In view of the ongoing victories of Assad's army in Syria and the apparent defeat of the Syrian opposition forces, on the eve of the elections in Iraq and Lebanon, Lebanese journalist Hazem Al-Amin, head of investigations and features at the Dubai-based Al-Hayat daily, published ...
Interviews with the five senior ISIS militants captured by the Iraqi military following a sting operation involving U.S. forces were broadcast by Al-Iraqiya TV on May 9. Saddam Omar Hussein Al-Jamal, a top ISIS commander in Deir Ezzor, recounted how he had pledged allegiance to I...
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari said that U.S. President Donald Trump's Jerusalem decision was "another stupid decision in the history of America." The Americans, he said, should reexamine the conduct of their Founding Fathers, who "would not make stupid decisions like ...
On December 9, 2017 Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-'Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State (ISIS), saying: "[Iraq's] armed forces have secured the entire length of the Iraq-Syria border, and we therefore declare the end of the war on ISIS... Our war was against an enemy th...
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In Issue 130 of Al-Naba', the weekly newspaper of the Islamic State (ISIS), the group claimed that its soldiers had k...
Deputy Secretary-General of the Iraqi Hizbullah Al-Nujaba Movement, Sheikh Yusouf Al-Nasseri, discussed recent statements attributed to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and said that anyone who denies the doctrine of the Mahdi "is an impure heretic who should be killed." Sp...
Iraqi Shi'ite militia leader Aws Al-Khafaji, secretary-general of the Abu Al-Fadhl Al-Abbas Brigades, said on April 7, following the U.S.-led missile strike on Syria, that the U.S. and Israel were "the cause of all the problems of the region" and that "if they attack Syria, I hav...
Former Iraqi Minister Baqir Jabr Al-Zubeidi said that there were offices of a de facto Israeli embassy, under the guise of an interests section, in Iraqi Kurdistan, and that "Israel is spying on the region – spying on Turkey, on Iran, and on Iraq." He further said: "Let's see any...
Sunni Iraqi politician Jamal Al-Dhari said that the U.S. was responsible for laying the foundations for sectarian strife and ushering in terrorism, and should not have pulled out its troops from Iraq.
Interviewer: "Before we discuss the talks you held in Moscow today, I'd like...
Shiite Iraqi scholar Jawad Al-Khoei, co-founder of the Iraqi Council for Interfaith Dialogue, said that ISIS is deeply rooted in Islam and that "when [violence] dons the cloak of religion, it is a hundred times more evil." He said that whether violence will remain in the region "...
Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi of the Iranian Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution said in a lecture that aired on IRIB Ofogh TV on March 2 that the West was trying to prevent Iraq from becoming the leader of the Arab world. According to Azhgadi, Egypt has become a very poor country...
Iraqi TV host Anwar Al-Hamadani went on record as saying "that it is our duty to apologize to our Iraqi Jewish compatriots for the tragedy that befell them" during the 1941 Farhoud massacre of Jews in Baghdad and "to rectify that historic error," which he compared to the tragedie...
Dr. Sayed Ammar Nakshawani, speaking at the Afghan Canadian Islamic Community (ACIC) in Toronto, said that Muslims tend to view every criticism of Islam as Islamophobia and called for true dialogue about the issues. Talking about the prohibition of homosexuality in Islam, Dr. Nak...
In recent days, and against the backdrop of the success of the military campaign by the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), top officials of Iran-supported Shi'ite militias in Iraq that are part of the Hashd Al-Sha'bi (the Popular Mobilization Units...
In a recent TV interview, IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami described Iran's defense capabilities, saying: "We have begun to develop highly precise ballistic missiles, which will be able to identify targets moving at sea" and hit them "with 100% precision." With regard to its ...
Hamid Al-Husseini, Secretary-General of the Union of the Iraqi Radio and TV Networks, said in a TV interview that "the goal of the resistance is to preserve the current governments and regimes," so long as those regimes have "popular legitimacy." He further said that "it's no sec...
Shiite cleric Mojtaba Hosseini, Iranian Leader Khamenei's representative in Iraq, said in a recent interview that Israel, which he called a "cancerous tumor," was "founded upon evil, strife, and interference in the affairs of other countries," and that it "will be extracted in a ...
Hamid Al-Husseini, Secretary-General of the Union of the Iraqi Radio and TV Networks, said in a TV interview that "the goal of the resistance is to preserve the current governments and regimes," so long as those regimes have "popular legitimacy." He further said that "it's no sec...
