You are here
Middle East and North Africa
"'If Iran is indeed behind these attacks, it would demonstrate that the country's key decision makers feel the risk of military escalation is one worth taking.' "
Why might Iran be behind the tanker attacks?
In The News, 14 June 2019 Tags: Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
Tankers Are Attacked in Mideast, and U.S. Says Video Shows Iran Was Involved Video
In The News, 13 June 2019
'As long as there is significant ambiguity the attacks won’t produce a casus belli ... But Iran is demonstrating its capabilities. It is saying, ‘We can impose a cost on our adversaries in this confrontation, and it will be high.’
Tags: Middle East and North Africa
Morocco’s Strategy in Africa: Rooting Back
Commentary, 23 May 2019
Youssef Tobi
Morocco is redeveloping its African roots. To the benefit of all concerned.
Tags: RUSI International, African Union, Africa, Middle East and North Africa
"“In practical terms, there is little difference between the designation of the IRGC as an FTO and the previous inclusion under the Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List,” said Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies.
“However, the new legislation is likely to have additional unintended consequences, as demonstrated — for instance, by the closure of the social media accounts of several IRGC-linked members, including of Quds Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani,” she added.
“Overall, while the legislation is unlikely to significantly weaken the IRGC, both within and outside of Iran, the perception of outside threat and exceptionalism that the US designation, the first of its kind, entails will most likely lead factions and centers of powers across the political spectrum to close ranks and increase their support for IRGC.” "
The IRGC, Iran’s military industrial complex
In The News, 20 May 2019 Tags: Iran, Middle East and North Africa
""I think at this stage Iran really doesn't want direct confrontation, neither with the US nor any other countries in the region," said Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, senior research fellow at RUSI. "There has been a response but not a provocation so far from Iran and there has been a commitment to clarify that, if needed, Iran would respond with all its tools at its disposal." "
In Tehran, specter of war met with more defiance than fear
In The News, 17 May 2019 Tags: Iran, Middle East and North Africa
A Threat to Jus in Bello: Legal Implications of Iran’s Designation of the US Central Command as a Terrorist Organisation
Commentary, 15 May 2019
Christopher Galvin
Iran’s designation of the US Central Command as a terrorist organisation has serious implications for the treatment of its personnel in any conflict.
Tags: United States, Iran, Americas, Law and Ethics, Military Personnel, Middle East and North AfricaPages
Morocco’s Strategy in Africa: Rooting Back
Commentary, 23 May 2019Youssef Tobi
Morocco is redeveloping its African roots. To the benefit of all concerned.
RUSI International, African Union, Africa, Middle East and North Africa
A Threat to Jus in Bello: Legal Implications of Iran’s Designation of the US Central Command as a Terrorist Organisation
Commentary, 15 May 2019Christopher Galvin
Iran’s designation of the US Central Command as a terrorist organisation has serious implications for the treatment of its personnel in any conflict.
United States, Iran, Americas, Law and Ethics, Military Personnel, Middle East and North Africa
Libya and France: A Revival of ‘Napoleonism’?
Commentary, 1 May 2019Youssef Tobi
France appears to be relying on force to patch up problems in Africa, and particularly in Libya. None of this is compatible with President Macron’s lofty foreign policy declarations.
Sahel, France, Libya, Terrorism, Europe, Africa, Middle East and North Africa
Israel’s Election: It Is Bibi All the Way
Commentary, 11 April 2019Michael Stephens
Binyamin Netanyahu has won the Israeli election, setting the scene for a right-wing administration which may well be tempted to formally annex the occupied territories and set Israel on a dangerous gambit.
RUSI International, Israel, Middle East and North Africa
Ministers Meet to Discuss Middle East in Warsaw Conference Beset by Divisions in the West
Commentary, 21 February 2019Wojciech Pawlus
Poland has improved its bilateral strategic links with the US by hosting an American-inspired conference on the future of the Middle East. But the conference did nothing to improve Western coherence.
Iran's Nuclear Programme, United States, US Defence Policy, Iran, Israel, Global Security Issues, Europe, Middle East and North AfricaPages
Psychological Occupation and Resistance in Mosul
Multimedia, 6 April 2018Mike Stevens on a new study published by RUSI that tells the extraordinary story of how resistance activists and fighters in Mosul ‘punctured Daesh’s image of invincibility’ leading to the city’s...
Tags: Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
The Iran Protests
Multimedia, 5 January 2018 Tags: Iran, International Security Studies, Global Security Issues, Middle East and North Africa
Understanding Unpredictability in the Middle East in 2018
Multimedia, 4 January 2018Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi outlines priorities for analysts will be to understand the impact and unpredictability of US policy in the Middle East.
Tags: Iran, International Security Studies, Middle East and North Africa
The Legacy of Hashemi Rafsanjani
Multimedia, 9 January 2017RUSI Research Fellow Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi discusses on AlJazeera English the legacy and significance of Iranian leader Hashemi Rafsanjani as he passes away.
Tags: Iran, International Security Studies, Middle East and North Africa
International power dynamics in 2017
Multimedia, 21 December 2016RUSI International Security Studies Director, Raffaello Pantucci, predicts that 2017 will be a year of change as major powers reconsider their international roles and non-states such as Daesh are...
Tags: China, International Security Studies, Middle East and North AfricaPages
Iran's Objectives and Capabilities: Deterrence and Subversion
Occasional Papers, 19 February 2019Jack Watling
This Occasional Paper explores Iran's foreign policy objectives through a strategic lens, considering strengths, weaknesses, and proxy relationships.
