On Wednesday, Reuters reported that an Iraqi military delegation had traveled to Iran to discuss future strategic cooperation between the two countries. It was the latest in a long line of indicators of entrenched and deepening Iranian influence on the broader Middle East. The meetings between Iraqi and Iranian officials were apparently motivated by Monday’s independence referendum in the northern, Kurdish region of Iraq. That vote appears to be helping to tighten the connections not only between Iraq and Iran but also between those two countries and Turkey, which has traditionally had strained relations with the Islamic Republic.

On Monday, the Huffington Post reported upon the latest efforts by European nations to deter the Trump administration from decertifying Iranian compliance with the 2015 nuclear agreement – an action that could lead to the dissolution of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

On Monday, just days after it was reported that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps had premiered the domestically-produced Khorramshahr ballistic missile in a military parade, the Associated Press reported that the IRGC also put the Russian-made S-300 missile defense system on public display in central Tehran. Both ceremonies were presented as part of Defense Week, the annual commemoration of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq War, which doubles as an annual outlet for anti-Western propaganda.

At the United Nations General Assembly yesterday in New York, thousands of people gathered outside the building to protest the presence of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and to call for an end to the Iranian regime’s brutal rule.

They gathered to make it clear to the people of the United States that the people of Iran are not happy with the clerical rule of their country.

On Monday, Newsweek reported that the head of the Iranian army, Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi had issued both general and specific threats against the Israel, via the Iranian Students News Agency. Mousavi reportedly declared that the Jewish state would likely not exist 25 years from now if its government continued along the current geopolitical path. This is reminiscent of a number of similar claims made by various Iranian officials over the years, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

On Friday, it was reported that Iran, Russia, and Turkey had finalized the framework of an agreement by which observers from each of the three nations will be positioned around Idlib Province in Syria, ostensibly to enforce de-escalation in the area that is still largely controlled by militant rebel groups. The details of this agreement have yet to be finalized, both with regard to Idlib itself and with regard to the three other deconfliction zones that will supposedly be set up by the three parties.