Sheikh Jalal Al-Din Al-Saghir, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, said that "the [Islamic] Supreme Council believes in the authority of Sayyid Khamenei, and believes him to be the supreme religious source of authority of the Shi'a." The council's commitment to the I...
An Iraqi TV channel broadcast a monologue by TV host Muhammad Al-Tamimi, in which he alleged that former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had had sex with Palestinian officials Saeb Erekat and Yasser Abed Rabbo. Claiming that she had made sex tapes and blackmailed several Ara...
Qais Khazali, Secretary-General of the Iraqi Shiite Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq militia, said that his recent visit to South Lebanon was intended as a message to the Israelis more than to the Lebanese. "In the event of a military confrontation with the Israeli entity and its entire host of...
Recently, and especially since the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, elements in the resistance axis, including Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Iran and Hizb...
On December 27, 2017, Al-Hayat, a media arm of the Islamic State (ISIS), released the sixth issue of its "Inside" video series featuring a fighter, who the video says is "From America," vowing to the raise the group's flag "over the White House," urges Muslims to carry out attack...
On September 25, 2017, Iraqi Kurdistan held a referendum on the region's independence; the result was overwhelmingly in favor of a split from Iraq. The Palestinian Authority (PA) released no official response to the referendum and its results, and the Palestinian press reported i...
IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami said at an inspection of Basij troops in Qom, following the defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq: "This was God's promise, and it has come true this way. Ultimately, you have seen that it is the enemies of Islam who have suffered defeat." His addr...
Qais Al-Khazali, the leader of the Iraqi Shi'ite militia Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq, entered Lebanon and went on a tour of the Israeli-Lebanese border. In a video aired by the Iraqi Al-Ahd TV on December 8, Al-Khazali is seen listening to an explanation about the Israeli settlements acros...
Following U.S. President Trump's Jerusalem declaration, Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr issued a statement threatening Israel, which was posted by his office on YouTube on December 7. Al-Sadr said that the U.S. president had declared enmity toward Islam and the Muslims. He ca...
On November 28, 2017, Facebook announced that it had developed technology allowing it to detect and remove 99% of Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda content from its platform before it was reported by users, and that once it was aware of a particular piece of terror content, it co...
The November 22, 2017 Sochi conference gave Iran a diplomatic opportunity to celebrate the triumph of the Iran-led resistance axis over the Islamic State (ISIS), as well as over the Western forces headed by the Global Arrogance – the U.S. – and over Zionism, against which Iran ha...
On November 29, the ISIS media outlet Al-Hayat Media Center released a new video titled "Flames of War II – Until the Final Hour." The scenario of the video is similar to that of "Flames of War – Fighting Has Just Begun," which was released in 2014 and provided an overview of the...
In the past two weeks, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hizbullah, published a front-page article and an interview quoting Iraqi elements, who state that, after the Islamic State (ISIS) is defeated, they intend to continue their military activity, focusing it this ...
Throughout the month of Ramadhan, Shi'ite Iraqi scholar Taleb Khozaei delivered lectures at the Hussainayet Ale Yassin Mosque in Sydney, Australia on the duties of the wife toward her husband. In a May 31 sermon, he said that "one of the most important duties of women is to obey ...
A TV reporter visited a military camp of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), on the border with Iran, and interviewed members and commanders. "We expect an Iranian attack at any given moment, so we must be prepared," said Bahman Dehqan, a PDKI military commander. Ja...
Palestinian-Jordanian historian Husni Ayesh said that ISIS and Al-Qaeda had developed from the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, "emerging from beneath its cloak." Speaking on Alghad TV on October 22, he said that the prevalence of the Islamist ideology stemmed from the people'...
Iraqi MP and former National Security advisor Mowaffak Al-Rubaie warned that an independent Kurdistani "mini-state" would be "a second Israel planted in the region" and called to annul the referendum and its results. In an October 16 interview with the Iranian Al-Alam TV channel,...
A memorial to Saddam Hussein has recently been erected in the city of Qalqilya in the Palestinian Authority (PA) territories, and a street has been named for him, in appreciation of his support for the Palestinians throughout the years. The monument, revealed at a ceremony attend...
In view of the ongoing victories of Assad's army in Syria and the apparent defeat of the Syrian opposition forces, on the eve of the elections in Iraq and Lebanon, Lebanese journalist Hazem Al-Amin, head of investigations and features at the Dubai-based Al-Hayat daily, published ...
