Below please see my article  Iran Can’t Fulfill Its Hopes of a Shia Corridor Without Iraq, published by The Atlantic Council  Atlantic Council ~ IranSource | Understanding and Analyzing a Multifaceted Iran on October 12, 2018 Iran Can’t Fulfill Its Hopes of a Shia Corridor Without Iraq BY AVI MELAMED Iranian and Iraqi flag (moqavemati) Since the Iranian regime seized power in…

Arab Persian Power Struggle   Two major historic struggles have played a central role in shaping the Muslim world and the Middle East. One axis is the struggle between Arab civilization and the Persian civilization. The other axis is the rivalry between Sunnis and Shi’ites in Islam. In the year 651 CE, a significant event took place in the Middle East; the four-hundred…

Sunnis & Shi’ites   Two major historic struggles have played a central role in shaping the Muslim world and the Middle East. One axis is the struggle between Sunnis and Shi’ites in Islam. The other axis is the rivalry between two large regional civilizations: The Arab civilization and the Persian civilization. There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world.  About…

Two major historic struggles have played a central role in shaping the Muslim world and the Middle East. One axis is the struggle between Sunnis and Shi’ites in Islam. The other axis is the rivalry between two large regional civilizations: The Arab civilization and the Persian civilization. There are about 1.6 billion Muslims in the world. About 90 percent are Sunni…

In this video Avi Melamed discusses the current situation in Iraq and how events in Iraq are linked to other Middle Eastern arenas including Syria, Iran, and the eight arenas of the Iranian-Arab power struggle.  

Click Here To Download a PDF of this Intelligence Report   August 17, 2017 INTELLIGENCE REPORT Taking the Kidnapper Hostage: The Battle Over the Sovereignty of Lebanon Information: On Tuesday, July 25, 2017, United States President, Donald Trump, held a joint Press Conference with Lebanese Prime Minister, Sa’ad Uddin Al Hariri. During that press conference, President Trump talked at length…

ANNOUNCING MY NEW LECTURE TOUR SEPTEMBER 27- NOVEMBER 25, 2017   Game of Pawns ~ The Middle East 2017   A smoking volcano erupted into the Arab Awakening – and the aftershocks, including the War in Syria, the widening Sunni-Shi’ite rift, and the escalating Arab-Persian power struggle have brought about a tectonic plate movement that is shaping a new Middle…

Click Here for PDF of this Report June 27, 2017 Intelligence Report The Concept of Greater Jordan and the Creation of a Safe-Zone in South Syria  Information: Reportedly in June 2017 the United States, Russia and Jordan signed a memorandum establishing a “Safe-Zone” in southern Syria – a 30-kilometer-wide strip in Syria running parallel to the Jordanian border. The exact…

Inside the Middle East – Intelligence Perspectives Intelligence Bulletin     March 14, 2017   A Prediction Materialized: Iranian Proxy Vows to “Fight to liberate the Golan Heights”   Information: In my January 2017 article “A Growing Whirlpool of Violence: The Middle East Legacy of Barack Obama “ I made the following prediction regarding the growing direct and indirect Iranian…

August 23rd, 2016 Jabhat Al-Nusrah Disembarking from Al-Qaeda by Avi Melamed Background: Jabhat al-Nusrah li-Ahl al-Sham (The Front for the Support of the People of Sham) is Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria. Like Al-Qaeda, Jabhat Al-Nusrah is a Sunni Salafi-Jihadist organization. The word “Salaf” means the past of something, its origin, its roots, its primal source. The origins of Salafi thought are deep in the sands of…

July 1st, 2016 by Avi Melamed General Background: The Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine, Harakat al-Jihād al-Islāmi fi Filastīn, most widely known as the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is a Sunni Islamic group, established in the late 1970’s. The PIJ is a Palestinian organization inspired by Jihadi Islamist Militant ideology. The goal of Jihadi Islamist Militant ideology is to create,…

July 23rd, 2015 Vienna, Aden, Damascus By Avi Melamed The signing of the Vienna agreement on July 14, 2015 between Iran and the “Five Plus One” states, China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom United States, plus Germany regarding the Iranian nuclear program was not surprising. The Mullah regime desperately needed an agreement and the United States President, Barrack Obama wanted – critics of the agreement add that he desperately wanted – an agreement. Some argue it is a bad deal, others argue it is a good deal; some see both positive as well as negative aspects of the agreement. There should have, and could have, been a much better agreement. The West had a much stronger hand than the Iranians.…

March 20, 2015 Pax Amer – Iran by Avi Melamed At the peak of its power and influence, the United States’ foreign policy was described as Pax Americana. That description was inspired by the term Pax Romana –”The Roman Peace” – the term that describes the period of time between 27 BC and 180 AD known as the “Golden Era”…

May 7, 2014   The War in Syria – A Mutual Chokehold By Avi Melamed Pay attention to the Syrian town of Tfail. Tfail is a Lebanese enclave located in the Al-Kalmun mountain range in Syria about a mile away from the Lebanese border. It is a town of about 5,000 people – all Lebanese citizens (though the town is located inside Syria) – the majority of whom are Sunnis. Reportedly, following the recent battles in the region, dozens of thousands of Syrians fleeing the war in Syria found refuge on the outskirts of Tfail. Hezbollah argues that these refugees are not civilians, but rather Syrian rebels who fled following the recent fighting in the area of the Al-Kalmun. Reportedly,…