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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.

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
The Middle East as seen from 250 miles above in this April 14, 2016 photo from the International Space Station. Countries seen, from left, along the Mediterranean coast include Egypt, Gaza, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey. Credit: NASA via Wikimedia Commons.
Opinion
The history of non-aggression pacts in Islam
Does it matter that Muslim Arabs cannot sign a true peace agreement with Israel? Not as long as Israel recognizes it must remain militarily strong and resolute in defending its culture and borders.
Feb. 16, 2020
Harold Rhode
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas (center) delivers a speech on the new Middle East peace plan at P.A. headquarters in Ramallah, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo by Flash90.
Opinion
Understanding the ‘deal of the century’ from a Muslim perspective
Bravo to President Donald Trump and his team, and to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his team, who clearly understand how P.A. leader Mahmoud Abbas and other Palestinian leaders think.
Feb. 2, 2020
Harold Rhode
U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York on Sept. 24, 2019. Credit: UN Photo/Cia Pak.
Opinion
Iranians want Trump to do more to take down the regime
The Iranian regime is blaming America for the protests shaking the country, but the Iranians are having none of it.
Dec. 5, 2019
Harold Rhode
Professor Bernard Lewis with Dr. Harold Rhode. Photo courtesy of Harold Rhode.
Opinion
My thoughts at the funeral of Bernard Lewis
In Judaism, there are no coincidences, and it came to my mind that Lewis was born on Jerusalem Day (Iyar 28)—exactly 51 years before Israel reunited the capital city of Jerusalem in 1967—and died just days after the 51-year anniversary of Jerusalem Day, the very year the United States officially recognized Jewish sovereignty over its eternal capital.
May. 30, 2018
Harold Rhode
File photo: Hezbollah-owned Iranian anti-tank missiles that were captured by Israel Defense Forces in southern Lebanon in 2006. Credit: IDF.
Opinion
Iranians need to own their future
We should look for ways to unite the Iranian opposition and support those who support liberal values.
May. 11, 2018
Harold Rhode
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exposes files that prove Iran’s nuclear program in a press conference at the Kirya government headquarters in Tel Aviv on April 30, 2018. Credit: Miriam Alster/Flash90.
Opinion
History proves how Iranians react when confronted with force
The Iranian government is quaking in its boots. Now is the time to reassure the Iranian people that we stand with them against their brutal rulers.
May. 2, 2018
Harold Rhode
Opinion
Did the US strike Syria hard enough?
If the United States did not react forcefully to the use of chemical weapons, then a message would have been sent to Iran, North Korea and other dictators that they, too, could use chemical weapons against their enemies with little worry that the international community would lift a finger against them.
Apr. 15, 2018
Harold Rhode
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