On December 9, 2017 Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-'Abadi declared victory over the Islamic State (ISIS), saying: "[Iraq's] armed forces have secured the entire length of the Iraq-Syria border, and we therefore declare the end of the war on ISIS... Our war was against an enemy th...
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
In Issue 130 of Al-Naba', the weekly newspaper of the Islamic State (ISIS), the group claimed that its soldiers had k...
Dr. Sayed Ammar Nakshawani, speaking at the Afghan Canadian Islamic Community (ACIC) in Toronto, said that Muslims tend to view every criticism of Islam as Islamophobia and called for true dialogue about the issues. Talking about the prohibition of homosexuality in Islam, Dr. Nak...
In recent days, and against the backdrop of the success of the military campaign by the U.S.-led international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS), top officials of Iran-supported Shi'ite militias in Iraq that are part of the Hashd Al-Sha'bi (the Popular Mobilization Units...
Hamid Al-Husseini, Secretary-General of the Union of the Iraqi Radio and TV Networks, said in a TV interview that "the goal of the resistance is to preserve the current governments and regimes," so long as those regimes have "popular legitimacy." He further said that "it's no sec...
On September 25, 2017, Iraqi Kurdistan held a referendum on the region's independence; the result was overwhelmingly in favor of a split from Iraq. The Palestinian Authority (PA) released no official response to the referendum and its results, and the Palestinian press reported i...
On November 28, 2017, Facebook announced that it had developed technology allowing it to detect and remove 99% of Islamic State (ISIS) and Al-Qaeda content from its platform before it was reported by users, and that once it was aware of a particular piece of terror content, it co...
The November 22, 2017 Sochi conference gave Iran a diplomatic opportunity to celebrate the triumph of the Iran-led resistance axis over the Islamic State (ISIS), as well as over the Western forces headed by the Global Arrogance – the U.S. – and over Zionism, against which Iran ha...
In the past two weeks, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hizbullah, published a front-page article and an interview quoting Iraqi elements, who state that, after the Islamic State (ISIS) is defeated, they intend to continue their military activity, focusing it this ...
A memorial to Saddam Hussein has recently been erected in the city of Qalqilya in the Palestinian Authority (PA) territories, and a street has been named for him, in appreciation of his support for the Palestinians throughout the years. The monument, revealed at a ceremony attend...
Former Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations Munir Akram (image courtesy Iisd.org).
In an August 21, 2017 speech, President Donald Trump announced a new U.S. strategy on Afghanistan.[1] He criticized Pakistan for sheltering jihadi terror groups, stating:...
On August 19, 2017, the Lebanese army launched an attack to seize the area between the northern Beqa Valley and the Syrian border (henceforth the Lebanese Jaroud) from the control of the Islamic State (ISIS), while the Syrian army and Hizbullah launched an attack on ISIS on the o...
After many years of tension and hostility, in recent months there have been signs of significant rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iraq. This is prompting questions about the future of the relationship between the two countries, the motives for the rapprochement, the role th...
On February 11, 2017, 'Ali Zuheir Al-Furati published an article on the secular Iraqi website Ahewar.org, in which he called on young Muslims who are considering joining the Islamic State (ISIS) and carrying out suicide attacks to change their minds. He suggested that they learn ...
In her July 28, 2017 column in the London-based daily Al-Hayat, senior Lebanese-American journalist Raghida Dergham wrote that U.S. President Donald Trump is essentially continuing the Middle East policy of his predecessors Barak Obama and George W. Bush, a policy whose essence i...
Since its establishment some three years ago – following a fatwa issued by Iraqi Shi'ite leader Ayatollah 'Ali Sistani calling for "jihad kifa'i"[1] against ISIS – the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU, Al-Hashd Al-Sha'bi in Arabic), an umbrella organization of armed Iraqi militias...
On May 8, 2017, Yazidi journalist Khader Khalat Bahzani published an article in the Iraqi newspaper Al-Akhbar in which he mocks the followers of ISIS who want to establish an Islamic state like the one that existed during the time of the Prophet Muhammad. He suggests that they at...
On March 8, 2017, Hashem Al-Mousawi, the spokesman for the Iran-backed Iraqi Shi'ite militia Al-Nujaba, gave an interview to the Iranian news agency Tasnim, highlighting the militia's activities in Iraq and Syria. He accused Saudi Arabia and the U.S. of being responsible for ISIS...
