More from MEF
Middle East Forum Online
Turkey and Syria Engage in Secret Talks on Maritime Border Agreement
Turkish Navy Conducts Drill Dubbed ‘Blue Homeland’ in January 2025, Covering Areas in Aegean Sea, Black Sea, and Eastern Mediterranean
July 7, 2025
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Abdullah Bozkurt
Since 2007, the regime has invested in creating an extensive suppressive apparatus across Iran, at every level of society—something that both foreign powers and the Iranian opposition have completely overlooked.
Middle East Forum Online
Why Don’t the Iranian People Rise Up?
The Real Reason Relates to the Largely Unknown Security Measures That the Regime Preemptively Activated the Moment That Israel’s Operations Started
July 7, 2025
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Saeid Golkar
The war’s link to Gaza is not that Israel wanted to use the war with Iran as a distraction from Gaza, but rather that the 7 October attack launched by Hamas and the subsequent conflict with the wider “axis of resistance” led to a shift towards a much higher risk tolerance and confrontational posture on Israel’s part towards Iran and the axis. An Israeli F-16 takes off for a mission against targets in Iran.
Middle East Forum Online
Israel’s War with Iran: A Distraction from Gaza?
Contrary to What Some Academics and Journalists Claim, the Root of the Conflict Is Explained by Long-Standing Israeli Concerns
July 7, 2025
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Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi
Former CIA Director and retired General David H. Petraeus in 2023.
Middle East Forum Observer
How Washington’s Recklessness Turned Syria Into a Jihadi State on the Mediterranean
The Strengthening of Jihadist Networks Further Destabilized Syria and Led to the Collapse of a Counterterrorism Policy
July 7, 2025
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Ribal al-Assad
Ahnaf Kalam
Middle East Forum Observer
Theatrics of Survival: How Khamenei’s Regime Masks Defeat with Borrowed Symbols
The Islamic Republic’s Leaders Have Turned Nationalist Following Their Crushing Defeat by Israel Last Month
July 7, 2025
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Mardo Soghom
Middle East Forum Online
Iran’s Crazy Search for Spies
July 7, 2025
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A.J. Caschetta
People mingle in a bazaar in Tehran, Iran.
Middle East Forum Observer
Iran’s Mojahedin-e Khalq Organization Is Now Irrelevant. Will It Disband?
Many American Policymakers Who Engage the Group Do So for Money, but Bear No Special Fealty to the Mojahedin
July 7, 2025
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Michael Rubin
A view of Golan Heights and the border between Israel, Syria and Jordan in February 2024.
Middle East Forum Observer
Now Is Not the Time for Israel-Syria Normalization
Rushing Peace, Without Time for Syrians to Adjust, Could Risk a Backlash That Enables More Extreme Elements to Retrench
July 7, 2025
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Sirwan Kajjo
The skyline of Doha, Qatar.
Middle East Forum Observer
How Qatar Has Co-opted the University of South Carolina
USC’s Tendentious Approach to the Middle East Appears Rooted in Not Only Poor Judgment but Also Foreign Influence
July 6, 2025
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Keren Karmiel
The flags of Germany and Hezbollah. Germany banned the terrorist movement in 2020.
Middle East Forum Observer
Germany Outlawed Hezbollah but 1,250 Members Still Active in Country
In Southwestern Baden-Württemberg, a Shi’ite Terrorism Problem Is Spiraling Out of Control and the Threat Is Real
July 5, 2025
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Benjamin Weinthal