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Harold Rhode

Harold Rhode

Harold Rhode served as a specialist on Islamic culture and the Middle East in the Office of the Secretary of Defense from 1982 to 2010. He studied at a university in Iran during the early and mid-stages of the Islamic Revolution. He is currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute in New York, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. See his website at: harold-rhode.com.

Supporting Iranian Protesters
Opinion
The before and after in ‘negotiating’ with Iran
Leaders of the Islamic Republic do not think or talk like Western nations; to believe that they do is a recipe for disasters, as history recounts.
Feb. 23, 2026
Harold Rhode
Persepolis Stairs of the Apadana
Opinion
The fall is not the end: Why Iran’s greatest danger comes after the regime
Feb. 2, 2026
Harold Rhode
John Kerry and Leaders, Iran Nuclear Deal
Opinion
Strategies Iranians use to trick Westerners into accepting what they want
Aug. 20, 2025
Harold Rhode
Israeli journalist Gil Tamary visiting the city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, July 2022. Source: YouTube
Opinion
The Israeli journalist who visited Mecca should be worried
Muslims are usually determined to avenge humiliation, and they know how to be patient.
Jul. 27, 2022
Harold Rhode
Channel 13 news editor Gil Tamary takes a selfie in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, July 2022. Credit: Channel 13 news.
Opinion
How an Israeli journalist may have torpedoed Israel-Saudi relations
By sneaking into Mecca, Gil Tamary undermined the Saudi rulers’ claim to be protectors of the holy city.
Jul. 24, 2022
Harold Rhode
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to reporters in Washington, Aug. 2, 2021. Credit: State Department Photo by Freddie Everett.
Opinion
How Muslims understand recent comments by US officials
When Westerners condemn the behavior of foreign countries and non-state actors, Middle Eastern leaders interpret this to mean that those issuing the statements are not prepared to act.
Sep. 5, 2021
Harold Rhode
Afghanis run alongside a U.S. Air Force C-17 plane as it departs from Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 16, 2021. Source: Screenshot.
Opinion
Going forward after the Afghanistan debacle
The apparent winners—the Taliban, ISIS and other terrorist groups—hate one another, and all hate Iran. Fears that Tehran and the Taliban are about to engage in serious cooperation, thus, are overblown.
Aug. 18, 2021
Harold Rhode
Iran Protests
Opinion
The US must bolster the Iranian people, not their brutal regime
As mass popular protests continue across the Islamic Republic, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and his henchmen are playing the Biden administration like a fiddle.
Aug. 3, 2021
Harold Rhode
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Opinion
The purpose of vague Iranian threats
If Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were to be specific about the “punishment” he vowed for the assassination of Mohsen Fakhrizadeh and then failed to deliver, he would be humiliated.
Dec. 1, 2020
Harold Rhode
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani holding a press conference after his victory in the 2017 presidential election. Credit: Mahmoud Hosseini/Wikimedia Commons.
Opinion
What the US election means to the Iranian government—and people
Whatever the results of the vote on Nov. 3, there is likely to be a shift in the policy of the regime in Tehran towards America and its allies.
Oct. 28, 2020
Harold Rhode
Tombs of Azeri soldiers killed in the Nagorno-Karabakh War, which took place in the late 1980s to May 1994. Neftchi/Wikipedia.
Opinion
The renewed Azerbaijan-Armenia war: Another blow to Iran?
In the past, foreign conflicts have helped the regime in Tehran distract the public. But could this conflict provoke in Iranian Azeris a feeling of solidarity with their Azeri co-ethnics across the border in Independent Azerbaijan?
Oct. 1, 2020
Harold Rhode
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