More from MEF
A file photo of a Shi'ite cleric walking in Tehran, Iran.
Middle East Forum Observer
Is Shi’ism in Crisis?
Iranian Youth Have Been Turning Against Organized Religion for Some Time, In Part Because of Khamenei’s Brutality
January 14, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Middle East Forum Online
Why Organizational Finality Is the Only Solution for Gaza
Gaza Cannot Be Stabilized Without Ending Hamas
January 14, 2026
 · 
Amine Ayoub
Middle East Forum Online
The Saudi Pivot
Riyadh Repositions for Regional Primacy in a Post-Liberal Middle East
January 14, 2026
 · 
Hussein Aboubakr Mansour
Middle East Forum Online
Add Australia to the Religious Freedom Watch List
Appeasement of Extremism Has Put Australia’s Jews at Risk
January 14, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Islamist organizations in the United States have accused taxpayers and journalists outraged by the alleged theft public funds by Somali fraudsters in Minnesota of "Islamophobia." The scandal was still enough to force incumbent Tim Walz to abandon his effort to get reelected in the upcoming gubernatorial election.
FWI Research
Islamophobiacs Help Incite Leftist Protestors in Minnesota
Why Can’t CAIR and MPAC Condemn Widespread Fraud in Minnesota?
January 14, 2026
 · 
Dexter Van Zile
A protester against the Islamic Republic holds up a sign during a demonstration in London on January 3, 2026.
Middle East Forum Observer
Uprising Becomes a War of Attrition as Iranians Await U.S. Action
Reports of Casualties Among Revolutionary Guard Forces and Incidents of Desertion Have Begun to Surface
January 14, 2026
 · 
Mardo Soghom
If protests grow and radicalize, Khamenei will tell his henchmen that preserving a theocracy, like winning a revolution, requires iron determination and bloodshed.
Middle East Forum Online
Getting Rid of Iranian Ayatollahs Is Not Like Toppling a Communist Regime
The Price of Freeing Oneself from the Dictatorship of Islamic Slippers Will Be Far Higher than the Fall of a Gray Communist Mini-State Beyond the Rhine
January 14, 2026
 · 
Giulio Meotti
A secret blacklist maintained by the Turkish Union of Notaries (Türkiye Noterler Birliği, TNB) has been used for years at the request of the authoritarian government of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to harass and intimidate critics by blocking their access to basic notary services.
Middle East Forum Online
Secret Blacklist Bars Erdoğan’s Critics from Notary Services at Home and Abroad
Individuals Placed on the Blacklist Are Effectively Barred from Obtaining Powers of Attorney or Completing Notarial Transactions at Turkish Consulates Abroad
January 13, 2026
 · 
Abdullah Bozkurt
The Iranians pipe most oil they produce to the Kharg Oil Terminal, built during the Shah’s time, on Kharg Island, about 15 miles off the coast of Iran and northwest of Bushehr, Iran, in the northern Persian Gulf. Today, Kharg is responsible for about 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports.
Middle East Forum Online
‘Take the Oil’: Seizing the Kharg Island Terminal Is the Ultimate Checkmate to Iran
Should Trump Take Kharg, Rather than Destroy It, He Can Ensure the Regime Can Never Again Pay the Salaries of Its Bureaucrats and Soldiers
January 13, 2026
 · 
Michael Rubin
Since assuming emergency powers in July 2021, Tunisian President Kais Saied has methodically dismantled democratic institutions, sidelined elected bodies, muzzled independent media, and violated human rights under the pretext of combating corruption and terrorism.
Middle East Forum Online
Tunisia, the Arab Spring’s Success Story, Is Now a Kingdom of Fear
While the Political Class Is Being Hollowed Out, the Average Tunisian Is Waiting in Line for Bread
January 13, 2026
 · 
Amine Ayoub