Iran Escalates Repression Amid Unrest
Bottom Line Up Front The Iranian regime is using all elements of state power to suppress organized dissent, including widespread arrests and the use […] More
Middle East
Conflict in Idlib Escalates Between Turkey and Syria While Civilians Suffer
Bottom Line Up Front The nine year-long Syrian civil war continues to rage, with most of the intense fighting taking place in northwestern Syria […] More
The Death of the Two-State Paradigm
If there was any doubt about the moribund state of the two-state paradigm in Palestine, the unveiling of the White House’s peace plan last month […] More
Diminishing Returns from Iran Sanctions
Bottom Line Up Front Virtually every sector of Iran’s civilian economy is now subject to U.S. secondary sanctions, rendering additional sanctions progressively less significant. […] More
Who is the Islamic State’s New Leader?
Bottom Line Up Front On October 26, 2019, U.S. Special Forces launched a major operation that resulted in the death of ISIS leader Abu […] More
A Candid Take on the Middle East Peace Plan
Last week, The White House announced President Donald Trump’s vision for a ‘comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.’ The White House refers to […] More
Piecing Together a Fragile Libya
Representatives from Libya’s warring parties began talks in Geneva on Monday. The discussions, known as the Libya Military Joint Commission are led by the UN, […] More
United States Targets Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula Leader in Yemen
Bottom Line Up Front U.S. officials have expressed confidence that a series of drone strikes in Yemen in January was successful in killing Qassim […] More
OSINT Global Trendline Report
The Cipher Brief’s Open Source Trend Line Report utilizes open source data on a quarterly basis to track trends around the world that impact national […] More
Iran Nuclear Deal Unraveling
Bottom Line Up Front Europe’s use of the formal dispute resolution provision of the Iran nuclear deal is a consequence of the Trump administration’s […] More
OSINT Trendline Report – The Middle East and North Africa
The Cipher Brief’s Open Source Trendline Report utilizes open source data to track trends around the world that impact national and global security. We break […] More
Iran’s Supreme Messaging
When news broke that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was scheduled to deliver the Friday Prayer sermon on January 17 for the first time […] More
Can Esmail Qaani Lead Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force?
Bottom Line Up Front The operations of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF) will continue unabated despite the death of its […] More
Questions to be asking about Iran and Iraq
John McLaughlin served as the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency from 2000-2004 and served as Acting Director of the CIA in 2004. He […] More
The Promise and Perils of the Iranian Protests
Bottom Line Up Front Iran has experienced intermittent periods of unrest in the decades since its Islamic Revolution of 1979, but the situation unfolding […] More
What Made Sultan Qaboos the Best Friend Americans Never Knew
Sultan Qaboos bin Said, the ruler of Oman and the Middle East’s longest serving ruler, died on January 10 after nearly 50 years in power. […] More
Soleimani and the True Measure of Deterrence
CONVERSATION STARTER — Few would argue that the January 3 drone strike that killed Iranian General and Quds Force Commander General Qassem Soleimani was a […] More
Soleimani and the Path to a new Middle East Peace Deal
Emile Nakhleh is a retired CIA Senior Intelligence Service Officer and founding director of the CIA’s Political Islam Strategic Analysis Program Office. Nakhleh is currently […] More