The Revolutionary Guards: The Anatomy of a State Terrorist Organization
By Dr. Reza Parchizadeh, August 26, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was originally intended by the Islamist regime to be an ideologically oriented militia that would compensate for the regular Iranian army’s lack of revolutionary zeal. It has since replaced the regular army as Iran’s main military force and has spent decades working doggedly to export the regime’s Islamist brand of imperialism and conquest to the rest of the region and around the world. The IRGC is responsible, either directly or indirectly, for most of the worst terrorist outrages the world has ever seen. The US declared the Guards a state terrorist organization in 2019, but it needs to be completely dismantled.
Continue to full article ->
By Dr. Reza Parchizadeh, August 26, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was originally intended by the Islamist regime to be an ideologically oriented militia that would compensate for the regular Iranian army’s lack of revolutionary zeal. It has since replaced the regular army as Iran’s main military force and has spent decades working doggedly to export the regime’s Islamist brand of imperialism and conquest to the rest of the region and around the world. The IRGC is responsible, either directly or indirectly, for most of the worst terrorist outrages the world has ever seen. The US declared the Guards a state terrorist organization in 2019, but it needs to be completely dismantled.
Continue to full article ->
Lebanon may be broken beyond repair
Its debt is massive, its political class corrupt, and terrorists call the shots
Its debt is massive, its political class corrupt, and terrorists call the shots
United States: Washington Imposes Sanctions on Six Members of Assad Government. The State Department on Thursday announced the imposition of sanctions against six Syrian military, financial, and other governmental officials. Those designated in sanctions include military commanders and a recruiter, Assad’s media advisor and her husband, and Yasser Ibrahim, whom the State Department described as having “cut corrupt deals that enrich Assad” while obstructing a political solution to the conflict. The sanctions include economic regulations, including asset freezes and restrictions on business dealings. Al Jazeera The New York Times State Department
Venezuela: Colombian President Claims Venezuela is trying to Buy Iranian Missiles. Colombian President Ivan Duque on Thursday said that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is attempting to acquire medium and long-range missiles from Iran while also trying to provide weapons to armed irregular groups in Colombia. Venezuela’s foreign minister denied the accusations, but Duque insisted that “information from international intelligence organisms” indicates that although Venezuela has not yet acquired the missiles, it is in talks to do so. France 24 Reuters
Netanyahu’s maneuvers leave Blue and White clueless on budget, elections
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s constant machinations and tricks leave Blue and White in the dark as to whether he intends to push for new elections next week.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s constant machinations and tricks leave Blue and White in the dark as to whether he intends to push for new elections next week.
A U.S. Sale of F-35 Stealth Fighters to the UAE Could Be a Middle East Game Changer by Michael Peck
Forbes
August 20, 2020
https://www.meforum.org/61411/a-us-sale-of-f-35-stealth-fighters-to-the-uae
Forbes
August 20, 2020
https://www.meforum.org/61411/a-us-sale-of-f-35-stealth-fighters-to-the-uae
Arabs Are Fed Up With the 'Ungrateful' Palestinians by Khaled Abu Toameh
Sudan, Israel in talks toward agreement
The spokesperson of Sudan’s Foreign Ministry Haidar Badawi al-Sadiq said yesterday that his country is in contact with Israel to advance a peace agreement. Sadiq also hailed the agreement reached between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. A few hours later, Sudan’s acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din Ismail, denied the statement, saying the government was “surprised” by the claim by his spokesman that Khartoum and Jerusalem were edging toward reconciliation. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the initial statement. Netanyahu quietly met with the head of Sudan’s transitional government, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, in Uganda in February to discuss normalizing relations.
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timesofisrael.com
The spokesperson of Sudan’s Foreign Ministry Haidar Badawi al-Sadiq said yesterday that his country is in contact with Israel to advance a peace agreement. Sadiq also hailed the agreement reached between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. A few hours later, Sudan’s acting Foreign Minister Omar Qamar al-Din Ismail, denied the statement, saying the government was “surprised” by the claim by his spokesman that Khartoum and Jerusalem were edging toward reconciliation. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the initial statement. Netanyahu quietly met with the head of Sudan’s transitional government, Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan, in Uganda in February to discuss normalizing relations.
