It was around 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 4, 1979, almost 40 years ago, when Mark Lijek, a 29-year-old American Citizens Services officer for the U.S. Consulate in Tehran, heard commotion outside his office. That day, Iranian students stormed the U.S. embassy in Tehran and captured 66 Americans. The takeover was, in part, a response to […]
Iran
Data Shows Declining Support for U.S. in Middle East
WASHINGTON—Preference for stronger U.S. relations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region has dropped in Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon since 2016, according to new data from the Arab Barometer, a nonpartisan research network providing insight into social, political, and economic attitudes of citizens throughout the Arab world. The findings were presented at the […]
Raisi Groomed as Successor to Iran Supreme Leader
Hojjat ol Eslam Embrahim Raisi, tapped in March to head Iran’s judiciary, is now considered the favorite to be the next Iranian supreme leader, according to an American Enterprise Institute report released in June. Prior to his judicial appointment by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Kahmenei, Raisi was custodian and a chairman of Astan Quds Razavi, […]
Perspective: Family Terror Connections Foster Radicalization
Family terror networks—or alternatively, family-affiliated terrorism—involve two or more people from the same clan who support the threat or use of terrorism. Kin terrorism has appeared across diverse views from religiously motivated precepts to national liberation, and from hate-based ideologies to other viewpoints. Family structures enable higher instances of conversion to radical beliefs given the […]
Escalating Tension Between Iran and Israel
ran has used the Syrian civil war to expand its footprint throughout the Levant, while Israel pushes back. On January 20 and 21, Israel and Iran launched attacks against each other. Israel struck Iranian targets in Syria near the Damascus airport, while Iran launched a medium-range missile into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights.