https://crescentwire.com/ Dispatches from the Middle East en-US Wed, 12 Aug 2026 06:24:43 GMT https://crescentwire.com/posts/iran-ballistic-missile-program-latest-tests/ https://crescentwire.com/posts/iran-ballistic-missile-program-latest-tests/ Sun, 20 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT Iran's recent ballistic missile tests have demonstrated new accuracy improvements and extended range, signaling a program that has moved well beyond deterrence into credible offensive capability. Cyrus Rahimi iran ballistic-missiles irgc military weapons-program https://crescentwire.com/posts/hezbollah-after-the-war-rebuilding-in-shadow-of-defeat/ https://crescentwire.com/posts/hezbollah-after-the-war-rebuilding-in-shadow-of-defeat/ Sun, 15 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT After suffering its most devastating military losses in forty years, Hezbollah is attempting a careful reconstruction — but the organization that emerges will be smaller, more cautious, and operating in a Lebanon transformed by the conflict. Cyrus Rahimi hezbollah lebanon iran proxy-war reconstruction irgc https://crescentwire.com/posts/irgc-economic-empire-revolutionary-guard-controls-economy/ https://crescentwire.com/posts/irgc-economic-empire-revolutionary-guard-controls-economy/ Sat, 10 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has built a vast economic empire spanning construction, energy, telecommunications, and smuggling — making it simultaneously Iran's military force, its largest conglomerate, and the primary obstacle to any sanctions relief. Cyrus Rahimi irgc iran economy sanctions revolutionary-guard corruption https://crescentwire.com/posts/israel-iran-direct-conflict-timeline-escalation-2024/ https://crescentwire.com/posts/israel-iran-direct-conflict-timeline-escalation-2024/ Tue, 22 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT Since Iran's first direct ballistic missile attack on Israel in April 2024, the two countries have moved from shadow war to overt military exchange — a shift that has fundamentally altered the strategic calculus of the Middle East. Cyrus Rahimi israel iran conflict escalation middle-east military https://crescentwire.com/posts/what-nuclear-deal-would-require-from-tehran/ https://crescentwire.com/posts/what-nuclear-deal-would-require-from-tehran/ Wed, 05 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT Reviving a nuclear agreement with Iran is not primarily a technical problem — it is a political one. What Western governments are actually demanding, and why Tehran finds the terms so difficult to accept, reveals the gap that has defeated diplomacy for years. Cyrus Rahimi iran nuclear diplomacy jcpoa nonproliferation iaea