only a Deal with Washington but Also a Regional Framework That Makes Future Military Pressure More Costly
June 18, 2026
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Mardo Soghom