Current status of Iran’s military presence in Syria

Hassan Dai, November 1, 2021
Since 2018, as rebel forces have been largely defeated and the military conflict has subsided, IRGC and Hezbollah have decreased their military presence. However, they have established numerous military bases and continue to have thousands of troops in strategic areas of the country.

An Open Letter to President Biden on the Possible Nuclear Talks with the Iranian Regime

Dr. Kazem Moussavi, March 2021
The ruling theocracy cannot be reformed in Iran through negotiations or deals as the Western powers could not deal with the German Nazis in the late 1930s. The ayatollahs perceive themselves as instruments of God in an apocalyptic war between good and evil. They anticipate the return of Mahdi, the hidden 12th Shiite Imam, who according to the regime’s constitution is the actual head of state, in which the current leaders occupy his seat until his imminent arrival.

Javad Zarif and Iranian regime’s web of influence in the U.S.

Hassan Dai, January 2020
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his colleagues at Iranian mission in New York, played a key role in establishing and expanding Tehran’s web of influence in the U.S. The Implementation of sanctions on Zarif will restrict the regime’s ability to coordinate the activities of this network that exploits political divisions in the U.S, deceives public opinion and influences U.S. policies toward Iran.

Iranian regime-sponsored Quds Day rally

Hassan Dai
Annual Quds Day rally, initiated by Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979, is used as a platform to escalate the hatred against Israel and portray the Iranian regime as the champion of the Palestinian cause and the leader of the Islamic world. Quds Day provides Iran with a formidable tool to recruit among Muslims worldwide and forge an alliance with left and anti-Israeli organizations in the West

Iran in Latin America

Hassan Dai, April 2019
Iran has spent billions of dollars to get a foothold in Latin America, pursuing a multi-pronged strategy. In order to expand its influence, Iran has also established a network of Mosques and Islamic centers

How the Iranian regime promotes anti-Semitism in Iran

Hassan Dai, March 2020
What is most disturbing about the regime-sponsored anti-Semitism in Iran is the fact that is it relentless, widespread, expanding and increasingly more shameless. The Regime tries to theorize, legitimize, and often, trivialize anti-Semitism in Iran.

Arbaeen pilgrimage and Iran’s Shia crescent

Hassan Dai, October 2018
The Iranian regime has been trying to gradually take the control of this event and utilize it for its domestic and regional goals specifically to expand its influence in Iraq, and strengthen the Shia crescent, a necessary step in its quest to dominate the Middle East.

Crime Against Humanity: 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran

A short video documentary about the 1988 massacre of political prisoners in Iran

Iranian regime’s network of Islamic Centers, seminaries and Mosques in Europe

Hassan Dai and Kazem Moussavi, June 2018
Iranian regime runs a large number of Islamic centers and Mosques in Europe that disseminate its fundamentalist ideology and generate grassroots support for its radical foreign policy. These centers provide Iran with a recruiting pool for the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force or other Iranian Institutions responsible for terrorism or military activities abroad.

Business consultant tied to Iranian regime files defamation lawsuit against Iranian dissident in Germany

Business consultant Dawood Nazirizadeh, a board member of “Islamic community of Shiites in Germany” (IGS), an organization controlled by the Iranian regime has filed a defamation lawsuit against Iranian dissident Kazem Mousavi to intimidate and silence him. Nazirizadeh’s attorney is notorious Michael Hubertus von Sprenger, a past attorney for Turkish dictator Erdogan and a long list of right-wing extremists and Holocaust deniers.

Iranian regime’s media empire in the Middle East

Hassan Dai, 4 December 2017
More than 200 radio and satellite TV stations, together with tens of newspapers and hundreds of websites constitute Iran’s media empire across the Islamic world, predominantly in the Middle Eastern countries. A large number of these media outlets are affiliated with Iran’s proxies and are under the direct control of Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force. This propaganda machine promotes the Iranian regime’s fundamentalist ideology and plays a pivotal role in Iran’s multi-pronged strategy to dominate the region.

The West must be wary of Iran’s global business ‘diplomacy’

First published in the Hill.com
Hassan Dai, September 2017
The Iranian regime uses its relation with Western businesses and especially the oil giants as a leverage to shape European and American policies toward Iran. As Iran continues to pursue its hegemonic policy in the Middle East and uses its proxy militias to dominate the region, it will use these business dealings to shield itself from future sanctions and harsher Western policies toward Iran.

Iran sponsored “Muslim Congress” in Dallas, August 18-20

Hassan Dai, 8 August 2017
The 13th Annual “Muslim Congress” will be held in Dallas, TX on Aug 18-20th. This is an Iranian sponsored initiative launched in 2005 to disseminate the regime’s ideology, promote its agenda and recruit pro-Tehran supporters within the American Muslim community. There are nearly a dozen Islamic centers and mosques in the US that are tied to the Iranian regime and the “Muslim Congress” is a national event designed to gather pro-Tehran Muslim from across the US.

Atlantic Council event promotes Iranian regime misinformation campaign

Hassan Dai, 28 July 2017
The fake public opinion poll presented at the Atlantic Council reflects the regime’s talking points and is designed to provide necessary materials for pro-Tehran advocates in Washington to oppose the Congressional sanctions and the new administration’s tough policy toward Tehran.

How Trita Parsi and NIAC Advance Iran’s Agenda

Hassan Dai, 1 July 2017
First published by Tablet
Since its creation in 2002, NIAC has dedicated most of its activities and resources to ease the pressure off the Iranian regime and help Tehran to advance its strategic goals.

