Eurasia

Pentagon officials would not corroborate a Saudi report of a potential imminent attack from Iran on Saudi Arabia and Iraq. US military and intelligence officials have been in close touch with counterparts in Saudi Arabia over a potential attack in the region by Iran, US officials said on Tuesday.

A shadowy private Russian mercenary force with close ties to the Kremlin is attempting to boost its ranks in Ukraine by recruiting U.S.-trained Afghan commandos and other security forces who fled to Iran following the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, a former Afghan general tells RFE/RL. About 15 former Afghan commandos …

Iran’s nationwide uprising is marking its 47th day on Tuesday after college students took to the streets in dozens of universities across the country the day before. Students of all ages are relentlessly pursuing their protests against the regime’s escalating crackdown through their official security forces and plainclothes agents. Many …

An interview between a Ukrainian journalist and a Russian Israeli oligarch led to the diplomatic incident. Tajikistan and Uzbekistan have both denied assembling Iranian drones in their territories.

Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani faces multiple challenges and constituencies to move his agenda. The Iraqi parliament approved the new government of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani on Oct. 27, as the 29-page ministerial program put forth by Sudani was put to a vote and received more than 250 of 329 …

Iran played a key role in helping form the new Iraqi government. Iraq’s new government under Prime Minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani is likely to be on better terms with Iran than the previous government. The Coordination Framework, the coalition which brought Sudani to office last week, and which consists of …

The Russian military closed the so-called “grain corridor” used to ship Ukrainian agriculture products through the Black Sea on Monday. The move was provoked by the actions of Ukraine, which used the route to launch attacks on Russia, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

MBS’s Vision of a New Nonaligned Movement On October 5, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its ten partner states agreed to slash oil production by two million barrels per day. The decision was at once predictable and shocking. It was predictable because OPEC+, under the leadership of …

The Kremlin Won’t Go Down Without a Fight At a White House ceremony on August 9, days after the U.S. Senate agreed in a near-unanimous vote to ratify the expansion of NATO to include Finland and Sweden, U.S. President Joe Biden highlighted how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had backfired on …

US sanctions as a weapon of war are having an unexpected affect. Russia, China, and Iran are developing alternative routes of trade and finance, and cooperation with other nations. Perhaps the biggest product of sanctions has been to encourage the rapid development of BRICS plus, now a very strategically important …