{"id":41484,"date":"2019-11-07T17:22:35","date_gmt":"2019-11-07T17:22:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=41484"},"modified":"2019-11-07T17:22:35","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T17:22:35","slug":"new-report-reveals-extent-of-irans-growing-middle-east-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=41484","title":{"rendered":"New report reveals extent of Iran’s growing Middle East influence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Iran<\/a>‘s influence and strategic capabilities in the Middle East<\/a> are increasing despite the reimposition of crippling US<\/a> sanctions and a faltering nuclear deal with world powers, a new report has said.<\/p>\n

The Islamic Republic’s ability to “fight by, with and through third parties” in countries such as Syria, Lebanon<\/a>, Iraq, and Yemen<\/a> has contributed to Iran’s regional impact, a study by the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) found.<\/p>\n

This has brought Iran more regional influence and status than its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, according to the 217-page report titled Iran’s Networks of Influence in the Middle East.<\/p>\n

More:<\/h4>\n

Iran has expanded its ideology and influence since 1979, which has granted it strategic depth in the region – more so than its traditional rivals, including the United States.<\/p>\n

The report said no state has been as effective as Iran in regional conflicts during the past decade, especially with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force.<\/p>\n

“Iran’s lack of state allies, a plethora of well-resourced regional and international adversaries, and antiquated and sanctions-constrained armed forces compelled Tehran to develop a military doctrine that avoided direct or extended conflict with superior conventional powers,” it said.<\/p>\n

The advantages came despite domestic unrest.<\/p>\n

Last year, Iran witnessed a wave of protests and discontent as its economy continues to suffer from years of economic sanctions.<\/p>\n

Social and economic inequality pushed tens of thousands of Iranians across the country to rally over the rising cost of living, and against the policies of a religious-political system that has ruled\u00a0Iran<\/span> for more than 30 years.<\/p>\n

Iranians blamed the government for being involved in conflicts beyond the nation’s borders, but this has not forced the ruling elite to change regional policies.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many Iranians, the 2015 nuclear deal signed with world powers was meant to bring economic relief through the relaxation of punishing sanctions.<\/span><\/p>\n

But today, Iran has distanced itself from the historic deal more than ever before. It has taken significant steps in reducing its commitments to the deal<\/a> by injecting uranium gas into more than 1,000 centrifuges<\/a> at its underground Fordow plant.<\/p>\n

The nuclear accord – signed in 2015 by Iran, the United Kingdom<\/a>, the US, France<\/a>, Germany, China<\/a> and Russia<\/a> – bans nuclear activity at Fordow,\u00a0a plant located near the northern city of Qom, and\u00a0capped the level of purity uranium can be enriched at 3.67 percent – suitable for civilian power generation and far below the 90 percent threshold of nuclear-weapons grade.<\/p>\n

Before the deal,\u00a0Iran used Fordow to enrich uranium to 20 percent fissile purity. Officials have said\u00a0<\/span>Tehran could again reach that level but they will hold off for now.<\/p>\n

With the injection of uranium gas into its centrifuges, Fordow will move from its permitted status as a research plant to an active nuclear site.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran’s influence and strategic capabilities in the Middle East are increasing despite the reimposition of crippling US sanctions and a faltering nuclear deal with world powers, a new report has said. The Islamic Republic’s ability to “fight by, with and through third parties” in countries such as Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen has contributed to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":41485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41484","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41484","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}