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 a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute in New York, as well as a Senior Fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs . A hidden force could decide the future of Iran and most people barely understand who th

Iranians call Sunnis dogs. They don’t mean it as a compliment. Ira Stroll March 4,2026 Mohammed bin Salman (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) and Iranian mourners (Getty Images) Iranian Shiites have a saying, " Sag Sunni. " It means Sunni Muslims are dogs. The Iranians don’t mean it as a compliment. The framing of the recent military action in the Middle East so far has been the U.S. and Israel against Iran. Yet President Trump pointed out during a White House appearanc

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. 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 a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Gatestone Institute in New York, as well as a Senior Fellow

interview with Dr Harold Rhode In this in‑depth briefing, Dr. Harold Rhode explains why plans to carve Iran into ethnic mini‑states are not just unrealistic — they’re a recipe for civil war and regional instability. Despite its many ethnic and religious groups, Iran has a deep, shared cultural identity that most Western policymakers fail to understand. Dr. Rhode lays out why any serious conversation about Iran regime change must start from the reality of Iranian culture: a po

by Harold Rhode Absent an inclusive and culturally credible leader, Iran risks repeating its historical pattern of post-revolutionary chaos, regardless of popular hopes for democracy or reform. What Is Iran? It is essential to understand how Iranians see themselves before imagining an alternate future when Iran is again a respected member of the international community. What is Iran? First and foremost, most Iranians share a cultural identity more than a political one. Iran i

(Interview with Harold Rhode) by Ari Kalker Imagine witnessing the 1979 Islamic Revolution from inside Iran, advising multiple U.S. Secretaries of Defense for nearly 28 years, and later wading through chest-deep sewage in war-torn Baghdad to rescue the most important collection of Iraqi Jewish history in existence. That man is Dr. Harold Rhode. In this extraordinary episode, Ari interviews one of the most uniquely informed minds on the Middle East from inside the system. Dr.