“The Islamic Republic is a revisionist, imperialist power that seeks regional hegemony—and is willing to aid, equip and often control terrorist groups and violent militias of all stripes to achieve its ends,” CAMERA’s Sean Durns wrote in Newsweek in 2021.
Sean Durns, a former senior research analyst at CAMERA
As American military assets amass in the Middle East at a scale not seen in decades, and as talks with the Islamic Republic of Iran appear to hit an impasse, CAMERA collates highlights from years of analyses by our former senior research analyst, Sean Durns, who has written extensively on the regime’s “revolution without borders” — as Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini put it.
From attacks against Americans to its fomenting of violence throughout the world, either directly or via its many proxies and beneficiaries (Hamas, Hezbollah, Houthis, Iraqi militias, Al Qaeda and more), Durns traces the regime’s unbending determination to position itself as the epicenter of an “Islamic epoch,” via nuclear weapons, ballistic missile and drone attacks, assassination attempts, terrorist plots and attacks on embassies. If, perhaps distracted by false New York Times reporting on alleged “Israeli imperialism,” you’ve missed the big story of the Islamic Republic’s global imperialism, dig in and catch up here for critical understanding of unfolding dramatic events.
“The Bell Tolls For the Ayatollahs,” Washington Examiner, June 20, 2025
“How Oct. 7 changed the Middle East forever,” Washington Examiner, Oct. 20, 2024
“How the US lost Latin America,” Washington Examiner, June 13, 2023
“Israel Iran Trying to Spark A Civil War in Israel,” Washington Examiner, Jan. 6, 2022
“The Iranian Regime Is the Problem,” Washington Examiner, Nov. 13, 2021
Islamic Republic of Iran Army Day parade in Tehran, 2019 (Photo by Tasnim News Agency, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
“In the Middle East, the U.S. Shouldn’t Resort to Sectarian Thinking,” Newsweek, March 12, 2021
“Yes, the Houthis Are a Terror Group,” Washington Examiner, Feb. 19, 2021
“Iran’s support for al-Qaida,” Jerusalem Post, Oct. 23, 2017
“”Fake News’ and Iranian ‘Moderates’,” Pittsburgh Jewish Chronicle, Jan. 19, 2017
“Al Qaeda’s Iran connection,” Washington Times, Sept. 9, 2016
“Iranian-backed terrorists act to destabilize Africa,” Jewish Star (New York) Oct. 1, 2015