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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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The Fall of the Caliphate
No new beginnings in sight for ravaged Syria. The Jerusalem Post (8/3) The Islamic State proclaimed by the Iraqi jihadist Abu Bakr...
MECRA
Mar 9, 20195 min read
Interview and report: ISIS ambushes Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) on Kirkuk-Makhmur road
Units of the 15th Brigade of the Hashd al-Shaabi (PMU) were ambushed while driving at night on March 6 from Tuz toward Mosul via Kirkuk...
MECRA
Mar 9, 20193 min read
Who will help save the Yazidis
By DAWOOD SALEH The author is a survivor of the Yazidi genocide. He is the author of Walking Alone. This article first appears in The...
MECRA
Mar 9, 20193 min read
Signs in Basra extol Shi'ite groups, fallen in the war on ISIS and Iranian leaders
A trip to Basra by Dave McAvoy reveals the extent of imagery lining roads showing different figures from Iraq's Shi'ite political parties...
MECRA
Mar 9, 20192 min read
Report: Bombing targets Director of National Security for Mosul, latest in rising attacks by ISIS
A VBIED bomb targeted Mosul on Friday night, slightly over a week after another bomb struck the same area targeting a cafe near Mosul...
MECRA
Mar 8, 20192 min read
The location of the last SDF battle against the Baghuz ISIS stronghold on the Euphrates
Video showing the map and location of the battle against ISIS in Baghuz on the Euphrates river has been released. The battle against the...
MECRA
Mar 2, 20191 min read
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif resigns
Iran's Foreign Minister Javad Zarif announced his resignation Monday. He was not present for an important meeting with Syrian regime...
MECRA
Feb 25, 20192 min read
Iran officials predict greater influence in Iraq and US withdrawal from Middle East
“Today the best and closest friend [of Iran] are the rulers of Iraq,” Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Major General Qasem...
MECRA
Feb 23, 20194 min read
Major attack targets IRGC in southeastern Iran
A bus bombing carried out by a suicide attack targeted a bus of Islamic Revolutionary Corp Guards traveling near the Pakistan border of...
MECRA
Feb 13, 20192 min read
Spotlight on Jaish al-Adl: A Baluch militant group operating in Iran
Background on Sistan and Baluchestan Province Sistan and Baluchestan Province in Iran is the second largest province in the country,...
MECRA
Feb 13, 20194 min read
Iranians are leaving at an alarming rate
A window into the lives of ordinary Iranians who are seeking to leave the country Pedram Safari, an Iranian musician from Bandar Abbas,...
MECRA
Feb 2, 20194 min read
Implications and ramifications after Kurdish protesters enter Turkish base in KRG, northern Iraq
Kurdish protesters gathered outside of a Turkish army base on January 26 in northern Iraq's Kurdish region. This area along the border...
MECRA
Jan 26, 20195 min read
“They are starving”: ISIS fighters and families flee last ISIS pocket
Interview with Mahmoud Sheikh Ibrahim In an exclusive interview with Ibrahim, who has been on the front line near Hajin several times in...
MECRA
Jan 21, 20195 min read
In Iran, a tortured labor activist challenges Intelligence Minister to TV debate
Following protests in recent months at the Haft Tapeh sugar cane factory in Shoush, Khuzestan Province, south east Iran, Esmail Bakhshi,...
MECRA
Jan 8, 20193 min read
What are Iranians saying about the US decision to leave Syria?
The US decision to leave Syria, made by US President Donald Trump on December 19, has rocked the region and potentially provides Iran an...
MECRA
Dec 31, 20184 min read
Increasing number of women activists detained in Iran
Growing number of women activists detained in Iran In recent months, there has been a growing number of detentions of female social...
MECRA
Dec 31, 20183 min read
Syrian Democratic Council: Eastern Syria fears Turkish invasion
Eastern Syria fears Turkish incursion By MECRA STAFF Interview with Amjad Othman, spokesman of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC) MECRA:...
MECRA
Dec 23, 20184 min read
Who are the Rojava Peshmerga, the group that US thinks may help with Syria crisis?
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN The long, lonely road from Dohuk in the Kurdistan region to Sinjar, the site of the ISIS genocide of Yazidis, is...
MECRA
Dec 18, 20187 min read
From 1.6 airstrikes a day to 39 a day: How the US-led Coalition's air campaign helped take Hajin
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN An examination conducted by the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis (MECRA) of the US-led Coalition's...
MECRA
Dec 16, 20183 min read
Exclusive photos of Turkish airstrike in Iraq's Makhmour camp
MECRA obtained exclusive photos from the sit of the Turkish airstrike that shook Makhmour Camp area on December 13. The strike was one of...
MECRA
Dec 14, 20181 min read
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