On February 12, 2017, the Iranian Tasnim news agency, which is close to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, published an "exclusive interview," datelined Baghdad and titled "Iraqi President Lauds Iran's Timely Support, Backs General Soleimani." In it, Iraqi President Fouad...
Six years after the outbreak of the civil war in Syria, in which hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed, and in advance of the annual Arab League summit which is set to take place in Amman, Jordan in late March 2017, there have been in recent months calls from some A...
In an article he published in the London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Iraqi writer and journalist Khalid Al-Kishtainy called to issue a fatwa against terrorism agreed-upon by Islamic scholars worldwide, which will be widely distributed on the media and in public places and taug...
On November 14, 2016, prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague published a report stating that there is "a reasonable basis to believe" that "war crimes of torture and related ill-treatment" were committed by "U.S. military forces deployed to Afghanistan...
On July 3, 2016, Iraqi writer Haidar Sabi argued, in the daily Al-Zaman, that although the Iraqis are suffering as much as or even more than the Palestinians, the Arab world empathizes only with the Palestinians, abandoning the Iraqis to their fate. As proof of his statements, Sa...
On July 1, 2016, some Iraqi cities marked Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Day, which involved protests against Israel and the U.S. This day is marked each year in Iran and in other Shi'ite communities in the Middle East on the last Friday of Ramadan, and usually includes anti-Israel and anti...
In
June 28, 2016 remarks at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado, U.S. Secretary
of State John Kerry was asked whether Iran's influence in Iraq was "more
helpful or more harmful." He replied: "Look, we have challenges with
Iran as everybody knows, and we're working on those chall...
In a statement on the occasion
of the 100th anniversary of the Sykes-Picot agreement, Masoud Barzani,
president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, called on the international
community to acknowledge that the Sykes-Picot agreement has failed. Barzani
said that this agreement, w...
On March 6, 2016, the Iraqi daily Al-Zaman published an article titled "Iraq Needs Hitler" by Karim Al-Taee that quoted some of Hitler's statements about the Jews from Mein Kampf stating that they were correct also about the Jews today in Iraq.
The article added that the Jews...
Expulsion
Of Coptic Families From Their Homes Sparks Uproar In Egypt
Introduction
The
expulsion of several Coptic families from Kafr Darwish in Beni Suef governorate
in Egypt has recently caused a stir in the country. The families were expelled
in attempt to ease severe tensio...
Following
ISIS's November 13, 2015 terror attack in Paris, the executive editor of the
Iraqi daily Al-Mada, 'Adnan Hussein, published a harsh article titled
"This Is Our Terror, We Are Responsible," in which he stated that all
Muslims, Sunnis and Shi'ite, bear direct responsibili...
On July 11, 2015,in the online daily Middle East Online, Iraqi writer Farouq Yousef criticized jihad fighters who, he said, sanctify death and view anyone desiring to live as an enemy who must be killed. Arguing that jihad is an absurd war, and that everywhere the jihad banner ha...
In his July 9, 2015 column, titled "Why Won't They Declare Jihad Against ISIS? Secularists and Infidels Are More Zealous for Islam than the Sheikhs," in the Arabic internet daily Raialyoum.com, Kurdish-Iraqi columnist Anas Mahmoud Al-Sheikh Mazhar harshly criticized Muslim cleric...
In an interview with the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai that was published July 5, 2015, Sunni Iraqi MP and leader of the Ummah Party Mithal Al-Alusi said that the Arabs and Muslims are responsible for the emergence of the Islamic State (ISIS). Arguing that ISIS the organization is an Arab...
In May 2015, despite airstrikes by the U.S.-led international coalition, the Islamic State (ISIS) won another strategic victory when it captured the city of Al-Ramadi, the capital of Al-Anbar governorate, which is home to a Sunni majority. Articles in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, whic...
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.In a recent
editorial, the Karachi-based Urdu daily Roznama Ummat called Saudi King
Salman bin Abdulaziz's decision not to p...
In an article titled "There's Suicide and There's Suicide" in the London-based daily Al-Sharq Al-Awsat, Iraqi columnist and writer Khalid Kishtainy compared the scientists of a Western space project who plan to embark on a one-way trip to Mars[1] with suicide bombers in the Middl...
Recently, and especially since the announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, elements in the resistance axis, including Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), Iran and Hizb...
The following report is now a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Introduction
Even as the Islamic State (ISIS) is involved in fierce battles in Iraq and Syria, its official ...
