MECRA
Badr Organization, its role in the PMU: Background and sources
In the interests of creating an easily accessible list of sources related to the Badr Organization and its role in the Popular...
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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.
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MECRA
- Nov 24, 2019
- 3 min
Inside Iran's crackdown on a week of protests
With the disruption of internet, it has become very difficult to get information about what is going on in Iran at the present time....
MECRA
- Nov 19, 2019
- 16 min
Timeline of Israel-Iran tensions in Syria and the region
Growing tensions between Israel and Iran, particularly in Syria, have led to rocket fire from Syria directed at Israel and numerous...
MECRA
- Oct 30, 2019
- 6 min
Increasing evidence of Iran's role in crackdown on protests in Iraq
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN Iraq's month-long protests have led to more than 200 deaths, mostly of protesters killed by Iraqi Security Forces...
MECRA
- Oct 29, 2019
- 4 min
Sources close to PMU reveal role of Badr, AAH and pro-Iranian groups in suppressing Iraqi protests
Excerpts from the testimony of ‘Mohammed,’ an individual close to the PMU Interviewed October 27, 2019 Can you describe what is happening...
MECRA
- Oct 24, 2019
- 8 min
The US Syria withdrawal Oct 6-23: Documents, maps and confusion
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN On October 6, 2019 US President Donald Trump announced the US would withdraw from part of Syria, paving the way for...
MECRA
- Oct 7, 2019
- 4 min
Protests in Iraq Testimony from the frontline, Iranian passports found
Testimony of Mousa Rahmatallah, 28, a participant in the demonstrations in Baghdad: KB conducted the interview, MECRA edited it for...
MECRA
- Aug 21, 2019
- 7 min
Timeline: Tracking reports of mysterious explosions and "airstrikes" in Iraq directed at PMU bases
Recent reports of explosions at bases of the Hashd al-Shaabi or Popular Mobilization Units in Iraq have led to claims that a foreign...
MECRA
- Aug 20, 2019
- 11 min
Tensions Follow Iraqi Government Decision to Withdraw the Hashd Al-Shaabi from the Nineveh Plain
MECRA's Iraq reporter recently carried out a reporting trip into the Nineveh (Ninawa) area, speaking to officials and commanders and...
MECRA
- Aug 5, 2019
- 2 min
Protest after PMU's 30th Brigade in Nineveh asked to withdraw
Protests broke out near the town of Bazwaya just east of Mosul on August 5. The protesters held signs in support of the local Hashd...
MECRA
- Jul 11, 2019
- 2 min
Timeline leading up to, and after, Iranian-UK tanker incident July 10
An incident on July 10 involving five Iranian IRGC fast boasts, the UK oil tanker British Heritage and the HMS Montrose is stoking...
MECRA
- Jul 2, 2019
- 2 min
List of reported Houthi drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia (May-June 2019)
In May and June 2019, amid escalating tensions between the US and Iran, there was an uptick in drone and cruise missile attacks on Saudi...
MECRA
- Jun 29, 2019
- 16 min
Hizballah’s Deep State: the creeping annexation of Lebanese State Institutions and political life
By JONATHAN SPYER The concept of a ‘deep state’ is customarily used to describe a structure existing within and separate from the formal...
MECRA
- Jun 24, 2019
- 4 min
Iran proposes joint military exercises with Iraq and possible air defense cooperation
In the wake of Iran shooting down a US drone over the Gulf of Oman an Iranian military delegation visited Iraq on June 23-24 and met with...
MECRA
- Jun 13, 2019
- 8 min
Timeline and details: June 13 Gulf of Oman tanker "attack"
Timeline of the June 13 alleged attack on two oil tankers off the coast of Iran's Jask.
MECRA
- May 31, 2019
- 4 min
Quds Day 2019: Iran, the IRGC and the 'Deal of the Century'
Quds Day 2019 - Iran Quds Day was named by Ayatollah Khomeini as an official day to support the Palestinian people. On August 7, 1979, in...
MECRA
- May 26, 2019
- 3 min
Iran's FM Zarif meets Badr's Hadi al-Amiri
During a trip to Iraq by Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (محمد جواد ظريف) on Sunday May 26, the Iranian met with Badr...
MECRA
- May 20, 2019
- 6 min
How Iraq's Shia militias are reacting to the rocket attack on the Green Zone and US embassy area
On May 19 a Katyusha rocket fired from near Baghdad's Technological University landed near the monument to the Unknown Soldier not far...
MECRA
- May 15, 2019
- 5 min
Timeline of US-Iran tensions May 2019
Beginning on May 5 tensions have escalated between the US and Iran. This comes in the context of US claims that Iran and its proxies pose...
MECRA
- Apr 22, 2019
- 2 min
The brothers: New IRGC leader Salami has influential brother in Iranian armed forces
The new IRGC commander, Hossein Salami, is the more well known of two brothers who play an influential role in Iran's security forces....
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