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timesofisrael.com
Don’t Let China Steal the Global Nuclear-Power Industry
Michael Shellenberger, Manhattan Institute
The Quiet Revolution In Emerging-Market Monetary Policy
Piroska Nagy-Mohacsi, Project Syndicate
Michael Shellenberger, Manhattan Institute
The Quiet Revolution In Emerging-Market Monetary Policy
Piroska Nagy-Mohacsi, Project Syndicate
Mossad chief heads to the UAE days after normalization deal
Israel’s intelligence chief Yossi Cohen arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, in the first such visit since the two countries announced they had reached a historic agreement to normalize relations last week. Cohen met with Emirati national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “The two sides discussed prospects for cooperation in the fields of security as well as exchanged points of view on regional developments and on issues of common interest,” the official Emirati official WAM news agency said. The US-brokered deal, in which Israel agreed to suspend its plan to annex parts of the Palestinian West Bank, was seen as a new move to bolster opposition against Iran’s regional influence.
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al-monitor.com
Israel’s intelligence chief Yossi Cohen arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Tuesday, in the first such visit since the two countries announced they had reached a historic agreement to normalize relations last week. Cohen met with Emirati national security adviser Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. “The two sides discussed prospects for cooperation in the fields of security as well as exchanged points of view on regional developments and on issues of common interest,” the official Emirati official WAM news agency said. The US-brokered deal, in which Israel agreed to suspend its plan to annex parts of the Palestinian West Bank, was seen as a new move to bolster opposition against Iran’s regional influence.
Read More
al-monitor.com
With friends like these…Key European allies side with Tehran, Moscow and Beijing
Ending United States Military Operations in Somalia by Paul D. Williams
Lessons from Conflicts Between Nuclear and Non-Nuclear States by Alexander Lanoszka
Lessons from Conflicts Between Nuclear and Non-Nuclear States by Alexander Lanoszka
Diplomatic Breakthrough: Israel, United Arab Emirates Normalize Ties with Natan Sachs
The Pandemic and U.S. Defense Spending with Matt Vallone
The Pandemic and U.S. Defense Spending with Matt Vallone
Iran File is a biweekly analysis of the Iranian regime's strategic efforts domestically and abroad.
NEWLY EMPOWERED HARDLINERS MOVE AGAINST ROUHANI
Iran’s newly empowered hardliners will undermine President Hassan Rouhani for the remainder of his term and likely facilitate the election of a far-right president in 2021. Rouhani lost vital political support when former IRGC Air Force Commander Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf replaced Ali Larijani as parliament speaker in May. Hardliners are using their newfound legislative influence to promote aggressive and authoritarian policies, undermining Rouhani’s political promises.
Ghalibaf is also likely coordinating with hardliners outside Parliament to politically neutralize Rouhani. A hardliner will likely become president in 2021 as Rouhani is further discredited. Expanding hardliner control will facilitate increasingly aggressive and authoritarian Iranian behavior while exacerbating economic turmoil and domestic dissent.
Read the latest edition here.
Iran’s entrenchment of strategic infrastructure in Syria threatens balance of deterrence in the Middle East
Iran is realigning its force posture in Syria to retain and expand its deterrence, freedom of action, and leverage with the US, Israel, and Russia. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) began moving some of its forces in Syria away from the front lines in the spring of 2020 while expanding and consolidating its footprint in eastern Syria. This shift offers Tehran more secure bases more directly under its control to threaten Israel and the US as instability risks some of its positions in Iraq and Lebanon. Read the full article here.
NEWLY EMPOWERED HARDLINERS MOVE AGAINST ROUHANI
Iran’s newly empowered hardliners will undermine President Hassan Rouhani for the remainder of his term and likely facilitate the election of a far-right president in 2021. Rouhani lost vital political support when former IRGC Air Force Commander Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf replaced Ali Larijani as parliament speaker in May. Hardliners are using their newfound legislative influence to promote aggressive and authoritarian policies, undermining Rouhani’s political promises.
Ghalibaf is also likely coordinating with hardliners outside Parliament to politically neutralize Rouhani. A hardliner will likely become president in 2021 as Rouhani is further discredited. Expanding hardliner control will facilitate increasingly aggressive and authoritarian Iranian behavior while exacerbating economic turmoil and domestic dissent.
Read the latest edition here.
Iran’s entrenchment of strategic infrastructure in Syria threatens balance of deterrence in the Middle East
Iran is realigning its force posture in Syria to retain and expand its deterrence, freedom of action, and leverage with the US, Israel, and Russia. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) began moving some of its forces in Syria away from the front lines in the spring of 2020 while expanding and consolidating its footprint in eastern Syria. This shift offers Tehran more secure bases more directly under its control to threaten Israel and the US as instability risks some of its positions in Iraq and Lebanon. Read the full article here.
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