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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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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 24, 20193 min read
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
Nov 19, 201916 min read
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 31, 20196 min read
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 October 27, 2019 Can you describe what is happening and the...
MECRA
Oct 29, 20194 min read
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 24, 20198 min read
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 21, 20197 min read
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 20, 201911 min read
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 11, 20192 min read
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
Jul 2, 20192 min read
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 29, 201916 min read
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 24, 20194 min read
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
Jun 13, 20198 min read
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 31, 20194 min read
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 26, 20193 min read
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 20, 20196 min read
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
May 16, 20195 min read
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....
MECRA
Apr 22, 20192 min read
Who is the IRGC's new head of security: Fathollah Jamiri?
In a short announcement on Saturday Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that Fathollah Jamiri had been appointed to a key...
MECRA
Apr 21, 20192 min read
Filmmaker Seeks to Highlight Kurdish Plight through Indie Movies in America
Iranian-Kurdish movie director Shepol Abbasi has put the final touches on his new movie “Performance of the Dead,” which will be released...
MECRA
Apr 17, 20193 min read
IRGC Information security service targets dual nationals in Iran
In 2002, the United States began to increase the flow of news and information into Iran. The Voice of America (VOA) established what...
MECRA
Apr 6, 20194 min read
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