Iran

The complex web of interdependence and threat balancing that prevents war between Iran and Azerbaijan

Relations between Tehran and Baku have long had their ups and downs, but a recent series of events in late March, including the opening of the Republic of Azerbaijan’s embassy in Tel Aviv, an assassination attempt against an Azerbaijani MP in Baku, and the Azerbaijani government’s harsh denunciation of comments …

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Iran rules out interim nuclear deal

Iranian official dismisses talk of a “less for less” deal as “the outcome of some think tank brainstorming.” The latest signs indicate the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran doesn’t have much of a pulse. The Biden administration says the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is not on the agenda. …

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Reconciling Saudi Arabia and Iran: The significance of the China effort

It would be wrong to view the restoration of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran as something that happened suddenly. Since the Iranian Revolution of 1979, ties between the two important Muslim neighbours have been strained. For the Saudi elite the Revolution was not only anti-monarchical but also a boost …

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Why the Iranian public remains silent in the face of Israeli attacks

The silence from Iran is deafening. Judging by social media reactions and media reports from Iran, few, if any, members of the Iranian public seem to care that, since 2011, the Israeli air force has attacked Iranian and Iranian-affiliated positions in Syria on more than a thousand occasions. More surprisingly, …

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Iran isn’t worried about the US attacking it, but Biden has other ways to cut a deal with Tehran

The trend lines in US-Iran relations today make for grim reading in Washington. Faced with unrelenting US pressure, Iran’s leaders are regularly meeting with Russian and Chinese officials and pledging unprecedented levels of cooperation. Iran’s nuclear program recently crossed a key threshold into production of weapons-grade uranium. American policymakers today …

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Iran’s pirate weapons industry is cloning Western military hardware for Russia

Tehran has been counterfeiting foreign weapons for decades and is said to be receiving a bonanza from Ukraine In December 2011, a US RQ-170 Sentinel drone went missing in airspace close to the Iran-Afghanistan border. The Sentinel resurfaced on Iranian TV days later, where it was paraded as a “very …

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Implications of Escalating U.S. Clashes with Iran-Backed Forces in Syria

The late March clashes between U.S. and Iran-backed militia forces in eastern Syria upended U.S. hopes that an Iran-Saudi rapprochement would usher in a period of regional stability and raised the potential for expanded U.S.-Iran hostilities.Iran’s alignment with Russia, and the willingness of the Arab Gulf states to engage with …

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Iranian Drone Exports to the Balkans and Its Geopolitical Repercussions

Serbia: Iran’s Entry Point to the Balkans Iranian military activity in Europe’s neighborhood is not limited to supporting Russia’s war in Ukraine Transforming itself from a net arms importer into a burgeoning arms exporter, Tehran is engaged in opportunistic behavior across conflict zones, ranging from Ukraine to tense, fragile regions, …

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Iran-Russia military relations take spotlight following FMs Moscow meeting

Despite international pressure, the two isolated states have been ramping up military ties with reported deliveries of Iranian drones in exchange for Russian Sukhoi warplanes. Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was in Moscow on Wednesday for a visit he said covered military cooperation among a host of other bilateral and …

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Iran Not Opposed to Deployment of EU Monitoring Mission Along Armenian-Azerbaijani Border

The Iranian ambassador to Armenia, Abbas Badakhshan Zohouri, announced on the sidelines of the “Armenia-Iran Relations in Context of Common Interests” forum, which was held on February 10, that “Iran does not oppose the deployment of a civilian EU [European Union] monitoring mission to the Armenian-Azerbaijani border” (PanArmenian.net, February 10). …

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