Day 2 - Iran’s Policies in the Middle East

In 2024, two major assassinations shook the Middle East. On July 31, Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, was killed in Tehran by an explosive device planted in his guesthouse, reportedly by Israeli forces. Then, on September 27, Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah was targeted in Beirut, dying in an Israeli airstrike using U.S.-made bombs to destroy his bunker. These events reignited the Iran-Israel proxy conflict, triggering the largest Iranian rocket attack on Israeli territory. At the same time, tensions between Iran and the U.S. peaked—second only to 2020, when Qasem Soleimani was assassinated by a U.S. drone strike. These developments mark the latest culmination of the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict and the broader rivalry between Iran and the U.S. for regional influence. The Persian article and video below will help students understand the Iranian perspective on these events and IRI’s geopolitical stance, while providing essential vocabulary for further studies.

  1. Curriculum
  2. Intermediate Persian Syllabus
  3. Week 7 - Military Persian
  4. Day 2 - Iran’s Policies in the Middle East  

Reading: Article 1: چرا سیدحسن نصرالله برای ایران و جهان مهم بود؟
(Why was Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah important to Iran and the world?)

Article 2: چرا ترور رهبران و فرماندهان، محور مقاومت را خاموش نمی‌سازد؟
(Why doesn't the assassination of leaders and commanders shut down the Axis of Resistance?)

The abovementioned articles from the official IRNA news agency discuss aspects of the recent assassinations in the Middle East – the significance of the figure of Hassan Nasrallah and the role he played as a key ally for Iran against threats from Israel and the US, and the structure of the Resistance Axis, which allows it to continue its activities even after the assassination of its leaders.

Listening: Here follows the first interview with Seyyed Abbas Araghchi as Iran's Minister of Foreign Affairs, in which he emphasizes the key priorities of Iranian foreign policy under the new president, Masoud Pezeshkian (August 2024).

As an additional listening material, the students can get familiar to a controversial audio recording from September 2024 in which the current president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, claims that Iran is ready to disarm if Israel does the same. (For more context, see the following article from Iran International). 

Subject of Conversation: The impact of Ismail Haniyeh’s and Hasan Nasrallah’s assassinations on the on the political situation in the Middle East (تأثیر ترور اسماعیل هنیه و حسن نصرالله بر اوضاع سیاسی در خاورمیانه)

During the conversation, students will discuss the military and political consequences of the assassinations of Ismail Haniyeh and Hassan Nasrallah. The discussion will focus on how such events shift power dynamics, influence Iran’s regional strategy, and affect the broader balance of power in the Middle East. Students will also practice using key political and military terminology relevant to the discourse surrounding regional conflicts.

Homework:
- Please carefully read the text of the article of the day as specified by the instructor and study the vocabulary. 
- Watch the full interview with Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, available in the Listening section. Then a. Locate the part where he references Qasem Soleimani, identify the specific expression he cites, and explain it in Persian (approximately 100 words). b. Highlight the main message regarding Iran’s Middle Eastern policy and its interconnection to relations with the U.S. (100-200 words, in Persian).
- Do some background research on tomorrow’s topic and related vocabulary to prepare for the discussion.