On March 12, 2017, just four days after International Women's Day, Jamila Al-Obaidi, a Sunni member of the Iraqi Parliament from the National Coalition, convened a press conference calling for the promotion of polygamy and the rescinding of restrictions imposed on it by the law i...
Introduction
In January 2015, MEMRI researched and flagged YouTube videos of support for jihadi fighters and "martyrs" and "martyrdom," to test the platform's "Promotes Terrorism" flagging feature. The test was a follow-up to MEMRI research and testing of jihad and terrorism o...
Introduction
Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, which are members of the anti-terror coalition headed by the U.S., are targets for the Islamic State (ISIS), which has carried out large-scale terror attacks on their soil. Accordingly, they are waging a war on the organization wi...
IntroductionIn late September 2015, prior to
his departure for New York to attend the UN General Assembly, Iraqi Prime
Minister Haider Al-'Abadi announced the establishment of a joint intelligence
center in Baghdad for Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Russia. The intelligence center,
he sa...
Introduction
Iraqi politician and Shi'ite religious scholar Ayad Jamal Al-Din has emerged as a leading liberal voice in Arab media and politics, following the ousting of Saddam Hussein and his Baath regime. He espouses the separation of religion and state, advocates adherence to ...
Introduction
Following the June 15, 2015 capture by Kurdish forces, with U.S. and coalition assistance, of the Syrian border town of Tel Abyad from the Islamic State (ISIS), ISIS fighters fled the area. The loss of Tel Abyad was a serious blow to ISIS, because the town has, since...
Introduction
Since it burst on the scene as Al-Qaeda in Iraq, the organization now known as the Islamic State, or ISIS, has cut a wide and bloody swath through the Middle East, especially in Syria and Iraq. Many of its most notorious, high-profile actions involve ethnic and reli...
The following report is a complimentary offering from MEMRI's Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). For JTTM subscription information, click here.
Introduction
Islamic State (ISIS) propaganda frequently features children and teens,[1] who are generally referred to as Ashbal ...
Introduction
Since the Islamic State's (IS) June 30, 2014 declaration of a caliphate led by Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi, the group has considered itself a sovereign political entity that dispenses law and order, health care, welfare, education, religion, and more according to shari'a...
Introduction The successive atrocities committed by the Islamic State (IS, previously called the Islamic State in Iraq and Al-Sham – ISIS) have diverted the discussion away from an understanding of this organization's political program, creating the erroneous impression that it i...
Introduction Since its seizure of large areas in Iraq and its proclamation of a caliphate, the Islamic State (IS) has stepped up its efforts to enforce the Islamic shari'a in the areas under its control. In Mosul in the Ninawa (Ninveh) Governorate, Iraq's oldest and second-larges...
Introduction In a June 14, 2014 response to calls in the U.S. for cooperation with Iran in order to stop the extremist Sunni Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from taking over Iraqi cities,[1] Iranian President Hassan Rohani said that Iran is not ruling out such cooperation ...
Introduction On February 18, 2013, the Iraqi media reported that the liberal Iraqi Shi'ite scholar Sayyed Ahmad Al-Qabbanji had been arrested the previous day in Qom,[1] Iran, while visiting family.[2] Sayyed Al-Qabbanji's revolutionary ideas, especially his focus in the last fe...
U.S. soldier riding a tank labeled "Occupation" bids farewell to "Iraqi Government," personified by knife-fighting Iraqi VP Al-Hashemi (right) and PM Al-Maliki (left)[1] Introduction With the dust hardly settled following the departure of the last U.S. troops from Iraq on Decemb...
Background For years, the energy sector in Iraq has suffered from failure to supply electricity to the Iraqi population: UN sanctions that crippled Iraqi finances also stunted the capacity to acquire and repair power generating equipment; the problem was compounded during the inv...
Introduction It took nine months after the Iraqi parliamentary election in March 2010 for a new government to be formed, in a process dotted by bargaining, haggling, threats, compromises and even foreign intervention. It took the political skills of Masoud Barazani, the president...
Introduction Recent events in the Middle East and, in particular, the ongoing violent suppression by the Qadhafi regime of the revolt in Libya, have attracted most of recent media attention, while the brewing turmoil in Iraq appears to have remained below the radar. But a big sho...
Introduction "The Plight of Iraqi Christians" was the title of a MEMRI document published over five years ago. The document was published during a period of intense sectarian violence that affected many sectors in Iraqi society, but, as we stressed at the time, the Christians "ha...
