Alex Vatanka

Alex Vatanka is a Senior Fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, DC. His most recent book is The Battle of the Ayatollahs in Iran: The United States, Foreign Policy, and Political Rivalry Since 1979.

Ahmadinejad's About Face

[caption id="attachment_55242282" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (R) and Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei (L) flash…

Tehran Seeks to Keep its Options Open

[caption id="attachment_55243379" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Egyptian protesters raise their shoes as they shout political and religious…

Khamenei’s Face-Saving Exercise

[caption id="attachment_55244469" align="alignnone" width="594"] A security officer walks past a portrait of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei…

Heated Words, Cool Calculation

[caption id="attachment_55245208" align="aligncenter" width="620"] Iranian Revolutionary Guards march during a parade commemorating the thirty-first…

Timeworn “Resistance”

[caption id="attachment_55245834" align="alignnone" width="620"] Major General Hassan Firoozabadi (C) salutes alongside other military commanders as…

Baluchestan: Iran's Tragic Frontier

[caption id="attachment_55246456" align="alignnone" width="620"] An Iranian border guard looks through a pair of binoculars to monitor a border area…

No Meltdown in Tehran

[caption id="attachment_55247109" align="alignnone" width="594"] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (R), with Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif…

Rouhani Approaches a Crossroads

[caption id="attachment_55247639" align="alignnone" width="620"] Iranian President Hassan Rouhani leaves the podium after delivering his speech…

The Odd Couple

[caption id="attachment_55230114" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani meets with Ayatollah Ali Khamanei in…