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James Ryan

@jdryan08.bsky.social

Executive Director, Middle East Research and Information Project (www.merip.org | @merip.bsky.social). Adjuncting at Rowan University. Historian interested in Turkey, Prodigal Son of Philadelphia. Usual caveats.

4,321 Followers  |  1,767 Following  |  2,549 Posts  |  Joined: 22.06.2023
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Posts by James Ryan (@jdryan08.bsky.social)

It wasn’t any of the Arab countries it neighbors, nor the central asians. It wasn’t Martians. Who was actually looking for a fight?

02.03.2026 23:27 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

You knew they were going to be attacked by whom, Marco?

02.03.2026 23:20 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Wow

02.03.2026 20:55 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

"A veil burned in Tehran was a cry against state coercionβ€”a fire aimed upward at power. A veil burned in the Dutch parliament in the name of solidarity with Iranian women protesters became a spectacle of state authorityβ€”a fire aimed downward at Muslim women."

02.03.2026 19:09 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I think freedom and sovereignty for Palestinians would go a long way to stabilizing the region. Not a panacea, but a sine qua non.

02.03.2026 15:41 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I think freedom and sovereignty for Palestinians would go a long way to stabilizing the region. Not a panacea, but a sine qua non.

02.03.2026 15:39 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

I’ll only add, the success of this strategy is contingent on two axes of support: 1) stability and cooperation across the Sunni Arab autocracies 2) material support from the US. As a matter of politics, both axes seem to be on shaky ground.

02.03.2026 14:57 β€” πŸ‘ 18    πŸ” 2    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 3

This is precisely it, and it mirrors their strategy in Lebanon and Syria. Where they cannot procure a compliant authoritarian, they settle for weakness, divided societies, and the ability to sustain that division through violence with impunity. Definitional rogue state.

02.03.2026 14:12 β€” πŸ‘ 53    πŸ” 20    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

An Iranian Sisi probably doesn’t exist… but we could get Shi’i Baathism and that might serve them just as well… [ducks… draws pistols]

02.03.2026 04:01 β€” πŸ‘ 22    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

RIP Jared KushnerπŸ™πŸ»

02.03.2026 03:14 β€” πŸ‘ 124    πŸ” 13    πŸ’¬ 4    πŸ“Œ 0

☠️

02.03.2026 03:14 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Repair Amid Ongoing Ruinationβ€”Rebuilding Dahiyeh Once More Standing beside a destroyed building in Dahiyeh in September 2025, a fruit seller said to me, β€œI want to bring Naim Qassem [Hizballah’s new secretary general] here. I want to show him the damage. Our ...

And read her fantastic article on Dahiyeh. www.merip.org/2026/02/repa...

02.03.2026 01:15 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The MERIP Podcast Episode 16: Iman Ali In today’s episode Iman Ali talks about her recently published article, β€œRepair Amid Ongoing Ruinationβ€”Rebuilding Dahiyeh Once More,” which appeared in our Winter 2025 issue, β€œReconstruction and Ruin....

Seems like Hizbullah is finally firing back after more than a year of ceasefire violations on Israel’s side. For more on what it’s been like in Beirut since the fall of 2024, check out this podcast with Iman Ali I recorded last week. www.merip.org/2026/02/the-...

02.03.2026 01:14 β€” πŸ‘ 3    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0
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Al Jazeera reporting this too. Notable that Hezbollah did this, despite the blowback they will certainly receive from Israel, when Iran did nothing in the immediate aftermath of Nasrallah’s assassination by Israel x.com/babakvahdad/...

02.03.2026 00:18 β€” πŸ‘ 39    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0

Did Bari Weiss write this tweet?

01.03.2026 23:54 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 1

These dolts write as if Nargess Mohammadi does not already exist.

01.03.2026 20:13 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Iran has a great many Mandelas and Walesas. Most of them are in a prison that Israel bombed back in July.

01.03.2026 20:11 β€” πŸ‘ 507    πŸ” 147    πŸ’¬ 9    πŸ“Œ 1
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At last, a just war Now Iranians must find their own Mandela or Walesa, writes Yair Lapid

Yair Lapid, who has endorsed the indiscriminate nature of Israel's war on Iran which includes the systematic series of assassinations of opposition figures, claims that Iran must now find "a Mandela or Walesa"

01.03.2026 20:00 β€” πŸ‘ 369    πŸ” 54    πŸ’¬ 26    πŸ“Œ 48

Been muttering this to myself every day for over a year.

01.03.2026 15:02 β€” πŸ‘ 2    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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The number of dead kids in the Israeli bombing of a girl’s school in Minab, southern Iran, has now reached 148.

Don’t let them sell you dead children as β€œcollateral damage of a just war”. The death of Khamenei does not justify 148 dead children.

01.03.2026 10:53 β€” πŸ‘ 76    πŸ” 35    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 5

The IDF said they are targeting mil and political leaders β€œpast, present, and future.” In June they bombed Evin prison β€” where the most credible opposition leaders are housed. US and Isr are not interested in Iranian democracy or freedom only an unfreedom more suitable to their interests.

01.03.2026 14:53 β€” πŸ‘ 5    πŸ” 3    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

πŸ’―

01.03.2026 14:22 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0
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Iraqis Celebrate in Baghdad In Baghdad, security forces desert the streets, replaced by looters, and government officials have disappeared. Hundreds of Iraqi civilians take to the streets, cheering U.S. soldiers and ripping up p...

I'm mostly unimpressed w comparisons between the US invasion of Iraq and the current war on Iran, but I can't help but remember that many -maybe even most- Iraqis were delighted to see the regime fall in Spring, 2003.

Chaos and lawlessness soon turned out to be worse.

www.npr.org/2003/04/09/1...

01.03.2026 14:17 β€” πŸ‘ 24    πŸ” 6    πŸ’¬ 2    πŸ“Œ 0
28.02.2026 21:32 β€” πŸ‘ 176    πŸ” 27    πŸ’¬ 6    πŸ“Œ 3
This map shows widely dispersed dots representing the guesses of US survey respondents about the location of Iran on a world map. 23% placed a dot in the correct area.

This map shows widely dispersed dots representing the guesses of US survey respondents about the location of Iran on a world map. 23% placed a dot in the correct area.

Where is Iran?
Each dot represents an American's guess.
pro.morningconsult.com/articles/can... 🌐

08.10.2023 20:00 β€” πŸ‘ 632    πŸ” 270    πŸ’¬ 106    πŸ“Œ 182
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Live: Khamenei's body has been found and he is confirmed dead, Israeli official says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there were many signs indicating Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "is no longer", without explicitly confirming his death.

www.reuters.com/world/iran-c...

28.02.2026 20:15 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 1    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 1

The refugee spillover from Iran is about to grow enormously

28.02.2026 20:00 β€” πŸ‘ 29    πŸ” 8    πŸ’¬ 3    πŸ“Œ 6

Please run against Fetterman. I’m sorry.

28.02.2026 19:01 β€” πŸ‘ 8    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

And regime decapitation without a ground invasion really seems to me like a recipe for civil war of the 21st century Iraq or Syria variety.

28.02.2026 18:10 β€” πŸ‘ 0    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 0    πŸ“Œ 0

Iran turning into Iraq 91-2003 from a US perspective (no long term operation but periodic strikes and actions to check weapons development) sounds plausible to me, but we should all remember how that ended…

28.02.2026 18:09 β€” πŸ‘ 1    πŸ” 0    πŸ’¬ 1    πŸ“Œ 0