From the Forum
Analysis, testimony, and field work from the Middle East Forum's analysts and fellows.
Iran
+4
Aug 31, 2026
•
14 min read
The Empire That Isn't
Five years after Kabul, the Times says the lesson is learning how to quit. The evidence reads the other way: America does not police an empire, it preempts chaos, and every time it stops, the bill arrives.
Iran
+5
Aug 30, 2026
•
15 min read
The Anti-Woke Diaspora: Surviving the Red-Green Alliance
Young Iranians in exile watched the left deliver power to the theocrats once. Twenty of them are now the West's clearest voices against doing it again, and the fight they are pointing at is inside Iran.
Iran
+5
Aug 28, 2026
•
18 min read
The Next Six Months
Six months in, the shock is over and the attrition has begun. Twenty-five fronts the coalition has to manage between now and February.
Iran
+5
Aug 28, 2026
•
19 min read
The Gulf at Six Months
Six months of Iranian fire on five capitals, state by state; CENTCOM says the lanes are clear; Doha's premier leaves Tehran with a list of conditions.
Iran
+4
Aug 27, 2026
•
18 min read
The Corridor That Isn't
Tehran claims a Hormuz deal, Oman says otherwise, a tanker burns near Khasab, and the target list reaches the families.
Iran
+3
Aug 9, 2026
•
8 min read
The Anatomy of a Leaked Operation
The Long View: The Mossad reassigned the men who promised to topple Tehran. The mission stands; the instrument was wrong. Plus the week in review and what to watch.
Iran
+2
Aug 7, 2026
•
16 min read
One for All: Circular Firing Squad or Mutual Defense Agreement?
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Pakistan sign a mutual-defense pact in Mecca, and the Houthis deliver its first test within hours. What the treaty says, what it doesn't, and what it means for Washington, Jerusalem, and the Gulf capitals that stayed home.
Iran
+3
Aug 6, 2026
•
13 min read
Iran's Shakedown and America's Empty Quiver
Iran draws the Hormuz route through its own waters, threatens to black out the Gulf, and Washington discovers its quiver is nearly empty. Plus first Israeli deaths in Lebanon since the June truce, and your poll verdict.
Iran
+2
Aug 4, 2026
•
12 min read
The Cost of Quiet
Bessent says a Hormuz deal may come today, Qatar says the drafts are circulating, a cargo ship was struck overnight, and Tehran says no talks are happening at all. Plus the war's rising cost on Israel's home front.
Iran
+2
Aug 3, 2026
•
9 min read
The Cost of Waiting
The war's bill comes due at home: a third straight year of record Israeli emigration, a migration deficit, and a growing economic drag. Plus CENTCOM's suggestion box, a thank-you to Tehran, and the dangerous pause.
Iran
+3
Jul 31, 2026
•
10 min read
Gaza Disarmament? Read The Small Print
Trump announces the complete disarmament of Hamas, Hamas attaches a Palestinian state to its heavy weapons, Riyadh launches a 14-nation fleet without the UAE, and the oil majors post the war's invoice.
Iran
+2
Jul 30, 2026
•
13 min read
Pricing the Perimeter
CENTCOM answers the barrage with dozens of targets, an Iranian strike kills a worker in Kuwait, a drone reaches the Mediterranean, the Houthis draft their toll, and Khoshnood's featured piece on what relief would refinance.
Iran
+2
Jul 28, 2026
•
14 min read
Pricing the War
Netanyahu carries the Pickaxe file to the Oval Office, Riyadh puts Baghdad on notice, Rome gets a date, and Tehran prices its own war.
Iran
+3
Jul 26, 2026
•
8 min read
Architecture Over Exchanges: A Five-Part Strategy to End the Iran War
A head for an eye is a price, not a plan. The Sunday Long View on what the next twenty-four months must build: five instruments to convert strike dominance into victory architecture.
Iran
+3
Jul 24, 2026
•
15 min read
Bigger Than Epic Fury
Night 13 complete, 50,000 Americans in theater, B-1s tracked out of Fairford, 150 medics at Landstuhl, and the Forum's paper trail on the end of containment.
Iran
+5
Jul 23, 2026
•
13 min read
$100 Oil, Red Sea Siege, and Trump’s Nuclear Pivot
First blood under the Houthi blockade, a $100 close, a "massive attack" weighed, a signed Saudi deal repriced by post, and the Forum's read of Iraq's $1.47 billion judgment against Turkey.
