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In Brief: Iranian supreme leader’s representative calls for Israel’s destruction

Ayatollah Khamenei. Image Credit: Tasnim News, CC BY 4.0. Lotfallah Dezhkam, the representative of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in Fars province, called for the destruction of Israel in a sermon in Shiraz last week. The clerical firebrand declared, “the global arrogance led by America with complicity of Israel seeks to delay the realisation of [...] the destruction…

In Brief: Iranian revolutionary guards boast of their power

Ayatollah Khamenei. Image Credit: Tasnim News, CC BY 4.0. Hossein Salami, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC), boasted that Iran had “built power” to confront the US this week. “We have built power to defeat the US. When we build power [to confront] man’s largest military empire, i.e. the US, small powers like the Zionist…

In Brief: Report claims Iran will have enough uranium for nuke in one month

Ayatollah Khamenei. Image Credit: Tasnim News, CC BY 4.0. Iran is on track to obtain enough enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb within one month, according to a report by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security. The report, published on Monday, estimated that a worst case scenario would see Iran produce enough weapons-grade uranium for…

Chatham House event: The Middle East’s Changing Political Landscape

In LFI's new pamphlet, The New Middle East: A Progressive Approach , contributors explored how the Middle East is changing and what a progressive UK foreign policy response might be. In this webinar, a number of the pamphlet authors and Chatham House experts discussed the publication’s main arguments and recommendations. Prof Yossi Mekelberg (Associate Fellow, Chatham…

In Brief: Iran sends fuel to Hezbollah to reinforce regional influence

Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi. Image Credit: Ali Khamenei, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Iran has embarked on a campaign to establish itself as Lebanon’s primary fuel supplier, in order to empower its local proxy: the terrorist group Hezbollah. A recent report by Iran’s state Tasnim media, titled ‘The Iranian ships, the triangle of resistance that shattered…

LFI event: The Middle East’s changing political landscape

Join us for a discussion event on the Middle East's changing political landscape, organised in collaboration with Chatham House. You can sign up for this fascinating discussion here ahead of the event itself on Tuesday 14th September at 2pm. Over the last decade, Middle Eastern countries have experienced significant changes in their domestic political and…

In Brief: Anti-government protests spread to Tehran

Ayatollah Khamenei. Image Credit: Tasnim News, CC BY 4.0. Protests in Iran have entered their third week, with reports of widespread arrests of protestors and the deadly use of force. The protests began on 15 July in response to the ongoing severe drought and water crisis in the Ahwazi region of Khuzestan. Protestors have said that water represented…

LFI director: What a genuinely progressive approach to the Middle East could look like

Labour Friends of Israel director Michael Rubin has written the below article for LabourList. Click here to read the original. For those of us on the left who support Israel and want to see the forces of peace, progress and moderation advance in the Middle East, the last decade was without doubt a dispiriting one. Benjamin Netanyahu…

In Brief: Iran nuclear negotiations unlikely to bear fruit soon

Ayatollah Khamenei. Image Credit: Tasnim News, CC BY 4.0. Iran’s deputy foreign minister said at the weekend that ongoing negotiations in Vienna to restore the 2015 nuclear deal will not resume until president-elect Ebrahim Raisi is sworn in next month. “We’re in a transition period as a democratic transfer of power is underway in our capital”, Abbas…

Recap: Launch of The New Middle East: A Progressive Approach

LFI last week launched a major new publication examining the changing shape of the Middle East. From the growing threat posed by Iranian expansionism to diplomatic shifting sands and demographic changes, The New Middle East: A Progressive Approach is an important contribution to Labour’s foreign policy development. Launch event The pamphlet was launched at an online event last…