Introduction Vice President Joseph Biden, the administration's most senior point official for Iraq, concluded a three-day visit to Baghdad, his seventeenth since the time he served as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His most recent stay combined a patriotic v...
There is only one rung at the top of Iraq's political ladder, but neither of the two major contenders is willing to cede that position to the other. The result is a stalemate in the formation of the new government, and the prospects for a breakthrough are increasingly dim. The st...
Introduction Almost two months after the conclusion of the parliamentary elections in Iraq, there is still no new government, and the prospects of breaking the stalemate that has so far impeded the creation of such a government are not within sight. In fact, it would seem that th...
Introduction
Iraqis awoke Friday morning, February 12, the first day of the official election campaign, to a massive display of colorful election posters in specially designated public areas, on the street, and practically on any wall available. The posters displayed pictures ...
The "Justice and Accountability Commission" Disqualifies 511 Parliamentary Candidates In mid-January, a largely unknown body called the Justice and Accountability Commission (Hayat Al-Masaa Wal-'Adala, or the de-Ba'thification Commission in its earlier incarnation), issued an o...
Introduction Sayyed Ayad Jamal al-Din is unique among the post-invasion Iraqi politicians and clerics. Despite being a cleric, he advocates secular political culture, and although he spent 16 years in Iran to pursue theological studies, he rejects Khomeini's notion of wilayat a...
Introduction On November 8, 2009, in its 11th session on the subject, the Iraqi parliament approved a revision of the Elections Law. This revision, which would have permitted the parliamentary elections to be scheduled for January 2010, was not to be the last. Critics might despa...
Introduction In a MEMRI dispatch issued shortly after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, we wrote the following: Saudi Arabia is the largest oil producing country among the members of the Organization of Oil Producing Countries (OPEC) and, as such, it is the dominant force in the orga...
Introduction After having been tabled on the agenda of the Iraqi parliament (Chamber of Deputies) a little over two years ago, the Iraqi oil draft law remains deadlocked, stalled by the bitter row between Baghdad and the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG). Stakes are indeed high,...
Introduction Nouri Kamal Al-Maliki, who became prime minister of Iraq in May 2006, was a compromise candidate. He was seen at the time as the weakest of the available candidates - a virtually unknown representative of the Islamic Al-Da'wa Party, at the time a junior partner in t...
On August 13, 2009, the Iraqi daily Al-Zaman cited a statement by Yousef Al-Matlabi, political advisor to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, accusing Saudi Arabia of inciting violence in Iraq. As evidence, he noted the arrest in Iraq of several Saudi nationals who had recentl...
"Neither Syria nor Iraq can lay claim to Turkey's rivers any more than Ankara could claim their oil. This is a matter of sovereignty. We have a right to do anything we like. The water resources are Turkey's, the oil resources are theirs. We don't say we share their oil resources...
Introduction Nouri Kamal al-Maliki assumed office as prime minister of Iraq in May 2006, more than five months after the general elections for parliament had taken place. In the interim period between the general elections and Al-Maliki's swearing in as prime minister, the incu...
Currently, Iraqi-Saudi relations are at a nadir. While Iraq has time and again officially reiterated its desire to strengthen relations and resolve disagreements with Saudi Arabia, the Saudi response has been less than enthusiastic. The Saudis have repeatedly rejected Iraq's pr...
Introduction Iraq is acknowledged to have the world's third largest proven petroleum reserves (after Saudi Arabia and Iran) and some of the lowest extraction costs. Although just a fraction of its known fields are in development, much of its oil infrastructure is in poor shape...
Introduction During an official visit to Iraq on May 20-22 of this year, Syrian Prime Minister Mohammad Naji Al-'Otri negotiated a series of "strategic agreements" with his Iraqi counterpart Nouri Al-Maliki on political, security, and economic issues. One of the agreements calle...
Interviews with the five senior ISIS militants captured by the Iraqi military following a sting operation involving U.S. forces were broadcast by Al-Iraqiya TV on May 9. Saddam Omar Hussein Al-Jamal, a top ISIS commander in Deir Ezzor, recounted how he had pledged allegiance to I...
Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim Al-Jaafari said that U.S. President Donald Trump's Jerusalem decision was "another stupid decision in the history of America." The Americans, he said, should reexamine the conduct of their Founding Fathers, who "would not make stupid decisions like ...
Deputy Secretary-General of the Iraqi Hizbullah Al-Nujaba Movement, Sheikh Yusouf Al-Nasseri, discussed recent statements attributed to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and said that anyone who denies the doctrine of the Mahdi "is an impure heretic who should be killed." Sp...
