Earlier this week, Iran celebrated its National Army Day, and at least on the face of it nothing remarkable happened.
As is customary, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani addressed a military parade showcasing the country's military strength. He (...)
What were expected to be fairly sanitised presidential elections in Iran were dramatically disrupted last week by former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's decision to put himself forward as a candidate.
His decision to enter the race is a direct (...)
In a recently released video, the Islamic State (IS) group directly addressed Iran's rulers and the country's Sunni Muslim minority for the first time. The 36-minute video showcasing native Iranians has touched off a flurry of speculation about the (...)
The Israeli strikes on Syria earlier this month were a significant escalation which, if repeated, could spark a wider confrontation between the so-called “axis of resistance” and the Israeli state.
While Israel has violated Syrian air space and (...)
The announcement earlier this week by the head of Iran's Martyrs Foundation that 2,100 combatants had been killed in Syria while “defending the shrine” has placed the extent of Iran's human sacrifice in the Syrian conflict into sharp relief.
The (...)
The unexpected death of former Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani after a heart attack earlier this year closes a chapter in Iran's tumultuous post-revolutionary history.
Endowed with impeccable revolutionary credentials, Rafsanjani, (...)
News of American cruise missile strikes on coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen last week raised the spectre of an escalation in the Yemen conflict.
The American strikes follow two attempted attacks on the USS Mason that were (...)
The conclusion of the second round of the majlis (parliamentary) elections late last month in Iran significantly boosted the “Hope” (Omid) list allied to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. By securing an extra 38 seats, against the 18 new seats won (...)
As the summer season approaches, the Iranian judicial and police authorities, particularly in the Tehran metropolitan area, are preparing to confront increasing infractions related to the country's Islamic dress laws.
While this has been a (...)
Russia's surprise decision to withdraw the bulk of its air fleet from Syria and dramatically reduce air strikes is a major development that signals a shift towards the American position on the Syrian endgame.
Coming on the heels of the cessation of (...)
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has grabbed global headlines by staging a series of impressive missile tests, dubbed Eqtedar-e-Velayat (Power of Islamic Sovereignty).
The tests drew knee-jerk condemnatory reactions from Washington, (...)
The stage has been set for the most important elections in the Islamic Republic's history. According to the head of the national elections headquarters, Mohamed Hossein Moghimi, 4,844 candidates are competing for 290 seats in the Majlis (...)
After nearly a month of conducting daily air strikes, Russia is beginning to reveal its political calculations and strategic intent in Syria. The Russian outreach to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), while dismissed as disingenuous by the West, is in fact (...)
After more than four years of conflict, Turkey appears to be exploiting the Syrian civil war to gain maximum strategic advantage. Under the cover of a half-hearted anti-Islamic State (IS) drive, Turkey hopes to create a buffer zone in northern (...)
As Iranians celebrate last week's nuclear agreement, which promises to end the punishing economic and financial sanctions against the country, behind the scenes many in Tehran have been left reeling by the deal's shortcomings.
While the full details (...)
The loss of the city of Ramadi in Iraq's restive Anbar province has been widely perceived as a failure of US policy in Iraq. While high-ranking US officials have tried to deflect the blame onto Iraqi forces, America's confused and half-hearted (...)
Saudi Arabia's attack on the Ansar Allah movement (widely known as the “Houthis”) has been widely perceived as a major escalation of the Iranian-Saudi geopolitical and ideological conflict in the Middle East.
The military intervention comes on the (...)
As Iraq continues to disintegrate, its powerful eastern neighbour, Iran, is struggling to keep up with a wide range of issues and threats which in due course could jeopardise Iranian national security.
For Iran, nothing is as potentially problematic (...)