More from MEF
While many Iranians facing conscription into the army join the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for its comparative benefits, many others join its feeder organizations as young as eight years old and become true believers in its ideology.
Middle East Forum Online
Coming Soon: The Iran Civil War of 2026?
Even If Iran’s Current Protests Intensify, a Clean Democratic Transition Is Unlikely
January 5, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reportedly has been in hiding since Israel's airstrikes began.
Middle East Forum Online
Why the Iranian Regime Endures
Protests Have Broken Out Across the Country. We’ve Been Here Before.
January 5, 2026
 · 
Saeid Golkar
Venezuela's vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, was installed as president on January 5, 2026.
Middle East Forum Observer
U.S. Plans for Venezuela’s Transition Offers a Cautionary Tale for Iran
There May Be No Inexpensive or Low-Risk Way for a Foreign Power to Engineer a Smooth Political Transition in a Volatile Country
January 5, 2026
 · 
Mardo Soghom
Iran has relied on its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and paramilitary Basij to quell peaceful student and youth-led protests.
Middle East Forum Observer
Arm Iran’s Youth
Providing Weapons and Training to Young Iranians Could Weaken the Islamic Republic from Within, Hastening Its Collapse
January 5, 2026
 · 
Elliot Nazar
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with U.S. President Donald Trump at a September 30, 2025, meeting on Middle East issues at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Middle East Forum Observer
Is Maduro’s Past Erdoğan’s Future?
It Is One Thing to Bomb Unarmed Kurdish Farmers—It Is Another to Face U.S. Special Forces
January 4, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Middle East Forum Online
No Home for Brown Rich Kids
How the West Mistook Elite Activism for Moral Renewal in the Arab World
January 4, 2026
 · 
Hussein Aboubakr Mansour
A typical side street in Sana'a, the capital of Yemen.
Middle East Forum Observer
Yemeni President Rashad Al-Alimi Must Resign
If Alimi Does Not Resign, He Signals That He Prefers to Protect the Muslim Brotherhood to Keep Saudi Donors Happy than to Serve Yemenis
January 4, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
A wall relief features Assyrian King Shalmaneser III (reigned 859–824 BCE).
Middle East Forum Observer
Stability Should Not Require Displacing Northern Iraq’s Assyrians
Property Rights, Courts, Administrative Authority, and Security Enforcement Matter More for Long-Term Stability than Symbolic Tolerance
January 4, 2026
 · 
Enlil Odisho
Iranian women and children wait for a train in Tehran in April 2025.
Middle East Forum Observer
Iranian Activists and Civil Society Begin to Converge for a Post-Islamic Republic Order
Any Legitimate Post-Islamic Republic Order Must Emerge Through Popular Sovereignty Rather than Elite Imposition
January 4, 2026
 · 
Mehrdad Marty Youssefiani
The skyline of Caracas, Venezuela.
Middle East Forum Observer
Maduro’s Fall Removes an Exile Location for Iranian Elite Should the Islamic Republic Topple
Trump’s Show of Resolve in Venezuela Should Make Khamenei Reticent to Push His Luck Too Far with Violence Against Iran’s Protesters
January 3, 2026
 · 
Shay Khatiri