Upon the victory of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini led Friday prayers at Tehran University. His sermon would carry the weight of an American State of the Union address. With time, Khomeini and his successor Ali Khamenei designated a substitute prayer leader from amongst the regime hierarchy.

Assessing the rhetoric and actions of the Supreme Leader’s senior advisor for international affairs, Ali Akbar Velayati, provides a valuable window into the attitudes and priorities of the Supreme Leader himself.

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 ...

In the latest Middle Eastern Outlook, American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Iran scholar Ali Alfoneh writes about Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's power struggle with Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Khamenei’s strategy is to suppress Iraq with militias.  He seeks to impose through the barrel of a gun what isn’t in Iraqis’ hearts and minds. Khamenei wants a compliant little brother, not a democracy next door.

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

The failure of pro-democracy forces to mount an effective show of force on the June 12 anniversary of the bloody repression of protests against last year's stolen election shows how well Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has augmented its power throughout the last year.

These demonstrations may not topple the regime, but they serve as a reminder of the will of the Iranian people to resist dictatorship.