Tehran intends to exploit anti-Trump sentiments

Hassan Dai, April 17, 2017
First published in The Hill
A number of current and former diplomats and foreign policy advisors with experience in dealing with the US are asking the government to exploit anti-Trump sentiments and utilize political divisions in Washington. These recommendations are inspired by Iran’s past successful experiences, notably during the Bush administration when Tehran established good relations with politicians who opposed Bush policies and was able to work with segments of the anti-war movement to influence public opinion and shape US policy toward Tehran.

On Iran, President Trump is sending mixed signals

Hassan Dai, March 2017, The Hill
Trump administration has sent some signals that could be interpreted as the continuation of President Obama’s conciliatory approach toward Iran… Trump cannot say it is going to be tougher on Iran and at the same time join with the Russians in Syria. The two are mutually exclusive… If Trump ignores Tehran’s quest for domination in the Middle East, he will take the United States to where Obama was headed—just more quickly.”

Don’t get fooled again by Iran

Hassan Dai, February 2017, The Hill
The call to engage Iran and empower the so-called “moderates” is one of the most persistent policy positions in Washington and will get louder in coming weeks as we approach the Iranian Presidential “elections”

Iranian regime’s Achilles Heel

Hassan Dai, February 10, 2017
Iranian political and military leadership has repeatedly declared that the Revolutionary Guard’s primary mission is to fight against domestic threats as the regime considers popular uprisings as the most fundamental threat to its survival

Iran’s game plan in Afghanistan

Hassan Dai, 19 January 2017
Iran’s support to Taliban aims to weaken US military presence in Afghanistan, eventually forcing its withdrawal. Iran is also using Taliban as a counter balance to the presence of ISIS in the country. But Iran has a broader goal to secure its zone of influence in Farsi speaking and Shiite regions of Afghanistan. In this context, the Revolutionary Guards’ Afghan units like Fatemiyoun that has gained enormous battlefield experience in Syria, could be used as an important leverage in a civil war torn Afghanistan and help Iran to add part of Afghanistan to its “Shi’ite crescent” stretching to the Mediterranean Sea.

Trump’s Middle East policy and future of pro-Iran lobby

Hassan Dai, January 10, 2017
It is largely expected that Trump administration will diminish the influence of pro-Iran lobby and cut its tentacles in the State Department, but a misguided policy in the Middle East that benefits Tehran could eventually help this lobby to thrive in Washington once again.

Rafsanjani’s death and Iran’s regional policies

Hassan Dai, January 9, 2017
Rafsanjani died fall short of his goal to alter Iranian foreign policy, a change that he believed to be necessary for the regime’s survival. His death could significantly impact the regime’s internal balance of power and strengthen the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guards’ position to advance their regional policies that have so far fueled violence and sectarian conflicts across the Middle East.

Arbaeen pilgrimage and Iran’s regional ambitions

Hassan Dai, November 17, 2016
As Arbaeen continues to grow as the most important religious ceremony in the world and a show of force for the Shia community, the Iranian regime has been trying to gradually take the control of this event and utilizing it for its domestic and regional goals, specifically to solidify its influence in Iraq and dominate the Shia world.

Evolution of Pro-Iran lobby under Obama, from a pressure group to a White House partner

Hassan Dai, 11 November 2016
Pro-Iran lobby is a coalition of organizations and politicians, led by US corporations and accompanied by an army of pundits and Iran experts that regardless of what Iran is doing, asks the US government to adopt a friendlier policy with Iran and remove sanctions. At the center of this lobby are small Iranian-American organizations that are tied to various factions of the Iranian regime.

The Mosul offensive and future of Shiite militias

Hassan Dai, November 8, 2016
For months prior to the offensive, Iran and its Iraqi proxies pressured the Iraqi government to accept the militias’ role in the Mosul offensive, a move that could give them a share of victory and provide them with a pretext to justify their activities long after the defeat of ISIS. This would secure Iran’s influence in Iraq that predominantly relies on these militias, a prospect that many believe to be the Hezbollah-ization of Iraq.

Pro-Iranian regime network of Islamic Centers in the US

Hassan Dai, March 30, 2017
There are a number of Islamic organizations in the US that are tied to the Iranian regime, disseminate its ideology and attempt to generate support for its political agenda. The vast majority of American Muslims follow a moderate Islam and reject extremist views including the Iranian regime’s ideology. Subsequently, Iran’s influence is limited to a very slim portion of US Muslims, predominantly in the Shia community.

Iranian regime intensifies its campaign to lure Afghan immigrants to fight in Syria

Hassan Dai, September 6, 2016
Iranian regime has been carrying out a large-scale public campaign to justify its military intervention in Syria and reinvigorate the regime’s ideological base that seems shaken by the Syrian quagmire. This campaign specifically targets Afghan immigrants who provide the majority of recruits for the “Fatemiyoun” Division, the Afghan unit of Iran’s Quds Force fighting in Syria. This campaign seems crucial for the Iranian regime as it is bogged down in Syria and in desperate need of more fighters for its war machine.

Pakistani unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards fighting in Syria

Hassan Dai, September 1, 2016
In late 2014, the Revolutionary Guards Quds Force recruited a group of 50 Pakistani Shiites and formed the Zeynabiyoun brigade. The unit is currently estimated to have 1500 to 2000 fighters in Syria.

Iranian regime is bleeding in the Syrian quagmire

Hassan Dai*, August 8, 2016
The battle of Aleppo showed the failure of Iranian military surge in Syria since 2015 to reach a decisive victory and proves how deeply Iran is bogged down in the Syrian quagmire.

Al Mustafa University, Iran’s global network of Islamic schools

Hassan Dai, April 2016
Al Mustafa is an international university funded and controlled by the Iranian regime to train foreign clerics, Shia scholars and missionaries. It was founded in 2007 and operates nearly 200 seminaries, Islamic schools, religious centers and associations in Iran and around the world. Al Mustafa has 45.000 students, half of them in Iran. 40.000 have graduated from Al Mustafa since 2007