WEEKLY UPDATE - 02.13.2026

Iran’s crackdown targets politicians as tension with US continue

Iranian security services continued its crackdown on any internal opposition arresting seven prominent reformist politicians including some who are allies of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. On Sunday and Monday, security forces arrested reformers Dr. Ali Shakourirad, Azar Mansouri, Mohsen Aminzadeh, and Ebrahim Ashgarzadeh among others. Gholam Hossein Ejei, a senior judicial official, said that he had instructed prosecutors to deal “pre-emptively” with individuals deemed a threat to national security. The arrests come shortly after the US and Iran concluded talks meant to de-escalate tensions between the two countries in wake of widespread opposition protests across Iran early last month. According to the US-based Human Rights Activist News Agency, the death toll from the government crackdown had reach nearly 7,000 people.

US President Donald Trump met with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to discuss issues related to Israel and Iran. During the meeting, Trump reportedly reiterated the importance of diplomacy with Iran despite Netanyahu’s reservations. However, less than 24 hours after the meeting the Pentagon ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford, one of the world’s largest aircraft carriers, to the Middle East. The USS Gerald R Ford will join the USS Abraham Lincoln as the second aircraft carrier in the region adding to what President Trump has called a US “armada” in the Middle East. Last year the US engaged in diplomatic talks with Iran before ultimately carrying out strikes against several Iranian nuclear facilities at the end of Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.

Recently, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claimed that the US “engineered” a dollar shortage contributing to the collapse the value of the Iranian rial in December. The economic shocks caused by the rial’s collapse in value sparked anti-government demonstrations that quickly engulfed Iran and triggered the regime’s fierce crackdown. Bessent described the Treasury Department’s actions as part of a campaign of “maximum pressure on Iran.”

Around the Region

• North Africa:

  • The Moroccan government announced plans to spend more than $300 million to expand and improve infrastructure and support individuals hit by flooding this winter. Fierce winter storms have pummeled regions of Morocco over the past two months contributing to widespread flooding that has destroyed farmland and displaced nearly 200,000 Moroccans. While winter rains have caused significant damage across areas of Morocco they have also provided a respite from seven years of drought.

  • Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi reshuffled his cabinet appointing thirteen new ministers on Wednesday. Sisi appointed Ashraf Salem as the newest Defense Minister. The last major cabinet reshuffle took place in JUL 2024. Over the past decade, the Egyptian government has been unable to reverse negative economic trends.

• The Gulf:

  • A mob linked to the Southern Transitional Council (STC), a secessionist movement in Yemen backed by the UAE, attacked a local government building in the city of Ataq in southeastern Yemen. In the ensuing fighting five people were killed and another 39 were wounded according to Rami Lamlas, a local government official. Al Jazeera reported that the STC had organized march in Ataq and the participants in the march tried to storm a government building and remove the national flag. These events occurred on Wednesday.

  • The U.S. military is nearing the completion of the transfer of detainees suspected of fighting for ISIS from Syria to Iraq. According to the Washington Post, the US military will complete its transfer of between 6,000 - 7,000 detainees as early as this weekend. The Iraqi government will assume responsibility for the transferred detainees, many of whom will be held at Al-Kharkh prison near Baghdad. Approximately 2,000 detainees, mostly those with Syrian citizenship, will remain in Syria.

• The Levant:

  • The US military handed over control of the al-Tanf base to the Syrian military after more than decade at the location as the US continues to decrease its footprint in the country. The al-Tanf base sits along a strategic location near the Jordanian and Iraqi borders and assisted the US efforts to counter both ISIS and Iranian efforts to smuggle arms in Syria. The UN also reported several foiled plots to assassinate senior figures in the Syrian government including interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa as well as the foreign minister and interior minister.

  • The Israeli government announced a change to laws regulating the purchase of property in the occupied West Bank. The changes will make it easier for Jews to purchase property within the West Bank. The changes also create greater transparency around land-ownership in the occupied territory. The changes exacerbated Palestinian fears of Israeli annexation of the West Bank. Since 2023, the West Bank has witnessed an acceleration of settler violence and Israeli calls for annexation from the far right. On Friday, dozens of settler attacks across the West Bank left at least 54 Palestinians injured. As Israel has adopted harsher laws against “terrorism” in the West Bank, these same laws are rarely used against Israeli settlers, who often enjoy the protection of the military.

Recommended:

• “Peace without Trust” New Lines Magazine

• “Trump’s Gaza Plan Are Profoundly Unserious” The Atlantic

• “Why Saudis feel squeezed even as the economy booms” The Economist