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While much of the international community focuses its attention on the Israel/Hamas war and the Houthis disruption of maritime traffic in the Red Sea, the head of the snake that is terrorizing the world, the Islamic Republic of Iran, is being ignored at the world’s peril. In a recent Middle East Forum report, Jonathan Spyer wrote, “Iran has operated a network of proxy terrorist and militia groups across the Middle East and beyond for decades. They recently activated many of them and sparked the conflagration engulfing much of the Middle East and wreaking havoc on global commerce.” He and co-author Jim Hanson concluded that only when the free world aims to overthrow the Islamist regime in Iran will Iranians, other Middle Easterners and people throughout much of the world be able to enjoy peace and prosperity. Join us for an in-depth discussion with Jonathan Spyer on key takeaways from his report including the main Iranian surrogates known as the “Axis of Resistance,” the Israel/Hamas war in the context of Iran, and Iran’s malign impact on the region.

About the Speaker: Jonathan Spyer is a British-Israeli analyst, writer, and journalist of Middle Eastern affairs. He is director of research at the Middle East Forum, editor of Middle East Quarterly magazine, a fellow at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, a freelance security analyst and correspondent for Jane’s Information Group, and a columnist for The Jerusalem Post. He is the author of Days of the Fall: A Reporter’s Journey in the Syria and Iraq Wars and The Transforming Fire: The Rise of the Israel-Islamist Conflict.