[“Supreme Guide” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] has decided to perform what he calls “heroic flexibility” in foreign policy in the hope of focusing on a slow but steady suppression of dissent at home. In a speech last week, he said he was applying the tactic of “taqiyeh” (dissimulation), a theological concept, …
Read More »After Saudi Arabia: Iran’s Rapprochement With Egypt – Analysis
Intense political discussion and speculation have followed the recent agreement between Iran and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), which China brokered. While some are in favour of the implementation of the agreement, others remain sceptical. From a geopolitical standpoint, it is imperative to address the ongoing concerns surrounding Iran’s …
Read More »Militarization Of Iranian Politics In Context Of Regional Detente – OpEd
At a time of renewed regional dialogue and an apparent opening between Iran and its neighbors, one could be surprised by the appointment of Ali Akbar Ahmadian, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a member of the Expediency Council, as the new secretary of the Supreme …
Read More »Latest in Ukraine: Ukraine Proposes Massive Sanctions Against Iran
Latest developments South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will investigate U.S. allegations that a Russian ship had collected weapons from a naval base near Cape Town last year, his office said Sunday in a statement. South Africa denies the allegations which have caused a diplomatic row among the U.S., South Africa …
Read More »Iran’s Nuclear Program: Does the Biden Administration Have a Policy?
Since 2021, the Biden Administration has been cozying up to Iran in a way that has often seemed agonizingly embarrassing to entice it back to the disastrous 2015 “JCPOA” nuclear deal of the Obama Administration. Mercifully those efforts did not succeed: the new deal would still most likely have enabled …
Read More »Iran’s Coming Succession Crisis
The Race to Be the Next Supreme Leader Will Be Chaotic and Perilous For most of the last nine months, outside analysts have looked to Iran’s protests for signs that the country might experience political change. These demonstrators, the vast majority of them young, certainly rocked the country’s elite with …
Read More »Chabahar Port Transit Project: The Eastern Wing of the International North–South Transport Corridor (INSTC)
The Chabahar Port Transit Project, is of great importance in the “International North–South Transport Corridor” (INSTC), because it is the only Iranian port with direct access to the Indian Ocean., writes Valdai Club expert Vali Kaleji. In his article, Dr. Vali Kaleji, a Tehran-based expert on Central Asia and Caucasian …
Read More »Iranian President Replaces Chief Of Powerful Security Council
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has removed Ali Shamkhani as the head of the powerful Supreme National Security Council and replaced him with Ali Akbar Ahmadian, a former chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) who has been under sanctions from the United Nations, the European Union, and the United …
Read More »Iran claims to arrest an ‘Israel-linked cell’ on the border with Kurdish Iraq
Intelligence and Security Minister Esmail Khatib alleges the detained are Kurdish Iraqis cooperating with the Jewish state Iran’s Intelligence and Security Minister Esmail Khatib arrested a “terrorist” group, at the western border of Iran, on Sunday, for alleged ties to Israel, according to the semi-official Nour News agency. “A terrorist …
Read More »Iran says ‘terrorist’ group linked to Israel has been arrested, Nour News reports
Iran’s intelligence minister said a “terrorist” group linked to Israel was arrested on the western borders of Iran on Sunday, according to the semi-official Nour News agency. “A terrorist group associated with the Zionist regime which entered the country from the western borders was arrested,” said Esmail Khatib. The statement …
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