Iraqi Shi'ite militia leader Aws Al-Khafaji, secretary-general of the Abu Al-Fadhl Al-Abbas Brigades, said on April 7, following the U.S.-led missile strike on Syria, that the U.S. and Israel were "the cause of all the problems of the region" and that "if they attack Syria, I hav...
Former Iraqi Minister Baqir Jabr Al-Zubeidi said that there were offices of a de facto Israeli embassy, under the guise of an interests section, in Iraqi Kurdistan, and that "Israel is spying on the region – spying on Turkey, on Iran, and on Iraq." He further said: "Let's see any...
Sunni Iraqi politician Jamal Al-Dhari said that the U.S. was responsible for laying the foundations for sectarian strife and ushering in terrorism, and should not have pulled out its troops from Iraq.
Interviewer: "Before we discuss the talks you held in Moscow today, I'd like...
Shiite Iraqi scholar Jawad Al-Khoei, co-founder of the Iraqi Council for Interfaith Dialogue, said that ISIS is deeply rooted in Islam and that "when [violence] dons the cloak of religion, it is a hundred times more evil." He said that whether violence will remain in the region "...
Hassan Rahimpour Azghadi of the Iranian Supreme Council for Cultural Revolution said in a lecture that aired on IRIB Ofogh TV on March 2 that the West was trying to prevent Iraq from becoming the leader of the Arab world. According to Azhgadi, Egypt has become a very poor country...
Iraqi TV host Anwar Al-Hamadani went on record as saying "that it is our duty to apologize to our Iraqi Jewish compatriots for the tragedy that befell them" during the 1941 Farhoud massacre of Jews in Baghdad and "to rectify that historic error," which he compared to the tragedie...
In a recent TV interview, IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami described Iran's defense capabilities, saying: "We have begun to develop highly precise ballistic missiles, which will be able to identify targets moving at sea" and hit them "with 100% precision." With regard to its ...
Shiite cleric Mojtaba Hosseini, Iranian Leader Khamenei's representative in Iraq, said in a recent interview that Israel, which he called a "cancerous tumor," was "founded upon evil, strife, and interference in the affairs of other countries," and that it "will be extracted in a ...
Hamid Al-Husseini, Secretary-General of the Union of the Iraqi Radio and TV Networks, said in a TV interview that "the goal of the resistance is to preserve the current governments and regimes," so long as those regimes have "popular legitimacy." He further said that "it's no sec...
Sheikh Jalal Al-Din Al-Saghir, a member of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, said that "the [Islamic] Supreme Council believes in the authority of Sayyid Khamenei, and believes him to be the supreme religious source of authority of the Shi'a." The council's commitment to the I...
An Iraqi TV channel broadcast a monologue by TV host Muhammad Al-Tamimi, in which he alleged that former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni had had sex with Palestinian officials Saeb Erekat and Yasser Abed Rabbo. Claiming that she had made sex tapes and blackmailed several Ara...
Qais Khazali, Secretary-General of the Iraqi Shiite Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq militia, said that his recent visit to South Lebanon was intended as a message to the Israelis more than to the Lebanese. "In the event of a military confrontation with the Israeli entity and its entire host of...
On December 27, 2017, Al-Hayat, a media arm of the Islamic State (ISIS), released the sixth issue of its "Inside" video series featuring a fighter, who the video says is "From America," vowing to the raise the group's flag "over the White House," urges Muslims to carry out attack...
IRGC Deputy Commander Hossein Salami said at an inspection of Basij troops in Qom, following the defeat of ISIS in Syria and Iraq: "This was God's promise, and it has come true this way. Ultimately, you have seen that it is the enemies of Islam who have suffered defeat." His addr...
Qais Al-Khazali, the leader of the Iraqi Shi'ite militia Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq, entered Lebanon and went on a tour of the Israeli-Lebanese border. In a video aired by the Iraqi Al-Ahd TV on December 8, Al-Khazali is seen listening to an explanation about the Israeli settlements acros...
Following U.S. President Trump's Jerusalem declaration, Iraqi Shiite leader Muqtada Al-Sadr issued a statement threatening Israel, which was posted by his office on YouTube on December 7. Al-Sadr said that the U.S. president had declared enmity toward Islam and the Muslims. He ca...
On November 29, the ISIS media outlet Al-Hayat Media Center released a new video titled "Flames of War II – Until the Final Hour." The scenario of the video is similar to that of "Flames of War – Fighting Has Just Begun," which was released in 2014 and provided an overview of the...