Civil–Military Relations, Iran's Nuclear Programme, Iran, Occasional Papers, Global Strategy and Commitments, Military Sciences, Defence Management, Defence Policy, Global Security Issues, Military Personnel, Terrorism, Middle East and North Africa
Introducing a Trauma-Informed Practice Framework to Provide Support in Conflict-Affected Countries: The Case of the Syrian White Helmets
RUSI Journal, 28 January 2019Nicola Lester
A proposal for a ‘trauma-informed’ framework to provide training and support to the Syrian White Helmets.
RUSI Journal, Syria, Resilience, Middle East and North Africa
Armed Drones in the Middle East: Proliferation and Norms in the Region
Occasional Papers, 17 December 2018Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi and Justin Bronk
This Occasional Paper aims to provide an in-depth inventory of armed drones possessed by Middle Eastern states, assessing quantity, types and timeframes; and to explore where and how armed drones...
Aerospace, Air Power and Technology, Occasional Papers, International Security Studies, Military Sciences, Middle East and North Africa
Strategic Hedging in the Arabian Peninsula: The Politics of the Gulf-Asian Rapprochement
Whitehall Papers, 20 September 2018Jean-Loup Samaan
Offering a new perspective on the geopolitics of Gulf-Asian relations.
Whitehall Papers, Pacific, Central and South Asia, Middle East and North Africa
Spring Goes to Winter: A Very Twenty-First Century Revolution in the Middle East
RUSI Newsbrief, 6 April 2018Rucheka Jain
The Arab Spring of 2011, a time of hope and optimism especially for the region’s young people, has become an Arab Winter. To turn the tide, young people must rally behind a unifying cause and not be...
RUSI Newsbrief, Middle East and North AfricaPages
The Great Betrayal: How America Abandoned the Kurds and Lost the Middle East
Events, 21 May 2019At this event Professor David Phillips will examine US Middle East policy, how it relates to Kurdish political aspirations and the role of Kurdish fighters combating ISIS in Iraq and Syria
RUSI International, Middle East and North Africa
Yemen: A Pathway to Reconciliation
Events, 16 May 2019This event will explore ways in which both Yemeni society and its disparate political groups can begin to reach compromise.
RUSI International, Middle East and North Africa
Learning to Fight Daesh
Events, 11 March 2019A lecture by Lieutenant General Jameel Kamil Al Shimary, President of Iraq’s Defence University for Military Studies.
Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
Iraq, Iran and the US: Economic trends in the wake of sanctions
Events, 31 October 2018In association with the Iraq Britain Business Council, RUSI will host a panel discussion on the future of Iraq, its economic and political stability.
RUSI International, Iran, Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
The Iraq Election Results: What next for Iraq’s political stability?
Events, 16 May 2018This panel event, in partnership with the Iraq Britain Business Council (IBBC) assessed the Iraqi election result, the early indications of any political realignment and possible impacts on the...
RUSI International, Iraq, Global Security Issues, Middle East and North AfricaPages
"'If Iran is indeed behind these attacks, it would demonstrate that the country's key decision makers feel the risk of military escalation is one worth taking.'"
Why might Iran be behind the tanker attacks?
In The News, 14 June 2019 Tags: Iraq, Middle East and North Africa
Tankers Are Attacked in Mideast, and U.S. Says Video Shows Iran Was Involved Video
In The News, 13 June 2019 Tags: Middle East and North Africa
"“In practical terms, there is little difference between the designation of the IRGC as an FTO and the previous inclusion under the Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List,” said Dr Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, a research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. “However, the new legislation is likely to have additional unintended consequences, as demonstrated — for instance, by the closure of the social media accounts of several IRGC-linked members, including of Quds Force Commander General Qasem Soleimani,” she added. “Overall, while the legislation is unlikely to significantly weaken the IRGC, both within and outside of Iran, the perception of outside threat and exceptionalism that the US designation, the first of its kind, entails will most likely lead factions and centers of powers across the political spectrum to close ranks and increase their support for IRGC.”"
The IRGC, Iran’s military industrial complex
In The News, 20 May 2019 Tags: Iran, Middle East and North Africa
""I think at this stage Iran really doesn't want direct confrontation, neither with the US nor any other countries in the region," said Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi, senior research fellow at RUSI. "There has been a response but not a provocation so far from Iran and there has been a commitment to clarify that, if needed, Iran would respond with all its tools at its disposal.""
In Tehran, specter of war met with more defiance than fear
In The News, 17 May 2019 Tags: Iran, Middle East and North Africa
""He learned a lot on how to operate from Saddam's former intelligence officials," says Michael Stephens, a Middle East expert with the London-based think-tank Royal United Services Institute (Rusi). "His operational security is excellent," he adds, "partly because of his excessive paranoia". Where is he hiding now? Almost certainly still in the Iraq-Syria border area, says Stephens. "He'll be able to take advantage of established smuggling networks across that border," he says, "using money to pay his way amongst the tribes there". "
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi: Why is it so difficult to track down IS leader?
In The News, 1 May 2019 Tags: Middle East and North Africa
The UK’s Proscription of Hizbullah: All Talk and No Action?
Hard Days for Europe’s Interests in Iran
Dr Karin von Hippel on the State Visit of President Trump