Editor's Note: FMSO’s Operational Environment Watch provides translated selections and analysis from a diverse range of foreign articles and other media that analysts and expert contributors believe will give military and security experts an added dimension to their ...

When President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad emerged from seemingly nowhere to capture the Iranian presidency in 2005, American officials were dumbfounded. Whereas his predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, sought to assuage the West with talk of ‘dialogue of civilizations’, Ahmadinejad was crude and coarse.

Only overwhelming sanctions leading to Iran’s economic collapse can work, but with Russia and China shielding Iran, such crippling sanctions appear unlikely.

Ahmadinejad and his supporters may look simple, but they have used the most subtle methods to undermine the authority of the clergy.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is increasingly looking to former members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps to help maintain influence in Iran.

Mir Hossein Mousavi is the most unlikely revolutionary leader imaginable.

By following fluctuations in the careers of other individuals in Major General Qassem Suleimani's network, we can assess his power in the Islamic Republic.

On June 17, Iranians will go to the polls to elect their next president. Though more than 1,000 people sought to run, the Guardian Council accepted only eight candidates, including former president 'Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, widely seen as the frontrunner. The elections come against the backdrop of diplomatic tension...