9 Jan 2021
The tensions occur amid the backdrop of transition in Washington. For instance US President-Elect Joe Biden has tapped Brett McGurk, the former anti-ISIS envoy, for a prominent role. Iran detained a South Korean vessel over the last week, raising tensions in the Gulf. The US continued to send B-52 flights to the region and kept a carrier strike group in the region, as it usually does.
MECRA this month produced several unique perspectives on Iraq and Syria.
- Iranian-backed militias have threatened Saudi Arabia and Gulf investment in Iraq. Read the report.
- Iran continues entrenchment in Syria’s Deir Ezzor area. Read the report.
- Locals in Iraq describe threats from Shi’ite militias. Read the report.
- A unique look at Iran’s use of soft power in Syria. Read the report.
At MECRA we have also published articles in media looking at recent developments in the region.
- Read Jonathan Spyer’s discussion about who betrayed Ruhollah Zam, the journalist kidnapped and killed by Iran. Read the piece here.
- Seth J. Frantzman looks at the recent Iran tensions with several skeptical piece, here and here.
- Jonathan Spyer looks at Israel’s history, the 1973 war and lessons we can learn today from the changing era. Read it here.
- Seth Frantzman write on developing Israeli defense ties to Greece and India, here and here. Israel also delivered a second Iron Dome battery to the US last week.
- Jonathan Spyer examines Israel’s ‘war in the grey zone’ and what Jerusalem intends to accomplish in the region. Read the report.
- Seth J. Frantzman wrote at FDD’s Long War Journal about possible threats to Israel from Iran’s movement of weapons to militias in Iraq.
- Jonathan Spyer looks at how Iraq’s Shi’ite militias threaten the US and Israel. Read his report here.
For interview requests email us: mecra@mideastcenter.org