Mako on Iran’s Attacks on US Base in Qatar
Professor Shamiran Mako was invited to 7News Boston WHDH to share insights about the recent tensions brewing between the United States and Iran. With Iran launching attacks on the U.S. base in Qatar, Mako discussed possible repercussions for the Middle Eastern country.
“Iran’s response wasn’t a surprise,” said Mako. “Much of that calibration is going to depend on what is proximate to Iranian navigational waters, what is proximate to its strategic interests, not only in the Persian Gulf, but also places like Bab-el-Mandeb, which is another choke point off the coasts of Yemen.”
The professor remarked that Iran could try to mobilize support from allies in the region. Allies like Russia, on the other hand, are less likely to come to Iran’s rescue this time because of its ongoing war with Ukraine.
Iran could have made the decision to close the narrow Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route for oil tankers owing to the recent attacks on U.S. air bases in Qatar. But Professor Mako thinks that it’s unlikely and doing so would hurt Iran’s economy.
“That’s not necessarily strategic for Iran,” said Mako. “Iran does sell its oil, especially to Asian markets.”
Professor Mako’s complete interview can be accessed here.
Shamiran Mako is an assistant professor of international relations and political science at the Pardee School of Global Studies. Her scholarship dives deep into the historical and contemporary drivers of inter- and intra-state conflicts that engender weak and fragile states across the Middle East and North Africa region. She is the author of the upcoming book Structuring Exclusion: Institutions, Grievances, and Ethnic State Capture in Iraq (Oxford University Press, 2025) and After the Uprisings: Progress and Stagnation in the Middle East and North Africa, with Valentine Moghadam (Cambridge University Press, 2021). To read more about her work and accomplishments, visit her faculty profile.