A gaggle of progressive groups are trying to line up candidates for top foreign-policy roles in the incoming administration. BY JACK DETSCH | DECEMBER 18, 2020 More ore than a dozen progressive groups are calling on incoming President-elect Joe Biden to staff top foreign-policy jobs in his incoming administration with candidates seen as anti-war and not tied to Washington lobbying, after some of his picks raised eyebrows due to perceived establishment ties. While progressives, some lacking foreign-policy experience to compete…

By Rana Rahimpour – 10th December 2020 Recent rumours about the health of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have thrown the spotlight on what will happen if he becomes too ill to rule, or dies. The 81-year-old is the highest political authority in one of the most powerful countries in the Middle East, and who will succeed him matters greatly to Iran, the region and the rest of the world. How is the Supreme Leader chosen? The holder of…

WILLIAM J. BURNS, RYAN CROCKER, ASHLEY J. TELLIS, MAHA YAHYA Summary: Held on Dec. 15 from 8:45-10:00 a.m. EST (3:45-5:00 p.m. Beirut) with opening remarks by Marwan Muasher. This discussion will begin with a fireside chat between William J. Burns and Maha Yahya. The panel will then examine the top foreign policy priorities of the incoming Biden administration, particularly in the Middle East. Among the other topics that will be covered are the global priorities for the new U.S. administration,…

A total of 13 people with alleged ties to an Iranian drug lord were arrested as part of an operation carried out by Turkey's intelligence agency after a plot to kidnap an Iranian opponent in Istanbul was revealed. According to intelligence authorities, Zindashti's men kidnapped Habib Chaab and took him to Iran. Duvar English Thirteen people with alleged ties to Iranian drug lord Naji Sharifi Zindashti were arrested as part of an operation carried out by the Turkish Intelligence Organization…

The New U.S. Administration Has to Factor Tehran Into Its Plans By Elizabeth Dent and Ariane M. Tabatabai - December 14, 2020 Early last week, Iraqi officials announced that an airstrike had killed a commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as he entered Syria from Iraq on November 29 with a consignment of weapons. The news came just days after another high-ranking IRGC officer, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, whom intelligence agencies have long viewed as the mastermind behind Iran’s previous covert…

December 4, 2020Saïdeh PakravanLeave a commentGo to comments Mohammad Mossadegh Assigning guilt for past real or conflated crimes and misdemeanors can and often does lead astray leaders and even historians, insisting on blanket and endless apologies where a sharper look at facts would better serve policy. Humans being what they are, the abominable, the criminal and the appalling does occur through centuries and countries. All do not deserve the same treatment. As an example, the case against the atrocity that…

Erdogan’s recitation raised concerns in Tehran over the fanning of separatism among Iran’s Azeri minority. 11th December 2020 Iran’s Foreign Ministry has summoned Turkey’s ambassador over what it said was “meddlesome” remarks by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a visit to Azerbaijan on Thursday. Erdogan was in the Azeri capital Baku to review a military parade marking Azerbaijan’s victory over Armenia in a war over the Nagorno-Karabakh enclave that ended last month. The Turkish president recited an Azeri-Iranian poem…