Iran tensions July 2021 and onwards
IranThe daily updates are compiled by Seth J. Frantzman, Executive Director of MECRA. For the previous installment which covers March...
MECRA RESEARCH BLOG
The MECRA research blog is composed of short articles and may include outside contributions. The views expressed in these blogs and articles are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis editorial stance.
Search
MECRA
- Aug 4
- 2 min
From a selection of Farsi-language Twitter feeds, commenting on the Khouzestan situation:
As part of our coverage of Iran we have assembled a list of recent and relevant social media accounts covering the recent protests and...
MECRA
- Aug 4
- 4 min
Protests over Water Shortages in Iran’s Khouzestan Province Intensify
The following article is from MECRA's correspondent who covers Iran. A new round of protests against the background of the water crisis...
MECRA
- May 26
- 2 min
Salafi attacks in Kordestan Province, Iran
By MECRA Iran correspondent Dozens of Salafis, (ultra-conservative Sunni Muslims), many with faces covered and riding motorbikes attacked...
MECRA
- Mar 9
- 21 min
Iran tensions in the Middle East March 2021
IranThe daily updates are compiled by Seth J. Frantzman, Executive Director of MECRA. For the previous installment which covers December...
MECRA
- Jan 16
- 7 min
Iran’s Cyber Campaign, and Coercive Recruitment Methods
Regime recruits hackers by coercion A number of Iranian IRGC-related computer hackers are currently on the FBI wanted list. Evidence is...
MECRA
- Jan 16
- 5 min
Severe, wide-reaching Israeli airstrikes against Iranian militias in Syria bear a message for Iran
By OMAR ABU LAYLA Summary: Israeli airstrikes on January 13 struck hard at Iranian militias outposts and Assad’s forces in Deir Ezzor....
MECRA
- Dec 30, 2020
- 7 min
Iran’s soft power project in Syria, targeting of youth in Deir Ezzor
By OMAR ABU LAYLA Introduction Since emerging as a regional power and embracing the notion of exporting the revolution adopted by the...
MECRA
- Dec 12, 2020
- 8 min
Profile of IRGC general and current Iranian presidential candidate Hossein Dehghan
Brigadier General Hossein Dehghan, former defense minister, fourth commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) in Lebanon,...
MECRA
- Dec 5, 2020
- 17 min
US-Iran and Israel-Iran tensions December 2020 to March 2021
For the previous installment of our daily Iran-US tensions blog, click here. For the next installment click here. December 1 Brodsky: Al...
MECRA
- Nov 30, 2020
- 5 min
Iranian responses to assassination of Fakhrizadeh, the Father of Iranian nuclear bomb program
Father of Iranian Bomb, head of Iran’s nuclear weapon program, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, assassinated November 27, 2020 in Absard, East of...
MECRA
- Nov 20, 2020
- 5 min
Rab’ Allah: A New Shia Militia Group in Iraq Threatens Americans
By HOGR TARKHANI Designating several Shia militia groups by the State Department as a terrorist group and killing Qasem Soleimani and...
MECRA
- Oct 16, 2020
- 8 min
Iran’s efforts at consolidation in Syria’s Deir Ezzor area
OMAR ABU LAYLA *The author is a Syrian expert who focuses on security and governance dynamics in northeast Syria. CEO @DeirEzzor24, which...
MECRA
- Oct 5, 2020
- 22 min
Rockets fired at Erbil, Iraq: Residents of Nineveh discuss unprecedented attack; context of Iran
Figure 1: Rocket fire from Sheikh Amir targets Erbil By SETH J. FRANTZMAN, JONATHAN SPYER and MECRA Iraq researchers* On September 30 six...
MECRA
- Sep 28, 2020
- 4 min
Former Iraqi Hizballah fighter: Militia weapons storage in Iraq could lead to explosion like Beirut
Date: August 18, 2020 Time: 07:45 pm Location: Baghdad The following is based on interviews. The first interview is with Omer, 23 (a...
MECRA
- Sep 26, 2020
- 22 min
Iran-US and Iran-Israel tensions September 2020 and onward
For our previous digest of daily incidents from July to September, compiled by Seth J. Frantzman, click this link. We have begun to...
MECRA
- Aug 16, 2020
- 8 min
Interview with Zeylan Vajin, Co-chair of PJAK, an Iranian Kurdish political party
The Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) is an Iranian Kurdish opposition movement aligned with the Kurdistan Communities Union. It was...
MECRA
- Jul 26, 2020
- 2 min
Iranian-Kurdish PJAK militant killed by Turkish drone in Kuna Masi
By JONATHAN SPYER Rebwar Gholizadeh, a militant of the Free Life in Kurdistan Party (PJAK), was killed in a Turkish drone strike outside...
MECRA
- Jul 22, 2020
- 3 min
Four maps reveal extent of Iran's mysterious fires and explosions
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN More than a dozen explosions and fires affected Iran between the last week of June and mid-July 2020. These...