The United Arab Emirates on Monday intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militants as Israeli President Isaac Herzog was visiting — the third attack this month. The Middle Eastern country’s state-run media said the “attack did not result in any losses, as the remnants of the ballistic …
Read More »Iran on the agenda as Qatar emir meets Biden
There is potential Doha could play a role in brokering a US-Iran prisoner exchanging following press reports of Iran-Qatar talks on the topic. President Joe Biden met Monday with the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, following reports that Iran asked for the Persian Gulf country’s help …
Read More »Iran’s gas cut exposes Turkey’s vulnerability to energy risks
Ankara’s energy preparedness for the winter and its capacity to secure alternative supplies have come under question after a halt in the gas flow from Iran sparked an unprecedented energy crunch in the country. The disruption of Iranian gas supplies to Turkey, blamed on a technical hitch in the pipeline …
Read More »Iranian supreme leader’s aide suggests pursuing 90% enrichment
In a letter to Iran’s supreme leader, the hard-line former chief negotiator reportedly proposed ramping up enrichment to 90%. Hard-line Iranian politician Saeed Jalili, who led his country’s nuclear negotiations with world powers from 2007 to 2013, has reportedly called for uranium enrichment at a 90% purity rate in Iran’s …
Read More »Next phase of China-Iran ties depends on nuclear talks
Iran and China’s long-term strategic partnership awaits any new outcome of the JCPOA. In a highly symbolic move, the Iranian Council of Ministers recently approved the opening of a Chinese consulate at Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main trading port and the capital of the coastal province of Hormozgan. While Tehran currently …
Read More »Iran and its arms
After a long period of arduous negotiations with Iran, and after failure seemed closer than success, the parameters of the negotiations returned and changed, and the US was close to signing an agreement with Iran that would eliminate its ambitions to possess a nuclear weapon in exchange for the lifting …
Read More »There’s more to the gas crisis between Iran and Turkey than meets the eye
Iran has announced that it stopped the flow of natural gas to Turkey for ten days, starting from 20 January, due to a “technical failure”. This resulted in an electricity crisis for factories in Turkey. Questions have been raised about the validity of the Iranian justification and the reality behind …
Read More »Can Biden Unwind Trump’s ‘Maximum Pressure’ on Venezuela and Iran?
When President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20, he will inherit two types of problems from his predecessor. The first will involve repairing the damage President Donald Trump created through neglect: the alliances, partnerships, multilateral organizations and U.S. government institutions to which Trump paid too little attention the past …
Read More »The Nuclear Deal’s Fate Lies in Politics—in the U.S. and Iran
In the four decades since Iran’s Islamic Revolution, relations between Tehran and Washington have seen deep enmity offset by brief periods of rapprochement and tactical cooperation. As a new U.S. administration settles into office and asserts its intent to, in President Joe Biden’s words, “offer Tehran a credible path back …
Read More »The Taliban’s Comeback Is a Conundrum for Iran
No one in the Iranian government was sad to see U.S. and NATO troops leave Afghanistan. In fact, Tehran would prefer to have the Taliban next-door than often-hostile Western powers. But Shiite-majority Iran has also been a target of attacks in the past from the Sunni Islamist Taliban, and it …
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