Alex Vatanka

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Alex Vatanka is a scholar at the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C., where he focuses on Iran. He also lectures as a Senior Fellow in Middle East Studies at the U.S. Air Force Special Operations School (USAFSOS).

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Iran’s Russian Conundrum

10.05.2017 Alex Vatanka

Summary Following Russia’s decision in September 2015 to intervene militarily in the Syrian war, speculation has been rife in Washington that President Vladimir Putin’s ultimate...

Publication Russia in the Middle East

Hot Issue: Iran’s Two-Pronged Problem with the Islamic State: At Home and Abroad

09.11.2014 Alex Vatanka

Executive Summary The authorities in Iran consider the Islamic State to pose two different kinds of threats to Iranian regional interests and domestic stability. On...

Publication Hot Issues Iran

Hot Issue: Iran and the Looming U.S.-Russian Cold War

03.21.2014 Alex Vatanka

Executive Summary As the Western world is drawn in by the recent events in the Crimea, nations on the periphery are seeing a chance to...

Publication Hot Issues Iran

Probing the Reasons behind Iran’s “Pre-emptive” Military Offensive against Kurdish Rebels

09.22.2011 Alex Vatanka

Iranian military forces began a large-scale and ongoing offensive in the northwestern part of the country in early July. The target of the operation is...

Publication Terrorism Monitor Iran