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
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
The Counter-Erdoğan Coalition: Taking on Turkey’s Strongman
May 17, 2023
Winfield Myers
Audio, Video and Transcripts
Salvaging Our Universities in an Era of Intellectual Decadence
May 17, 2023
 · 
Winfield Myers
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More from MEF
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned the Trump administration’s decision to help Israel destroy the Islamic Republic of Iran’s nuclear program.
FWI News
CAIR Supports Iran Over Peace in Middle East
Will CAIR Condemn Iranian Death Threat Against Trump?
June 30, 2025
 · 
Dexter Van Zile
An Israel Defense Forces soldier in Gaza.
Middle East Forum Online
With Stunning Campaign in Iran over for Now, Israel Turns Back to Gaza Slog
The IDF Ran Circles Around Hezbollah and Seriously Damaged Iran 1,000 Miles Away; Why the Struggle Against a Far Weaker Hamas?
June 30, 2025
 · 
Lazar Berman
It was under the leadership of the late Qassem Soleimani, from 1998, that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force turned revolutionary and proxy warfare into a key tool of power projection for Tehran. Above: Soleimani’s funeral after he was killed by an American drone strike; Tehran, Jan. 7, 2020.
Middle East Forum Online
The Limits of Iran’s Proxy Strategy: How Soleimani’s Vision Failed in Recent Conflicts
The Flaw in Soleimani’s Plan Seems to Be That He Assumed That Religious and Ideological Loyalties Would Win Out over Local Self-Interest
June 30, 2025
 · 
Jonathan Spyer
Ahnaf Kalam
Middle East Forum Observer
Are Reformists Trying to Trick the West and Save the Islamic Republic?
Iranian Analysts and Journalists Are Uncertain Whether Khamenei Remains in Control of the Situation
June 30, 2025
 · 
Mardo Soghom
MEF in the Media
Will Iran Try to Rebuild Its Nuclear Program?
June 29, 2025
 · 
Jim Hanson
Eventually, Iran will surrender its program or targeted bombing will end the regime. Either way, Iran will lose its nuclear capability. A U.S. Air Force B-2 bomber, the type that struck Iranian nuclear targets on June 22, 2025.
Middle East Forum Online
Waiting for the Dust to Clear After U.S. Strikes
The Greatest Problem Right Now Is Not What Happened to the Facilities at Fordow but What Escaped Them
June 29, 2025
 · 
Michael Rubin
The full American role in helping Israeli forces attack Iranian sites only started to emerge after the fighting stopped. We now know that the U.S. Air Force provided hundreds of aerial refuelings for Israeli jets over Syria or Iraq on their way to Iran.
Middle East Forum Online
What Just Happened? A Twelve-Day War’s Twelve Surprises
Those Twelve Days Should Have Repercussions Long Into the Future
June 29, 2025
 · 
Daniel Pipes
Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan, in 2024.
Middle East Forum Observer
Get Ready for Assassinations in Iraqi Kurdistan
Iraqi Kurdistan’s Neighbors Have Always Used Kurdish Divisions to Maximize Their Own Interests
June 28, 2025
 · 
Michael Rubin
With Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei aging and succession uncertain, Israel likely saw a rare and narrowing window to strike decisively.
Middle East Forum Online
The Iran-Israel War Was Short. The Next One Will Not Be
Long-Lasting Peace Will Require Political and Ideological Reform in Iran
June 27, 2025
 · 
Saeid Golkar
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, above, allowed Behnam Shahriyari, a notorious general in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Quds Force, to spend a considerable amount of time in Turkey, where he helped build the Quds Force’s Turkish network.
Middle East Forum Online
Israel Kills Iranian Quds Force General Once Protected by President Erdoğan in Turkey
Behnam Shahriyari Was Killed on June 21 in a Precision Airstrike by Israeli Forces in Western Iran
June 27, 2025
 · 
Abdullah Bozkurt