Iran Update

About this product line

The Iran Update provides a running intelligence estimate of Iranian regional strategy and campaigns along with detailed operational analysis of military conflicts in which Iranian proxy forces are engaged, including campaigns against Israel and US forces and interests. The update covers the aftermath of the Assad regime’s fall in Syria and the attempts by the interim Syrian government to stabilize security amidst an emerging pro-Assad insurgency. The Iran Update also analyzes events and trends that affect the stability and decision-making of the Iranian regime.

ISW and CTP at the American Enterprise Institute launched the Iran Update on October 7, 2023 following Hamas’ barbaric attack against Israeli civilians. ISW and CTP provide these updates regularly based on regional events.

Each Iran Update includes supporting maps and geospatial intelligence products produced by ISW’s Geospatial Intelligence Team. The aperture of these maps follows the analytic focus of the product line and the realities of events on the ground. For example, the Geospatial Intelligence Team provided detailed daily mapping of Israel’s military campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon after Israel launched large-scale combat operations in October 2023 and during the subsequent high-tempo months of the campaigns.

This product line does not report in detail on war crimes because these activities are well-covered in Western media and do not directly affect the military operations we are assessing and forecasting. ISW and CTP utterly condemn violations of the laws of armed conflict, Geneva Conventions, and humanity even though we do not describe them in these reports.