Mehdi is an analyst for Control Risks’ Global Risk Analysis team in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). He provides security, political and operational risk analysis on MENA countries. He writes daily analysis for Seerist, our online information service, provides bespoke political risk advisory services to clients across sectors, and contributes to the Control Risks Iraq Weekly report.
He has nine years’ experience of reporting, research and consultancy on the MENA region with a focus on Northern Africa, Syria, Iraq and Iran.
Recent tasks Mehdi has worked on include:
- In-depth Iraq security threat assessments for businesses, NGOs, private companies, and international organisations in Iraq.
- Stakeholder assessments and corruption risk analysis for an international pharmaceutical company.
- Research and analysis on use of social media by terrorism threat actors in Iraq and Syria and associated risks for a major global social media company.
- Presentations to clients on Northern Africa geopolitical dynamics.
- Academic contribution to a specialist reference book on Islamic State propaganda.
- Expert witness report for a terrorism related case in the United Kingdom.
Mehdi is based out of our Madrid office. He completed a PhD in Middle Eastern Politics on Islamic State Strategy in Iraq at the University of Exeter, United Kingdom. He also holds a master’s degree in international security at IBEI Barcelona and a master's degree in international relations from Science Po Lille. He speaks fluent Arabic, French, Spanish and English.