Middle East Studies Forum

Nearly a year after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched the deadliest attack on Israel in its history on October 7, Israel announced it was shifting its focus to securing its border with Lebanon. As Iran’s supreme leader vows to fight Israel, alongside allies, defending his country’s missile strike on its arch-foe, FRANCE 24’s Oliver Farry is joined by Shahram Akbarzadeh.  Watch Now

Shahram Akbarzadeh is interviewed by BBC World News on the situation between Iran and Israel.  Watch Now

This issue brief examines the significance of armaments in Iran’s strategic thinking, particularly how they support Iran’s long-term objective of changing the status quo and transforming global order. It demonstrates that Iran’s strategy presents serious implications for the aerial balance of power in the region and is highly unlikely to be impacted by the deaths of President Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian earlier this year.  Read Publication

Read the latest publication by Shahram Akbarzadeh, Amin Naeni, Galib Bashirov & Ihsan Yilmaz.  Read Publication

Masoud Pezeshkian is a reformist politician who has been a member of parliament since 2008 and served as the deputy speaker from 2016 to 2020. The 69-year-old heart surgeon was Iran’s health minister in the early 2000s. Pezeshkian favours engagement with the West and supports the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated under former Iranian president Hassan Rouhani.  Watch Now

Voting is underway in Iran’s snap presidential election. The country is choosing a successor to Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash last month. Shahram Akbarzadeh, professor of Middle East Politics at Deakin University explains.  Watch Now