Throughout the month of Ramadhan, Shi'ite Iraqi scholar Taleb Khozaei delivered lectures at the Hussainayet Ale Yassin Mosque in Sydney, Australia on the duties of the wife toward her husband. In a May 31 sermon, he said that "one of the most important duties of women is to obey ...
A TV reporter visited a military camp of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), on the border with Iran, and interviewed members and commanders. "We expect an Iranian attack at any given moment, so we must be prepared," said Bahman Dehqan, a PDKI military commander. Ja...
Palestinian-Jordanian historian Husni Ayesh said that ISIS and Al-Qaeda had developed from the ideology of the Muslim Brotherhood, "emerging from beneath its cloak." Speaking on Alghad TV on October 22, he said that the prevalence of the Islamist ideology stemmed from the people'...
Iraqi MP and former National Security advisor Mowaffak Al-Rubaie warned that an independent Kurdistani "mini-state" would be "a second Israel planted in the region" and called to annul the referendum and its results. In an October 16 interview with the Iranian Al-Alam TV channel,...
Iraqi Vice President Nouri Al-Maliki said that ISIS was created by countries in the region as a conspiracy designed to lead Iraq to partition. "The fall of Mosul was a conspiracy by forces that included Kurds, Naqshbandis, the Baath Party, tribal rebels, and muftis, as well as Am...
Lebanese journalist Nadia Shreim Al-Hajj said that there was "a Western conspiracy to expel all Christians from the Orient," claiming that churches were bombed in Iraq and Christians began to leave the country when the Americans arrived, and not during the Saddam regime. Her stat...
Shi'ite Iraqi cleric Salam Al-Askari delivered a sermon in which he called upon the Muslims to imitate the Jews, who had emerged from the Holocaust and managed to win the respect of the world through science. Sheikh Al-Askari said that the Jews' scientific discoveries made Europe...
Qais Al-Khazali, Secretary-General of the Iraqi Shi'ite "Asa'ib Ahl Al-Haq" militia, warned that establishing an independent state in Iraqi Kurdistan would constitute an occupation of Iraqi lands. Giving an Eid Al-Adha sermon on September 1, a few weeks before the Iraqi Kurdistan...
President of Kurdistan Masoud Barzani said, several weeks before the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum set for September 25, that any alternative to the referendum, in the form of an agreement between Kurdistan and Baghdad, must include international guarantees. Barzani sai...
Hizbullah Deputy Leader Naim Qassem defended the recent Hizbullah-Islamic State (ISIS) deal, in which ISIS militants and their families were given free passage to Deir Al-Zor, saying that it was "the best possible deal at the smallest price." He criticized U.S. airstrikes against...
Iraqi Shiite militia leader Hadi Al-Ameri, head of the Badr Organization, said that he was against a referendum on Kurdistan independence, which, he said, was not in the interest of Iraq. Al-Ameri, speaking on Rudaw Arabic TV, an Iraqi Kurdish channel, on September 4, warned that...
Lebanese political commentator and Hizbullah loyalist Faysal Abed El Sater found himself on the receiving end of an Iraqi TV host's ire following the ISIS-Hizbullah deal in which ISIS fighters and families were given free passage to Deir Al-Zor, near the Syrian-Iraqi border, in e...
Former Lebanese MP Mustafa Allouch, a member of the Future Movement, said in a recent interview that Hizbullah is worse than Jabhat Al-Nusra and that it would be great if Hizbullah, Jabhat Al-Nusra, and ISIS all went to Hell. "They are the three faces of extremism and terrorism i...
Egyptian MP Said Hassasin, who owns Al-Assema TV and moderates a talk show on the channel, lost his cool during a July 26 debate between Shi'ite and Sunni activists. Iraqi Shiite activist Youssef Al-Ghawab got the TV host and the Sunni Islamist guest riled up several times, when ...
Iraqi MP Hakim Al-Zamili, head of the Iraqi parliament's security and defense committee, said that the Iraqis "have paid in rivers of blood in order to liberate Mosul" and that they will not tolerate the Americans "creating a new kind of ISIS for us." He was speaking on Russia To...
In a sermon delivered in Orange County, California, Iraqi-American Shi'ite Imam Dr. Sayed Moustafa Al-Qazwini said that ISIS was the production of Israeli intelligence. "Most of their officers were trained in Israel, including Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi," he said. The sermon was delive...
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